We felt like we ’ d discovered the most special fishing spot in the entire world . We rode our bikes there every day . None of us had ever seen trout before . For a kid fishing from his bike , a 3-pound trout seemed like the most exotic fish in the world .
We were riding our bikes through the area one day and saw a tiny glimpse of water behind a bunch of hills covered in tumbleweeds . As we rode closer , we could see fish jumping on the surface . We couldn ’ t believe what we found . There were three of us and we all started catching fish immediately . Our bait supply was a little light , so we started walking the grass looking for grasshoppers , which often saved many days . Catching grasshoppers allowed us to travel further with less weight . Trout flashed and zipped through the water . Some of them jumped . They fought harder than anything we had ever seen . As young kids , we learned a few important lessons . Of course , we were all so excited about the great discovery so much we couldn ’ t keep our mouths shut . Three kids soon turned into 10 kids , all riding bikes to this little pond . Fishing
wasn ’ t the same after a few weeks and we were worried that there were too many people fishing and bringing attention to this tiny golden pond .
We did what any resourceful 12-year-olds would do … we made up a lie to scare the other kids . We told them there were now dogs patrolling the property by the pond and that they would chase you down , attack and bite . The dogs were fast and would catch you even on a bike . We soon had the pond to ourselves again . We even went as far as covering our bike tracks going in and out of the property and started to post a sentinel . If anybody came by the pond , we ’ d lay down in the tumbleweeds and wait for the person to pass .
This pond got our minds wondering and we tried other similar spots . There was a big gravel pit pond on the west end of town off the bypass and I actually caught one fish in that pond … a huge white sucker . There wasn ’ t any flooding back then , so I ’ m not sure how that sucker ended up in that pond . Somebody must have dumped a bait bucket in the pond at some point .
There was a slough north of town by the
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water tower where I often rode my bike to hunt ducks . Riding a bike through town with a 20-gauge tied to your handlebars is another good story for another time .
One summer , this particular slough changed . There was now a small dock and a pontoon boat on the slough . On calm days , you could see something making dimples on the water like feeding trout . We wondered if somebody had put trout in this slough since there was now a boat and dock . We never caught a fish at the slough . The dimples on the water turned out to be tadpoles and larval tiger salamanders . We tried to find another spot like the trout pond , but every hunch and attempt led to disappointment .
Summer faded into fall and when winter came , we decided to ice-fish the trout pond . We didn ’ t have much gear . My rods at the time were wooden dowels with picks on the end that you ’ d poke into the ice .
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Black Dacron line was wound between two pegs on the dowel . We loaded up a hatchet and our small assortment of ice rods and planned our expedition .
The first day of Christmas break , we headed out in the morning . From North Hill up the big hill above the Dome in Minot , we walked all the way across town out to the gravel pit a few miles east of the Fair Grounds . Snow was too deep for our bikes .
Leaving early in the morning after our paper routes were done , we arrived at the pond about noon after walking what must have been more than 10 miles . We took turns chopping ice with the hatchet . Chopping a hole through a few feet of ice when you ’ re a 4-foot-tall weakling isn ’ t very efficient . The hole seemed like it was a few feet across at the top and looked like a bowl at the bottom , about three inches across . The final chops would splash water all over you . We
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