Amazing, isn’t it, what half a century of time can do to a place. I grew up in rural Natchitoches Parish near the village of Goldonna and I’ve been gone from there over five decades. I go back today on occasional visits and hardly recognize anything.

There were four of us who grew up together, one year apart. I’m the oldest; my cousin Doug is a year younger; my brother Tom a year younger than Doug and Sambo a year younger than Tom. The four Harris Boys, they called us. Living less than a quarter mile apart, we could have been brothers. Summer days were spent barefooted and bare-backed in the woods and creeks around our homes bird hunting, fishing, killing snakes, playing “deer and dog” and swimming.

One particular area served as a catalyst for our summertime outdoor activities….the Tank Pond. On a visit back home several years or so ago, I took a walk down through the woods to visit the Tank Pond but to my surprise and dismay, it was no longer there. Thick buck brush grew over a damp spot where we once swam and played. If I listened closely though, I could hear a trickle of water somewhere down there in the brush. I could only rely on my memory to bring to life the old pond where the four of us learned to swim. Back then, fresh spring water coursed over a concrete spillway that had been built there maybe a century ago to impound the little creek into a nice sized pond.

The Tank Pond was used as a water source for the steam engines of the L&A Railroad trains that stopped there for water to generate steam. Near the pond was an elevated tank where the water was pumped from the pond. A boom was lowered and water flowed from the tank into the boiler of the engine where it was heated by a coal-fed fire box, thus generating the steam that served as a power source for the train.

I recall lying in bed at night, listening to the train grind to a laborious halt with screeching wheels and hissing steam as it stopped at the Tank Pond for water. Once the boiler was filled, the engine would begin a slow CHUG…..CHUG….CHUG before the wheels lost their grip on the rails with a rapid CHUGCHUGCHUG. I knew what was next. The train had to back up all the way below Goldonna, nearly a mile distant, to get a running start at the gradual grade that culminated on Oshkosh Hill a couple of miles on up the track past the Tank Pond.

That’s all gone now. The L&A railroad is no more, the tracks long abandoned, the right-of-way overgrown. My sister told me that the rails were pulled up and sold to a company that transported them to Chile. I find it odd that the rails I walked barefoot as a kid are now supporting train traffic and barefoot boys in South America.

Water that coursed over the spillway trickled through a culvert beneath the railroad tracks where it spilled into Molido Creek fifty yards from the tracks. Just below where the Tank Pond waters met Molido, a deep hole in the bend of the creek made for a fine swimming hole, one that holds a plethora of memories.

The only snake bite I ever had was inflicted in this swimming hole as a snake bit me behind the knee while we were swimming. One look at Doug’s rusty Barlow and I decided to take my chances of dying of snake bite rather than to have Doug whittle on my leg with his dull knife. Luckily, the snake was a common water snake and I survived without my cousin’s help.

I visited the area awhile back and to my surprise, the Tank Pond is there again, much as it was when Doug, Tom, Sambo and I swam in it as youngsters. I learned that some 20 years ago, the brush, debris and sediment were removed, the pond excavated to recreate our old swimming hole much like it was when we were boys.

Some things old and forgotten can be brought back to life. I’m thankful our Tank Pond is now breathing new life.

FISHING REPORT

CANEY LAKE – Crappie fishing has been good with some slabs caught fishing shiners around the deeper tops. Bass are best fishing topwater lures early around the grass lines. Later, best fishing has been on secondary points on soft plastics and crank baits. For information contact Caney Lake Landing at 259-6649, Hooks Marina at 249-2347, Terzia Tackle at 278-4498 or the Honey Hole Tackle Shop at 323-8707.
BLACK BAYOU – No report. Contact Honey Hole Tackle Shop 323-8707 for latest information.
BUSSEY BRAKE – Bass fishing is best fishing the wind rows and tree lines early with topwater lures. Later, flipping soft plastics around the brush is picking up some good fish. Crappie are still hitting shiners and jigs around deep brush. For latest information, contact the Honey Hole at 323-8707.
OUACHITA RIVER – The river is low because of a levee issue below Columbia. Launching is possible at Joe Bob’s but it’s difficult. For latest information, contact the Honey Hole Tackle Shop at 323-8707.
LAKE D’ARBONNE – The lake is down 5 feet and bass fishing has been good if you can find any moving water at mouth of creeks. Crappie are bunched up on the channel edges and shiners and jigs are working on them. Bream are slow; catfishing good off the banks. For latest information, call Anderson Sport Center at 368-9669 or Honey Hole Tackle Shop at 323-8707.
LAKE CLAIBORNE – Crappie fishing has been good with some slabs caught fishing shiners or jigs around the deep tops.. No report on stripers. Bass have been caught early mornings on topwater lures fished along the edges of grass. Bream are slow. For latest information, call Kel’s Cove at 927-2264 or Terzia Tackle at 278-4498.
LAKE POVERTY POINT – A crappie tournament was held last week with some slabs caught with the winning five fish stringer weighing more than 11 pounds. Crappie are improving in deeper water on the south end as well as some being caught on the north end. Catfish are fair to good. No report on bass. For latest reports, call Poverty Point Marina at 318/878-0101.
LAKE YUCATAN – The water has fallen back to pool stage. Catfish are biting and commercial fishermen are catching a good many buffalo. No report on bass and crappie. For info call Surplus City Landing at 318/467-2259.