Would you believe that it took only four casts for North Platte's John Shackleford to connect with this 6-pounder at Chester Island WMA? Photo courtesy of John Shackleford.

Nebraska bass fishermen have long felt a little shortchanged when it comes to large lakes and reservoirs that harbor lots of largemouth bass. The state's not blessed with many big reservoirs such as those found in other states that serve up great bass fishing.

We may not have the big lakes that generate a lot of publicity, but we Cornhusker fans of the largemouth find that the hundreds of farm ponds and sandpit lakes scattered throughout our state tend to offset our lack of big-name bass waters.

While private land encloses the vast majority of these small waters, scores of small watershed ponds and numerous sandpit lakes are publicly accessible and offer the angler a good chance at catching bass -- and, yes, even trophy bass!

Chris Stutz of Hazard has found a lot of good bass fishing not far from his home. "Over the past few years I have fished the sandpit lakes such as those at Kearney, Odessa, Elm Creek, Wood River and Grand Island exits on I-80," he said. "One of my favorites is the Bufflehead Wildlife Management Area at the Kearney exit, because I work in Kearney, and I can run out there and get in a few casts on my lunch hour.

"The fishing wasn't all that great in the lake last year, because of low water due to drought. It was good in 2003 when I caught three or four Master Angler bass (a minimum of 5 pounds or 20 inches) out of the lake. When the word got around there were some nice bass being caught, the fishing pressure increased and success dropped.

"The great part about fishing these small lakes is the fact that if fishing success drops on one, you can find another that is pretty good. I caught five or six more trophy bass in 2003 from other lakes."

The sandpit lakes along I-80 stretch all the way from Grand Island to Chappell. Most are managed by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and range in size from 4 acres in four pits at Chester Island WMA at Brady to 80 acres in three lakes at the Grand Island interchange.

Many other fishermen have caught trophy bass from the lakes. Steve Heil of Ayr was among them; he beached a 21-incher at the Windmill State Recreation Area. Also, Scott Thomas of North Platte fooled a 21-incher from the West Hershey WMA lake, and Russ Van Lengen of Grand Island caught a 22-inch largemouth at the Darr WMA lake.

John Shackelford of North Platte caught a 6-pound largemouth on a topwater lure at the Chester Island WMA. He still can't believe it.

"I was in another area close to Chester Island, so I thought I might as well try it too," he recalled. "I walked in and made a couple or three casts along a log sticking out from the shore. On my next cast I saw a bass right up near the surface alongside the log. My surface lure was quite a distance beyond the log, so I cranked a little faster, and as I did, something exploded on my lure.