I spent last night fishing at Latta Flynn Boyle near my house in upstate New York. It is a small pond in a housing development that many think isn't worth fishing. Last year when my then soon to be wife and I were fishing there, a young man stopped to talk to us. He told us about a pond at the end of the road that was full of fish. He mentioned sunfish, bass, pike, musky, and probably a few others. He told us of a local man who stocked it himself over the last 5 years. Then this young man told us that the pond we had just been fishing had nothing in it. He told us how he had spent over an hour days earlier trying to convince a fish out of the water with no success. At this point my wife couldn't hold back. I guess her pride got the best of her and she had to tell him what we had caught. She told him about the bluegills, the largemouth bass and the perch we had caught just before he stopped to talk. In all we probably caught a dozen and a half fish between the two of us during the hour or two that we fished. As you can imagine, the young man was surprised.

Last night again I found myself smiling after another passerby shouted from his car "you aint gonna catch anything in there." I then turned to the kid I had fishing near and asked if he believed what was said. His response to me was "you caught some didn't you?" I take great pleasure in knowing that many other people do not think fish live in some of my favoite ponds. I don't mind sharing the water with only my wife. All those people who think a pond like Latta Flynn Boyle doesn't have any fish can take their time fishing the more crowded places that do have fish, but for me, I'll keep fishing the puddles that have nothing...or so they think.

Author - MIKE
Date - 4/16/02