Adventures On Tator Creek

[FishinPals]

Growing up in a small midwestern town had some advantages especially when it came to fishing. Many small ponds and creeks were within walking distance for a six year old and his friends. Tator Creek was the hot spot back in those days when a good willow made a great pole and you could get all the nightcrawlers you could use in an hour or so roaming around your neighbors yard at 10 o'clock at night (and they thought nothing about it).
Tator Creek was about a mile and a half from town on a widely used gravel road and generally you could get a ride as soon as you started down it and usually whoever picked you up knew where you were going. Now as I remember it, Tator Creek was about 10 feet deep in many spots and a football field wide loaded with some of the biggest bull heads and suckers in the US. Of course that was about 55 years ago. I have so many great memories of spending the day there with a few friends trying to catch the monster of the day. Often we would cook our catch over a small fire after cleaning them and putting them on a stick like one would a hot dog and most of the fish weren't that big (As a hot dog I mean). One time we built a raft and got a local fellow to haul it out for us. What a good time we had on that raft although it touched the bottom and actually never floated down stream. I now realize that Tator Creek wasn't as deep as I often thought it was back then. Some of my childhood buddies are now longer with us but I sure do have the memories of those days fishing on "Tator Creek". Yes those was good ole days.

[Soupy_1us]

Funny how our creeks and rivers grow smaller as we grow older....As our local city lake.. When I was a kid it was the biggest thing around and now, with a good right arm , you can fling a stone across it and it's the same now as it was then. But, the times were good...Thanks for sharing that little story Jim.

[4rum]

Mornin' FishinPals, Soupy;

My 'Tater Creek' was a small branch of New River that quietly came around my side of an island. Like your Tater Creek, I doubt that it was 10 feet deep any where. It was loaded with 'Sunfish' though. Most times used a cane pole with about 10 feet of black nylon 'feeshin' line' tied to the end. At times the carp spawned in there, me and a buddy would take our bows and just wade. I've had huge carp actually swimm between my legs once the water was mudded up. Those 29 cent cedar arrows didn't hold up too good with a 30 pound carp wraped around 'em... but they was cheap... only 5 or 6 soda bottles.

I think that was the primary currency through most of my formative years... whew... a box of .22 shorts was EXPENSIVE ! ! !

[gofish]

good story ......had ole stony creek here.....looked real big as a young un an full of bullheads,carp an smallies.......progress hit an most of thats all gone now though

[Illinoisgiller]

FishinPals, Neat story that brought back memories of our "Tater Creek'.:icon_cool::icon_cool: Ours was Pope Creek and dumped into the Mississippi River on the edge of the town I was born in. Those grey crick worms in the crick bottoms catch fish better than any we buy now. Thanks again, Mike