Fishing is many things to many people. It can be as easy as stepping out of your vehicle next to a stream or lake and walking a few feet, or jumping in a boat tied to a slip, or hiking to a destination that requires some degree of physical ability. Many of my favorite fishing memories involve adventures I’ve had in the back 40 or high in a remote wilderness. The idea of just getting away from people is plenty of reason to visit the backcountry, and we all know about competition among anglers. It’s often true that the less pressure, the better the fishing.
I’ve learned you don’t need to trek many miles in the wilderness to enjoy backcountry fishing. I’ve had outstanding angling in places where just a half-mile walk put me in spots where I was virtually alone and caught all the fish I wanted. Many of those places were adjacent to urban areas. In one instance I made several trips a year to a small pond a few miles from my hometown. It took me a half hour to work my way along a sparse trail full of briers, but I always came home with a stringer full of big bluegills and slab crappies.
When you think about fishing
