Where Can I Fish?

"What are food options?" "Where is the library?" "What stores are close to campus?" "Where do I go for registration?" Those are the kinds of questions most students ask during college orientation. No. 1 on my list of questions?  "Where can I fish?"

Fortunately, someone had a good answer for me. The University of South Carolina owned a property called the Bell Camp about 15 mikes from the college campus. It had a nice little building that was used for various functions and other facilities. All that mattered to me was the 5- or 10-acre lake, which had good bank accessand johnboat availability at times and gave me a place to fish right away.

During my time at USC I became pretty familiar with the Bell Camp's bass and I spent a lot of hours walking the lake's banks. Over time I gained opportunities to fish Lake Murray, the Saluda River, Santee Cooper and other major fishing destinations, but the Bell Camp was nearby, simple, familiar and accessible without ownership of a boat, and those factors made it very nice.

The Bell Camp gave me a place to fish, and that gave me a sense of home in a place that was new to me at that time.