North Country Angling: Bassin’ the valley

My first recollection of angling for bass is on Baptist Pond in Springfield, right around the time they were building Interstate 89 to get folks from Concord to Burlington, Vt. We rented cottages on the shore, and it was a fun family vacation with extended family members.

Of course, the cottages had docks that extended out into the lake. These were ideal for throwing out bait on a bobber and waiting for an unsuspecting fish to take the bait. Baptist Pond was a warmwater anglers delight with smallmouth bass, pickerel, yellow perch and sunfish. Nightcrawlers were the bait of choice.