If you live in a subdivision in the burbs, then you know
that the acronym HOA stands for Home Owners Association. Some people see HOA’s as a necessary body
that protects home values, while others see them as an evil empire. I doubt than I will ever serve on a HOA board
because I don’t like politics and I would rather spend my free time fishing
rather than writing policies. However,
with that being said, there is one valuable thing that some HOA’s do, and that
is provide upkeep and maintenance of HOA ponds.
In fact, when I think of the term HOA, I prefer to think that it means
“Handy Opportunities for Anglers”.
My big 8 pound buffalo caught at an HOA pond. |
I love HOA ponds. I
accredit a HOA pond in Kearney, Missouri, for reigniting my love for fishing
after graduating from college. If I
hadn’t caught thirty or forty crappie on a spinning rod one day after work, I
might have taken up golf instead. Whew! That was a close one.
This is not my 1 & 1/2 pound crappie, but still a nice fish that came out of an HOA pond. |
I have had the fortune of fishing many HOA ponds in the past
and have had a unique experience at each one.
The one in Kearney was a crappie producing machine while home to some
very respectable bass as well. It is
also home to a school of goldfish that someone dumped and have manage to grow
pretty large while surviving in the wild.
Another pond in Lee’s Summit is home to a mythical 7-8 pound bass that
my buddy caught while living near the pond a few years ago. I also had the fortune of catching an 8 pound
buffalo on a dry fly there one evening.
I stalked him for about an hour and finally put a fly right in front of
his face as he skimmed bugs across the surface of the water. It also has more Asian carp than I have ever
seen in my life which can be attributed to a nearby river that sometimes backs
up into the lake during periods of flooding.
And then there is the HOA pond near my home.
My buddy with a MONSTER bass he caught at his HOA pond. |
This is the pond that I frequent when I get the itch to hit
the water with only a half hour of daylight left. It is also the water that my oldest son and I
go to when we have some free time on a Sunday afternoon. It is a unique pond that supports a wide
range of species. In my experiences,
this is uncommon since most HOA ponds are usually pretty small, at least the
ones I have fished. This particular pond
is home to channel cat, largemouth, crappie, redear, bluegill, green sunfish,
and hybrid bluegill. I had an afternoon
where I could not catch anything but 1 ½- 2 pound bass on an olive and white
wooly bugger. I also caught a 1 ½ pound
crappie out of that lake one evening that was pretty slow up to that fish as
well. My son likes to reel in 10-12 inch
bass and what he refers to as “Monster Gills” with John Deere jigs under
floats.
My oldest son holding the catch of the day. |
So what the heck is my point? No, it’s not to beat my chest and show off
what I have caught at HOA ponds, even if it sounds that way. My point is that there are probably some
great fishing opportunities near your home that you might be overlooking. We don’t all have time to drive to Taneycomo
or Bennett, let alone fish them as hard as we would like. HOA ponds could be home to anything and don’t
always receive a lot of fishing pressure so they might be even more interested
in taking a fly…aggressively. You don’t
know what is lurking under the water, and you won’t ever know unless you wet a
line, but make sure you do so with permission.
As long as you are with a homeowner that lives in the subdivision or
have a name to throw around, you should be good. Finally, if you do make it to an HOA pond, or
you have a good story, I would love to hear your story and see your
pictures. I would also like to post
those stories and pictures as well, with your permission of course. Winter is coming too, so get out there and
pound some water before you can’t anymore.
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