Photo courtesy of Polly Dean.

It was a fateful phone call during the summer of 1999 that eventually led to my job at Callaway Gardens.

I had called an executive at a well-known fly-rod manufacturer and explained to him that, as a fly-fishing guide, I was putting his company’s rods in the hands of my clients on a daily basis and had sold dozens of them that way. I suggested he show a little appreciation in the form a few freebies passed along my way.

He responded by telling me that he had worked for this company for 25 years and the only thing he ever got for free was whatever he stole; then he said that he’d see what he could do. I wasn’t sure what that meant exactly, but not wanting to incriminate myself, I just said OK.

I never did get a free fly rod out of the deal. But in the course of the conversation, the exec told me that he’d heard through the grapevine that Callaway Gardens was looking for someone to run fishing operations there. Like so many other people I was only vaguely aware that this 13,000-acre resort and botanical garden in Pine Mountain even had a fishing operation. The most beautiful azalea display I had ever seen? Yes. One of the nation’s largest tropical butterfly conservatories? Yes. Luxury accommodations? Sure. I even knew that Callaway Gardens offered world-class golf, but the fishing opportunities seemed to fly under the radar.

A few days later I made contact with Callaway Gardens and within a couple weeks I was interviewing for the job. The highlight of the interview process came when one of the guides took me fishing to determine if I knew what I was doing.

It was a miserably hot August day and the guide frankly told me that he doubted we would enjoy much success. For the first hour we caught nothing -- not even a bite. Then suddenly it turned on. Over the next two hours we caught numerous bass in the 3- to 6-pound range. I left that day feeling confident I would get the job.

I’m also happy to say that eight years later I still feel the same as I did that day -- for quality bass fishing, Callaway Gardens ranks among the best there is.

For those wishing to take advantage of the bass fishing opportunities at Callaway, there are basically three options. Boat rentals are available on Mountain Creek Lake, guided fly-fishing is available on the 14 other private lakes, and a limited number of guided spin-fishing trips are also available on the same private lakes. Let’s take a closer look at all three.

ON YOUR OWN
Mountain Creek Lake
At the center of the gardens is the 175-acre Mountain Creek Lake. This lake was constructed in 1950 and guests of the gardens have been enjoying some great bass fishing there ever since.

For many years the primary forage fish in the lake was golden shiners. It was not uncommon to see schools of thousands of shiners cruising the banks with a pod of bass following closely behind, waiting for the baitfish to encounter a point or hump. Once they did, a vicious attack was eminent. Bass grew large from feeding on shiners and the lake record is just over 16 pounds.

Then in 2002-03 something strange happened. The shiners disappeared. It took over a year to put the pieces of the puzzle together, but after consulting with fisheries biologists and professional lake management experts, it was determined that the shiners had contracted a fairly rare, but deadly virus which is specific to golden shiners. Over a period of several months the shiner population had been decimated.

The domino effect was an increase in bass production -- because shiners actually invade the beds of bass and help keep bass populations in balance by devouring eggs -- and a decrease in food available for the bass. Couple those with the simultaneous emergence of a burgeoning crappie population and it appeared that Mountain Creek Lake was in big trouble.