Golf course ponds: What fish?

I finally asked my husband about this, as he's a dedicated golfer and now works at his favorite course.

In our state, the DNR raises fingerlings in there, seines them out and uses them for stocking. Golf courses are perfect, as most of their ponds are so shallow they freeze to the bottom in winter, keeping trash fish from being a problem.

Golf course people are normally really reluctant to let anyone fish. At my desk I have a picture of a 22" 8.5 lb Largemouth taken from (and returned to) an Albuquerque country club pond.

What a great way to go. He didn't even have to cut the grass!!

You ask the management politely. Tell them that you'll fish during off times and respect all golfers and give them the right of way. If they turn you down, you can picket the place. I've heard a seven iron makes a good placard holder.

My grandparents on my fathers side retired to Sun City Center near
Tampa circa 1973 or so and bought a small house on one of the golf courses (for $18,000 as I recall) As soon as I hit the door to visit it was over to the course to fish on the 12th hole (later melanomas will be blamed on this) . My grandfather was an avid fisherman but his arthritis was so bad he only fished with spincasting rods because he could only close his hands around the reel and grip together. The only lure he fished with was a grape plastic worm unweighted and man could he fish with that! His last day on earth he caught an 8 1/2 lb largemouth, commented to my grandmother he was going to take a nap before cutting the grass and laid down on the sofa and died of a heart attack (some 14 years after his first heart attack) I continued to fish there as long as my grandmother lived in Sun City and as long as I fished early or late and stayed out of the way of the gophers :^ the course marshalls were always tolerant. I never caught any that size but caught them up to 4 or 5 lbs which were damn big fish in my eyes.

And talk about plenty of clearance for a backcast!! I hear that in most course ponds, there are some lunkers that spend their lives in the deep brush (especially if there is an overgrown island) and who have never been fished for in their lives. How does one get permission to cast in a golf course pond?