LIFE


MARK PAPOUSEK


Ah! The good life: golf and fishing


When I finally realized I was going to retire, my wife, Bev, and


I started to make plans to do things we have always talked about. On the top of that list was to spend our winters somewhere


warm so we could get out of the Ottawa Valley’s snow, freezing rain and wind. Our first winter south. last year for three months, was


everything we had hoped for. We stayed in Brandon, Florida, 20 minutes from downtown Tampa Bay, just 40 minutes from the beach, and about 25 minutes from the Pebble Creek golf club that I joined. We lived in a gated community, and after we were there for


a bit, I realized that when all these communities were built, they also built large ponds or reservoirs for drainage. Quite frankly, the homes could be sold as waterfront property. Over time, these ponds began to produce fish, mostly bass


and panfish. The fish may have gotten in there by way of birds transporting them from one body of water to another and through the sewer systems. Anyway, that first year I did nothing but play golf and enjoy life


with some family and a lot of friends who were either in the area or took vacation with us. I always wondered if there were any fish in the two large ponds around my house, but I hadn’t brought a rod and reel with me. Fast-forward to 2015, and along with the golf clubs, this time


I packed my spinning rod and a box of assorted tackle to try my luck.


Well, it didn’t take me long to find out that I didn’t bring the 24 BOUNDER MAGAZINE


right bait for fish in my ponds. I tried typical Ontario bass bait: spinner baits, lures and hula poppers – but nothing. And I mean not a bite (oh yeah, I did have a bird swoop down to take a run at my


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