By Mark Boggan

LIVINGSTON -- It's late July, the middle of the day, and an unusually frustrating weather front is hanging over West Alabama like an IRS audit, dropping rain on our heads and turning the fish into zombies. And yet, despite all those obvious obstacles, my 10-year-old son Taylor has just set the hook on what feels to be a sizeable largemouth bass.

"I think I've got something," he says, his voice sounding a little unsure.
"Are you sure," I ask, not sounding the least bit optimistic at this point.
"No, I'm just stuck," he says, his voice dropping. Then, he changes his mind.
"Wait! My line's moving," he shouts.

One minute later, he muscles the fish into a waiting net, and the verdict is in. The bass has got to be at least 6 pounds, the largest bass he's ever caught. (OK, so maybe it was 5 1/2 pounds, but he's my son, so I say it was 6 pounds.) It's not a typical dream day on Dream Lake, but it says a lot when you can still catch fish under the worst conditions. Where else but at a truly outstanding lake can you catch 20 bass in half a day's worth of ugly weather, including one 10 1/2-pound hog with a chunky gut and wide shoulders.?

Yes, 10 1/2 pounds. We hooked her. We hoisted her into the boat. We lipped her. We weighed her. Honest! We've even got pictures! We've also got pictures of a seven-pounder, and we quit taking pictures of all the healthy four-and three-quarter pounders we hauled in. And of course there's always the big ones that got away, with several sizeable bass slipping off the hook, including one that looked like it could have run 12 pounds or better.

And there's plenty more where those came from at Dream Lake, approximately 70 acres of water, standing timber, wood piles, rock piles, ditches, ledges and humps in Livingston, Ala. By pouring tons of money, time, sweat, expertise and passion into this project, Paul and Connie Bracknell and their son Chad have created a fishing paradise where it's not out of the ordinary 'to catch a bass that weighs 8 pounds or more, as well as 150 bass per day.

Don't believe us? Ask Hank Parker, former pro angler and host of his own ' fishing show on TNN? Or Lonnie Stanley and Ron Franklin, hosts of their own fishing shows on ESPN? Or how about Doug Hannon, ESPN's "Bass Professor?" They've all come to Dream Lake to film television shows and come away wowed by what they caught on film and on the end of their line. Or, you can look through three hefty scrapbooks at literally hundreds of trophy bass that have been caught at Dream Lake since the Bracknells opened their treasure lake to the public four years ago. The record bass at Dream Lake is 14 pounds, three ounces, and the stout 13 pound, 8 ounce bass encased in glass in the lodge looks like something that needs to be walked on a leash.

Of course, the people that caught all those bass got lucky. They came on good days, which are both frequent and typical at Dream Lake. We just happened to show up smack dab in the middle of a three-day weather front that shut down fishing throughout most of the state. In fact, that same day one of the state's top outdoor writers barely managed to haul in a keeper bass at a private lake owned by B.A.S.S. founder Ray Scout.

Maybe that outdoor writer should have come to Dream Lake instead. At least he would have caught fish, even under the disagreeable conditions. The Bracknells only allow two boats on the lake at one time, and the two more experienced anglers in the other boat, who were making a return trip to Dream Lake, also struggled to catch fish, but still came away with more than 20 in the morning session, before the call of homemade fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, cole slaw, cobbler and the best cooked cabbage in the history of the world seduced them into returning to the Dream Lake Lodge for lunch.

One of those anglers, Bobby Chandler of Birmingham, has now returned to Dream Lake five times since his original trip, and one relatively slow day isn't about to keep him from coming back. He's seen and caught too many good fish to be discouraged, including the day he and a friend caught more than 100 bass, including 14 between 4 and 8 1/2 pounds.

"You've got a good chance to catch a very large fish here, and lots of them, Chandler says of his reason for coming back time and again. "But even better than that, it's Paul and Connie. They're just good folks - the kind that are hard to find these days." It takes people with vision to see what other people can't see and turn a dream into a reality, and that's exactly what you get with the Bracknells. Paul Bracknell built his first pond 28 years ago, filling a 17-acre body of water with timber and other bass structure. He also owned a sporting goods store at the time, and after awhile his pond earned such a widespread reputation that people constantly dropped by the store asking for a chance to fish his pond. Eventually, people offered to pay him for a shot at the monster bass in his pond, and it didn't take long for Bracknell to come up with a plan to take advantage of his experience.

