Backcountry slabs love hanging near flooded timber and cypress trees, especially those with lots of knees and overhanging branches. (Photo by Keith Sutton)
Anglers who enjoy the pursuit of panfish often go to great lengths to access prime fishing waters. Take my uncles, for example. When I was a teenager, they often invited me to join them for backcountry excursions to small lakes and streams rarely visited by other people.
Most of these remote waters were a mile or more away from the nearest access roads. To reach and fish them, we strapped a set of specially made wheels beneath the stern of a small wooden johnboat and then used brute strength to pull the craft through the woodlands from the truck to the lake. This often took two to three hours to accomplish, but none of our crew complained. We knew these secluded waters were teeming...