Fishing in the Footsteps of Thoreau
May 22, 2009
At some time during high school or college, if you suffer through enough English classes, you'll gain at least a passing familiarity with American writer, Henry David Thoreau. He was ahead of his time as a naturalist and lover of the outdoors. He wrote Walden, his famous book, while living in a rustic one-room cabin on Walden Pond, Massachusetts from 1845 to 1847. The book is a lasting, loving treatise on our American outdoors. Even then, Thoreau espoused conservation of such natural preserves, and about 120 years later (in 1965), the National Park Service designated Walden Pond as a Registered National Historic Landmark which would help preserve it for posterity.
Walden Pond was also in the news in the 1990’s when Eagles band member Don Henley led a drive to help preserve some of the adjacent woodlands from developers.
But one thing it’s not in the news for is bass fishing. Walden Pond is a gem. It’s less then a ten minute drive from downtown Boston, 58 surface acres, 1.7 miles of shoreline, over 100 feet deep in spots, and crystal clear. There are scattered weeds, shady shorelines, and it’s stocked heavily with trout. There are largemouth and smallmouth bass in it. Oh, and by the way, no one fishes for them.
So you have a pond that you can walk around, is full of all kinds of fish, and no one thinks to fish for them. My boys, Sam, Eddie and I go there walking the shore for an hour or two, in between baseball practice, and other events. It’s like having a private bass pond all your own.
Author's son Eddie banks a chunky bass.
You can catch them on just about anything, but we always figure, why not stack the odds in our favor? We usually throw a 5-inch GYCB Kut-Tail worm in 297 on 6 lb test weightless with a small #4 dropshot hook. It casts far on light line, you don’t have to set the hook, and if there is a fish within striking distance, you’ll catch it. If you don’t get a bite in the first 30 seconds you reel in and try again. It suits the short attention span of a 9 or 10 year old well. Sometimes when you are reeling it back, a fish will smoke it, which is even more entertaining.
Half the fun in fishing here is watching people's faces when you catch a fish. Keep in mind the typical visitor to Walden is a budding English Major making a pilgrimage to the home of Henry David Thoreau, or a tourist visiting Boston taking in the countryside's historical sights. They take pictures, walk around the lake reading the signage, and discuss literature, history and philosophy.
But land a fish and the topic of conversation changes. “What kind of fish is that?" “Do they stock them?” “Can you eat the fish?" and so on. We try to be helpful, to educate people that catch and release angling is pretty much in keeping with Thoreau’s legacy. It’s sort of like, it’s nice that people collect old baseballs, cards and bats, but Ted Williams or Babe Ruth would probably rather see you out there playing catch rather than collecting memorabilia. So we figure our catch and release fishing on Walden Pond would have found favor with Thoreau.
Photo of swimming beach and amenities at Walden - but note Thoreau lived in a 10x15 cabin.
Another common sight is to see a young kid with his Dad or Mom trying to catch a trout. It’s often their first time fishing, and they were sent there by some small tackle shop who told them, “Well, they stock Walden, it’s your best bet to catch a fish!”
They’ll watch my 9 year old catch a couple of 2 lb largemouth and start to ask, “What kind of lure is that?” or “What are you using?” We always take the time to show them what we are doing, how to catch them, and give them a handful of Kut Tail’s and a couple of drop shot hooks. You get a lot of grateful smiles from the single mother who wants her son to catch a fish, but doesn’t know where to start.
This weekend my son took a cast next to what looked like a group of college girls having an English seminar by the lake. Their first glances over at Sam, were sort of, "My, look how far that little boy cast that lure.” Seconds later, a 2 lb smallmouth tail-walked right in front them, while Sam did his best to bear down with all his might to reel it in.
Pictures were taken, the fish was released, and questions were answered such as, “Yes, the fish will be fine”, “No, we don’t eat them”, and “You bet, there are lots of them in here!”
Eddie reels up a spunky Walden smallie.
In many ways, fishing like this takes me back to when I was 12 years old and waiting for my BASSMASTER magazine to arrive in the mail. No boat, one rod, a couple of lures, and a long summer's worth of time to kill. My sons have a lot of exciting things to keep their attention, from video games to skateboarding, but I hope that as they get older the fun of spending a few hours catching fish, and sharing what they’ve learned with eager beginners, is something they never outgrow.
And if you are a parent who wants your son or daughter to have fun fishing, you can’t beat a public pond like Walden, and a bait like the weightless Kut Tail. Just be sure to bring a lot of them – not just because you’ll use a lot, but you might want to share!