"I told Connie, if people will offer this kind of money to fish a small lake and I can build a bigger lake and make it better, I think there will be a demand for it," Bracknell says. "So we bought the land and started building. When construction on Dream Lake actually began 10 years ago, Bracknell didn't just dig a hole, fill it with water and throw in a few fish. He took great pains to build an ideal lake, taking several key steps:

• The lake area already had some natural ditches, but in the digging process, bulldozers were used to created ledges and dropoffs.
• Bulldozers were also used to pull cedar trees into stacks and rows 20 feet high.
• Standing trees were allowed to stand, and continue to rise above the water.
• Multiple rock piles were created, and a huge pile of sand that accidentally turned up during the dam construction was use to create a huge hump.
• Nineteen aerators were installed to keep the lake oxygenated, and 10 horsepower paddlewheels are kept on hand for emergencies. Once the lake was built, Bracknell turned his attention to stocking and forage:
• 1,000 pounds of talapia are added each year when the temperature rises above 50 degrees. The young fish those talapia produce quickly become bite-size meals for bass. When the temperature falls below 50, the talapia die.
• Once a year, Bracknell beings in 1,000 pounds of fresh crawfish and dumps them into the water within hours of purchase. For the two weeks following that crawfish buffet, red crankbaits are the weapon of choice for anglers.
• The lake is also stocked with threadfil shad, and 50,000 bite-sized brim are added each year. -- Two brood ponds were constructed to raise both forage fish and bass. About 300-500 bass are added to the lake each year.

"We've got so many fish in this lake that it takes all these forage fish just to feed 'em", Bracknell says. "It's just packed with fish." In addition to the lake itself, the Bracknells have added an exceptional lodge that can sleep at least 20 people in separate queen and king size beds. The lodge has its own kitchen, and each room comes with its own bathroom, television and satellite dish access.

The food at Dream Lake Lodge is extraordinary, thanks to the culinary expertise of Ertha Bell, who plans her extensive menus according to the tastes of her dinner guests. Whether it's fried chicken, pork chops, catfish, steaks, roast or Boston butts (and don't forget the biscuits, desserts and vegetables). Ertha serves her abundant meals family style, with all you could possibly hope to eat. The Bracknells are constantly looking into new opportunities to improve the lodge and the lake. They hope to attract corporate outings and other group events in the future and they will continue to open the ledge on selected days for outstanding deer and turkey hunting. However, fishing remains the main event at Dream Lake, and that's why Bracknell recently purchased five fully-loaded 21-foot Stratos XL bass boats to allow anglers to fish in style.

"We want our lake and our lodge to be second to none." Bracknell said, "so we decided we wanted our boats to be the same way." In the past, Dream Lake has shut down from November 18 until February, but that will change this year, with at least one group per week allowed to fish during the winter months. It's no wonder there's already a long waiting list to fish Dream Lake from February to mid-June. But don't be discouraged by that waiting list, because Dream Lake II is scheduled to open next February, just in time for fishing season.

As if Dream Lake could get any better, now there will be twice as many reasons to drive down I-59 to Livingston for a chance at catching the bass of a lifetime.

For more information on Dream Lake and Dream Lake Lodge, call 205-652-4545 or visit the web site at www.dreamlakelodge.com

Mark's Comments
I dropped a picture of a kid and his whopper bass. I think you would enjoy the story behind it. My fishing partner, Jeremy Kellum and myself (Mark Boggan) were preparing to fish the Mark's Outdoor Sport Tournament. Three days prior to the tourney, Jeremy's tackle box was stolen. Over $500.00 worth of tackle. We had to use my tackle. The day before the tourney, my trim on my boat blew out the pump.
As usual, it had to be ordered. So we borrowed a boat to fish the tourney. We got to Paradise Point and found that the plug on the borrowed boat was broken. So we bought a new plug at the marina and put it in. As I tried to put the boat and Jeremy in the water, he had forgotten to disconnect the back straps. we almost sunk the boat.
When we finally got the boat launched, it wouldn't start. The motor flooded and we ran the battery down. The marina had a jump start box they loaned us. We got the motor started. Jeremy went to hook up the front depth finder and his elbow hit the foot control for the trolling motor. Busted the prop all to heck. There were no Minn-Kota props to be found.
I drove to Clanton to get a prop. Got back to fishing at 8 A.M. We fished all day. I caught 1 bass that was 10 inches long. Jeremy caught a sun burn. After the tourney, I took him into your store to start replenishing his tackle collection. We bought Sizmic worms, spinners, all kinds of stuff. Jeremy took his kid fishing. They had been on the water 15 minutes when this bass hit the Sizmic worm.
The kid landed this fish and almost fell out of the boat. We are taking up a collection for them to mount this fish. But thanks to your crew helping us find the right lures to fish with, this kid will never be the same. It means a lot to me to see a kid get 'HOOKED' on fishing, and even more that someone like you Mark, who promotes taking a kid fishing so vigorously. I will see you soon. Mark Boggan 744-3003

Caught by Koty Watts, 12 years old, on May 6, 2001 P.O. Box 572 / West Blocton, AL 35184 He and Jeremy Kellum were using a black fire tail Carolina rig purchased at MARK'S OUTDOOR SPORTS. Thanks to Jeremy's desire to take a kid fishing, Mark's crew to help choose the right Sizmic Lure And Shimano equipment, another life long angler was born when this 9 Lb. 2 Oz. Lunker landed in the boat. And going on the wall.