For years, I have been taking my kids, along with many of the neighborhood kids, to the ponds located on a recently closed golf course behind my home. Usually, during the early evening hours, the kids and I will make the short 300 yard walk through the overgrown brush, that once was a thriving, beautiful, 45-hole golf course.

Interestingly enough, in the past, we used to start early, heading out to the garden to dig up worms to take along for our fishing excursion. This year, perhaps getting a little lazy, I opted to head to the refrigerator instead, cutting up hot dogs into worm-looking shapes, hoping to fool the tiny fish that we usually catch.

As we headed out this time, we expected the same results - dropping in lines, and immediately catching the same small little fish. Sure enough, as we dropped in line after line, the fish jumped on, creating excitement for the kids similar to that seen when they hear the bells of the ice cream truck on hot summer days.

As the sun set, we began to gather our things, expecting to head back home, telling tales of the monster 4" fish that each of the kids had caught, and the struggles and battles that it took to get them ashore. But...little did we know, as we dropped the last line in for the night, that a true "monster" was lurking. As the bobber dropped below the surface, we expected the same result. But this time it was surely different. We could have never expected that this "monster" bass had a craving for a hot dog this evening. As we reeled it in - the eyes of the kids lit up, realizing that this fish was likely the biggest that they had ever seen come out of this pond.

Who would have known - with the golf course closed for several years now, and apparently nothing for the fish to do but grow - that we'd land ourselves a fish similar to that which we'd catch out near the banks of Lake St. Clair.

Now that we have seen a glimpse - we'll be back out there, for sure - to see what else is lurking in the depths of the golf course ponds......