Which lake or pond was your favorite to spend idle time at, whether fishing, skipping rocks or etc...

There was a place called Lost Lake in Hood River, Oregon. You could see Mt. Hood from there pretty well. Family trips aren’t as prevalent now, but we went there a lot in the summer. My mother and I would circle the lake looking for slamanders and just have great camp outs.

The pond on my own farm was where I fished and swam as a young boy. My great-uncle owned it then. It was formed about 200 years ago by damming up a small tributary stream of the Connecticut River in New Hampshire. It’s also fed from a spring, which makes it nice and cold on hot summer days. The trout like it too.

There is a river bend in a forest preserve by me that was perfect for doing just that. Nice supply of flat stones too.

When I was in grade school, my dad bought a 28 ft boat and had it docked on Lake Michigan. We lived two hours away, and on weekends we’d drive up and sleep on the boat. In spite of the extreme sea sickness I’d get from spending the day slowly trolling on the lake while we fished, I loved those weekends. When we weren’t out on the lake, my brother and I had the run of the docks. We loved the geese and swans, the soda machines in the office, and the fish-gutting area. When we weren’t fishing, we’d jump off the boat and swim in water that was 80 feet deep, or deeper. Sometimes my dad would tie an innertube to the back of the boat, and pull us on it. When he wasn’t trolling for fish and drove the boat fast, bumping over the waves, my brother and I would hold on for dear life and love every minute of it. We’d play on the dunes or go to a nearby zoo. The fish my dad caught were huge, and there are so many pictures of my brother, who was 7 or 8, holding up a fish that was bigger than him. We did this for a few years, and then my dad started to lose interest and sold the boat.

By that time, however, we’d moved out to the country and had a pond of our own. It covered half an acre, was about 10 feet deep in the middle, and had a small island. It was stocked with bluegill, bass, and catfish. We moved to that house when I was 12, and the pond was our biggest plaything. My friends and I would go swimming in the summer, and ice skating in the winter. We fished a lot, and had a little rowboat to take out onto the water. We caught frogs, and each spring collected frog eggs to see them hatch and raise the little tadpoles. I used my microscope to study samples of the pond water. Each spring, a pair of geese would build a nest on the island and we’d watch the babies grow up and learn to fly. When my dad sold the house several years ago, I was so sad even though I’d been living in another state for a few years.

@MissAusten Very, very nice. That put a smile on my face.:)

Do rivers count? There was a huge “Tarzan” rope hanging over the deepest part of the Jordan river which ran adjacent to my school. As a teen, I’d spend most of my summer classes there, swimming, writing poetry and daydreaming. Anything but Math.

Lived on the Natchez Trace Lake for 10 years and my golf course surrounds it, until my ex talked me into selling….sure miss that place! don’t miss her!

Big Bear Lake as a child,for me was like paradise.It was a clean lake with a sandy bottom and
it’s where I learned to not water-ski because of the pike marsh.lol
As an adult,Lake St.Clair and the flats around Harsen’s Island are where I like to go.It is so beautiful and peaceful.There are places there that you can have complete solitude.
It’s the best feeling ever :)

A lake in Maine, near Bridgeton. I was at camp.

And then Lake Wequaquet in Centerville, MA.

And finally Lake Placid.

Not a lake but a river; the river Witham that runs through Lincoln and then through the Fens, to the North Sea near Boston. I used to walk the river just east of Lincoln, and sometimes I’d just sit and watch the wild swans and grebes that nest there. It’s a very slow-flowing river and popular for narrowboats.

Lake Michigan via Bradford Beach in Milwaukee. So big, it’s known as “The Third Coast”.

Lake Casitas in Ojai, California. It is beautiful winter and summer, surrounded by mountains covered in scrub. It is hot, but there are lots and lots of mature shady trees all around its banks. It is beautiful and serene – especially during the week when there are very few campers. Bonus: stopping at Boccali’s for pizza, fresh tomato salad, and homemade strawberry shortcake on the way home!

I grew up on Long Island. Had the Great South Bay in my backyard.

I grew up swimming in quarries—it’s the coldest and cleanest water I’ve ever been in—fun memories for me.

On hot summer days, before the new bridge over the stream was built, my mother used to take me and my siblings down to this pool in the river. The water was always freezing and it seemed to take me hours just to get in, but once I was in the water was so refreshing, and there were rocks and critters to play with. There was no house next door, and the old bridge was narrow and kind of cool to climb on, when you were allowed to.

After the bridge was built, we wouldn’t go there as much, or maybe at all. But then, two years later, I was off to college, so I didn’t really need it any more.

Lake Huron, where I grew up. In the evenings the water calms and you can skip shale way out there.

I spent a lot of time with my cousin on Lake Marion in SC one summer, although I’m not sure this would qualify as my “favorite” experience… more like my only real lake experience.

