It paid off last month with a largemouth bass worthy of Fish of the Week while he was waiting on the fourth hole at a southwest suburban golf course.

''I got the granddaddy,'' the retired fireman said. ''It was an effort to get him in. He was running and in the weeds. I thought I lost him. And to top it off, I birdied the next hole.''

Making a birdie was the easy part for the 5-handicapper.

He was fishing his usual: a small basic rubber worm on a small hook. He estimated the largemouth at 5 to 7 pounds before releasing it.

''I am not a crazy fisherman, but I do like fishing on golf courses,'' said McPolin, whose biggest golf-course largemouth was caught in Florida.

In the Chicago area, permission to fish golf-course ponds varies. But fishing -- clandestine or otherwise -- adds to the reality of area golfing.

''When it is a five-hour round, it gives you something to do,'' McPolin said.

FOTW tops the Midwest Fishing Report on the outdours page of the Sun-Times each Wednesday. An extended online version appears here, usually by midnight Tuesday. It's late today because I had trouble downloading photos.

E-mail FOTW nominations to outdoordb@sbcglobal.net.