One Heck of an HOA Pond!

So I have this buddy.  For the sake of anonymity, I'm going to call him Goose.  I haven't known Goose for very long but I like him.  He's the kind of guy that would give you the shirt off his back without batting an eye.  He's also a great dad and husband with beautiful wife and fine son.  Finally, Goose is about as laid back as you can imagine.  So when I asked if I could fish the HOA (homeowners association) pond in his neighborhood, he didn't care one iota.  

So the other day I had a little time on my hands and the weather was nice.  I decided to hit up this pond with the notion that HOA ponds are...well, their all unique.  Some have naturally occurring hybrid bluegill, some have monster crappie, and some are just duds.  With optimism, I started making some casts on this new body of water.  I started throwing a John Deere about 2 feet under an indicator.  I use this a lot as a search bait because almost anything will eat a small, slow baitfish.  What happened next is almost hard to believe.  

I started catching some small bass and then things went sideways.  I started pulling half pound hybrid bluegill in.  It wasn't every cast and it wasn't particularly easy, but it was consistent.  After that, I ran into a guy that said he had caught some nice bass the night before.  He also said he caught some hybrid bluegill and white bass.  Now that got my attention.  White bass?  In an HOA pond?  Honestly, I thought the guy was confused.  He looked like a legit fisherman but I'm from the Show Me State and I needed visual verification on this.  Besides, it looked like so many other HOA ponds and I had never even heard of white bass in ponds like this.  About an hour later, I caught one!  I was in shock, dismayed, and a little humbled as well.  After that little surprise, I came back the next morning armed with a flashy little wooly bugger.  I caught more small bass, a few hybrids, and then an eleven inch crappie!  I hadn't caught a single crappie until this slab crushed a wooly!

So what's my point?  My point is that there is good fishing all around us.  HOA ponds have tons of potential.  Farm ponds can surprise you!  Heck, even that little creek that runs by your house might hold something that would quicken your pulse if you would just fish it.  Get out there and wet a line because you never know what you are going to run into!