Snakes. Everywhere. I’m not kidding. They were hanging from the trees, swimming in the water, all over everywhere. :/

I think most people here know that I have a love affair with Lake Tahoe on the California/Nevada border (I’m going there tomorrow!). Because my family has a vacation home on the lake, I’ve spent a lot of idle time by the shore of the lake. It’s my place. There are also numerous smaller lakes surrounding Lake Tahoe. Ones that I’ve spent the most time at are Echo Lake (on the south shore), Spooner Lake (on the Nevada side), and Marlette Lake (also on the Nevada side). These small lakes are fun to hike to and spend time at. :)

@DominicX

Oh yeah! Tahoe is sublime!

Had a family cabin in Kyberz on the river forever.

Check out Salt springs resevior down 50 west and Silver Lake! ;-)

I live about 5 minutes from the South Fork of the American river in Coloma.

Been on this river for years, it never gets old

Infact, pulling down the inner tubes for the weekend.

I am fortunate to have about 5 different river accesses and lakes within about a 25 mile area.

There was a lake in Ust-Labisnk, Russia where I spent much of my childhood – it was inside the forest and there were many plants around it…we loved to run away from our homes to be there unfound for hours. I know unfound isn’t a word but it should be

Unfound…. I like that. I agree Simone, it should be.

@wilma Definitely, I am using it in my next poem, I promise.

The Red River in Winnipeg. Man so much shit happened there.
I found a dead pig on the shore, with its head removed, my dad and I built a hut down there, I dropped my skull shaped ring in the water, some friends and I untied some rich fuck’s boat and let it stray to the middle of the river, camped down there, got stoned and drunk down there, made love down there, got bored down there, reflected, mused, cried, laughed, hell I even got arrested in the woods down by the river.

There was good stuff too. In the Winter, we had the Festival du Voyageur where when the river was frozen, there was a buncha activities going on. Even at night they left lanterns so we could see where we were going. Walking on frozen ice is epic, especially at night. Hell one year they were giving out free hamburgers, and on New Year’s I got all fucked on Vodka and shrooms. That, and the Assiniboine river are pretty famous in Winnipeg, so stuff always happens around there. Not to mention The Forks, for anyone who’s fmailiar with Winnipeg. But yea, I’m straying.

I spent a great part of my adolescent life in those woods doing nothing constructive, and while not all of it was positive, there’s no use denying that it left a great mark in my memories.

@Symbeline Wow, you had fun!! I was stuck in a sheltered existence until I was 20. I missed a wealth of experiences. I did get some similar experiences in my three years in Fairbanks, Alaska in my mid 20s, but as an officer I had to behave myself. :^(

Here’s a piece of my long and winding stream. The little waterfall doesn’t show, sadly, but omnipresent Milo does.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/45159532@N08/4755122376/in/photostream/

@py_sue Pretty sweet!

@stranger_in_a_strange_land I hope them’s be some be good eatin trout as I said in a colloquial manner.

@zenele You hate math too?
I’m good at it but I would rather deal with learning new words as I found that way cooler than boring old math.

@lucillelucillelucille That really sounds like a great summer retreat especially for southerners like myself that are tired of all that heat. You might be able to run a tourism business there and cash in!

@downtide Sounds like a peaceful meditative afternoon doing nothing :) !

@Kraken About half are cooked fresh, the rest for the smokehouse. Yum!

@SuperMouse Sounds like a fun place to take a date too. I’ll remember that.

@Dommy, Yeah I have seen tons of travel program shows about that region and it always gets rave reviews. It indeed is amongst the top travel spots that are pristine and serene all at once and are under-seen, hence it is really worth the experience to soak it all in and totally enjoy the experience.

My favorite is a place called Sunset Lake in Delaware. It belongs to a private fishing club that my father belonged to. I used to love to spend time there with my Dad bass fishing. A beautiful place and very peaceful and quiet. I would love to be able to go there now but unfortunately, as I mentioned, it is owned by a private fishing club. A private club that does not allow female members, a right that I acknowledge is guaranteed them by the Constitution. The club has a 15 year waiting list, and had I been born a man I could have actually inherited my father’s membership when he died or if I had married, my husband could have inherited my father’s membership. It’s all very primitive and patrilineal, but sadly they have a right to run things that way. I have a tremendous respect for the rights guaranteed us by the Constitution but it still really sucks that the only reason I can’t fish on that beautiful lake is because I am female. Fuck ‘em.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, Your answer has angered me to the extreme. In this day and age to hear this is gross and disgusting. I feel your pain all the way. Fight this wrong as it is a gross wrong and we live in the age of equality and if this evil still exists then it must be quelched. We live in the age of sex equality and any nonsense that berates a sex shall not be tolerated. Shame on them for their statements.

I love Daley Lake. Just between Yellowstone Park and Livingston, MT. I went there the first time when I was four DAYS old. My parents were camping there with my brothers and I for five days. I was told they would leave me with three little old ladies on the shore who would watch me while they fished. It’s a tiny lake, super windy, and extremely beautiful. I recently went back with my dad, and we fished on our pontoon boats all day. The wind picked up and blew us to the far side. My dad has an extremely bad back, so I had to row us both across the lake, towing him. It took 45 minutes of rowing as hard as I could, without stopping, to get us back. I was smiling the whole time.

Although the spot has long been redeveloped, there was a particular bend on the DuPage River between two small towns that was deep enough for a Tarzan rope, yet quiet enough for a line and pole.