Editor's note: George Rowland of Fayetteville is the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette fish story champion for 2020. Here is Rowland's winning story and the story by runner-up Andy Black of Fayetteville.
Over 20 years ago in spring, I took my trusty fly rod out of closet retirement and used it one more time in life. I'm now 82 years old with memories of that thought.
Rigged up a hair popping bug still on the line from the past, with artificial plastic frog's legs with a sinker on the line. Took it to the 17th lake fairway at Paradise Valley golf course where I still live by the golf course.
I would sling my bait into the water and bump it slowly on the bottom. It awakened the young bass to a frenzy in a short time near dark. I caught seven bass about a foot long weighing about one pound each.
Put them in a bucket and walked up the hill in near dark and released them in the seventh small pond in front of the 7th par three green. I figured they would like all the small sun perch in the pond.
Therefore, five years later I asked a young man at the pro shop who fished if he had caught any of my bass. He said yes, two that weighed over 5 pounds and released them back into the pond.
Hopefully now there are some still left to watch the golf balls plopping daily into the water short of the green.
