Whats normally called a pond is called a tank in Texas. Your average cow will drink roughly 25 gallons of water a day during our scorching summers. To provide water for their livestock ranchers started building tanks by bull dozing a dirt dam across a gully to collect runoff. Today many of these tanks are supplemented by wells that pump cool fresh ground water keeping these tanks full of water. They started getting stocked by sportsman and ranchers with bass and other game fish and frankly some just got fish in them from unknown sources. These tanks can be located in some of the most water barren parts of the state, but somehow they hold fish and other amphibians like bullfrogs and red ear sliders. They are a great fishing opportunity that shouldn't be over looked. The fishing is normally pretty easy due to the lack of fishing pressure and the small size of these water impediments. No matter what the conditions are like, (high pressure, cold front or clear windless days) you can almost always find a few fish that are willing to add a smile to your day.
Today Robert and I hit a stock tank he has access to. The fishing was good and we caught a lot of nice fish. It appears most the bass had already spawned and are currently in post spawn mode. Robert caught an absolute pig of a crappie and I caught nice post spawn female that I would have liked to have seen when she was still full of eggs. Over all it was a great half day of fishing. One of the best things about tank fishing is you can fish them thoroughly in a few hours from the bank, small boat, or a float tube then get back to your other responsibilities for the day. A quick mid week fishing fix on a spring day is hard to beat.
