Marty

Last year in the fall, I did well on crankbaits, spinnerbaits, inline spinners and topwaters during the early part of the fall. Springtime can offer some very fast fishing, but it can also be good in the summer as well. Laziness is a human trait, not a fish trait.

Another vote for topwater in the rain. Buzzbaits, Jitterbugs, maybe buzzing amphibians if you need something weedless. This year, my best outings were during fairly heavy rains. Of course, that's not to say that subsurface lures won't be productive in the rain, I just love to use topwaters.

Hardly the first time I've been accused of weird behavior. ;D I carry both a steel tape measure and a digital scale. I measure just about every fish that I think is a keeper, but weigh very few (too few), only those that I think may exceed my threshhold for what constitutes a big fish. Thus, in face-to-face conversations, e-mail and forums, I talk about most fish in terms of length.

Any 20" smallie is a helluva fine fish, but I think 5# is a real stretch. My estimate would be from 3.5-4.25.

I don't have an answer to that, all I have are my opinions. For the most part, I use the same lures in ponds that I use in lakes. A bass is a bass and it doesn't know what the acreage is of the water it lives in. I really can't understand why a bass in a lily pad bed in a 15-acre pond would act substantially different from the bass in a similar lily pad bed in a larger lake. For what it's worth, the large majority of my big bass have come from ponds of 15 acres and smaller and they haven't come on smaller lures than I use in larger waters.

Sorry the page didn't work. My friend is the owner of that site and I asked where the information came from, and he said it was from In-Fisherman. Since the page didn't work for you, here's what it said. LARGEMOUTH GROWTH CHART! NUMBER OF YEARS TO REACH 10 INCHES TENNESSEE 2 YRS. CONNECTICUT 3 YRS. MINNESOTA 3 YRS. FLORIDA 2 YRS. CALIFORNIA 2 YRS. YEARS TO REACH 15 INCHES TENNESSEE 4 TO 5 YRS. CONNECTICUT 6 YRS. MINNESOTA 8 YRS. FLORIDA 4 YRS. CALIFORNIA 3 YRS. YEARS TO REACH 20 INCHES TENNESSEE 8 YRS. CONNECTICUT 10 YRS. MINNESOTA 12 TO 15 YRS. FLORIDA 6 TO 7 YRS. CALIFORNIA 4 TO 6 YRS. RELATE THE STATES AND SIZES CLOSEST TO YOU.

http://www.geocities.com/rdvtavssvjnm/SPORTS/PHOTOSx.html Based on the chart at the bottom of the linked page, and I don't know the source of the information, what you described is virtually impossible. It's much more likely that someone did a little "midnight stocking."

All other things being equal, the shorter the fight, the better the chances for the bass to survive. Short fights, careful handling and minimum time out of the water are key. But just like the musky, some bass die after they're released, referred to as "delayed mortality."

Cruising bass can be very tough. Plus if you can see them, they can see you. Have you fished there in low light conditions? That's the only specific that I can throw out.

I know nothing about that pond, but I do know that both duckweed and lily pads can be excellent fish-holding cover. For lily pads, I would fish topwaters, and soft plastics, retrieving these over, around and through the pads, letting them sink into holes and at the edges. For duckweed, fish weedless topwaters, slowly and erratically, or steady and fast, whatever seems to do the trick. Regardless, have a rod at the ready rigged with a soft plastic. If a fish blows up and misses the lure, toss that soft plastic as quickly as possible into the hole just created by the blowup. Most of my experience with duckweed and lily pads has been in lakes. Things could be completely different in a small pond that has been taken over by these plants.

I doubt that it's a typo, but something has changed. In 2005, there were separate issues for September and October.

We're talking two different lure categories here. It's none of my business what anyone else fishes with, but if you give the buzzing frogs/toads a chance, you will find they can generate some very fast action at times when fishing fast and covering a lot of weedy water.

You release it because it's illegal to keep short fish. It's unfortunate, but not illegal, to accidentally injure it badly because of it being badly hooked.

Your plan for deeper water with rocks is one of the things that should be tried. Smallies will readily take any bait that a largemouth will. For that deeper water, tubes or grubs with jigheads might be one of the good lure choices. In shallower water, crankbaits, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits and others can be tried. I have never been one to place a high priority on color, but it always seemed to me that smallies were attracted to chartreuse, although they'll readily take a wide variety of colors. And please, despite all the talk about deeper water, DO NOT FORGET TOPWATERS when conditions are right for these baits or you may be costing yourself fish and fun.

Smallmouth put largemouth to shame in the fighting department, in my opinion. I have no way to prove this, but I think smallies are easier to catch if you're on them; they seem to be more pugnacious. You might trade some of those legendary largemouth fights if you had personal experience with smallies. In my area of the world, there are numerous lakes with both species. There is some overlap, but generally the smallies are in somewhat deeper, cooler and more open water.

There's little doubt in my mind that line is visible, some more so than others, and some more so in different water clarities. The real question, to my way of thinking, is how line visibility affects the fishing, if indeed, it affects it at all.

Welcome to the forum. I don't think you can safely assume that. Both smallies and pike, especially the larger pike, are often found in cooler, deeper water than largemouth, and it's not at all surprising that you'd catch one while fishing for the other. I don't know how prevalent the shared habitat is, but as long as I've been fishing, there has always been overlap between bass and toothy fish.

Wild creatures feed when they need to, and that doesn't mean all the time. Many, if not most, of us have seen wildlife programs on TV where the lions walk past the zebras and the zebras show no concern. The lions aren't hunting and the zebras know it. I don't see why it would be any different with fish. As to how to have enticed them, if I knew, I'd catch more than I do.

Buzzing frogs/toads have been productive, but that's here in western NY. Might be different where you fish.

If you open the thread that starts with "Moved:", it will say which forum it was moved to.

It's very frustrating to see ponds go downhill, and I've seen too many do that. I believe that just one angler, even staying within the laws, can ruin a small body of water. Here's a growth chart from another site. The site's owner is a good friend, but I don't know the source of his information. LARGEMOUTH GROWTH CHART: NUMBER OF YEARS TO REACH 10 INCHES TENNESSEE 2 YRS. CONNECTICUT 3 YRS. MINNESOTA 3 YRS. FLORIDA 2 YRS. CALIFORNIA 2 YRS. YEARS TO REACH 15 INCHES TENNESSEE 4 TO 5 YRS. CONNECTICUT 6 YRS. MINNESOTA 8 YRS. FLORIDA 4 YRS. CALIFORNIA 3 YRS. YEARS TO REACH 20 INCHES TENNESSEE 8 YRS. CONNECTICUT 10 YRS. MINNESOTA 12 TO 15 YRS. FLORIDA 6 TO 7 YRS. CALIFORNIA 4 TO 6 YRS. RELATE THE STATES AND SIZES CLOSEST TO YOU.

I fish ponds like that. Basically, any lure can be effective if it's fishable. When the weeds are on top, it's soft plastics or weedless topwaters. When they're submersed, other topwaters, shallow-running crankbaits, inline spinners and spinnerbaits, soft plastics, Chatterbaits and perhaps others.

I also fish lures that I enjoy using even though they might not be the best at the time. We recreational anglers can afford to do that.

For me, good ponds are hard to come by and I'll fish them as often as possible. I don't think the pressure I generate has much effect, but small ponds can be ruined by just one person if he keeps his catch consistently.

It's the July/August issue and the text accompanying the picture was: 19.7 Record bustin' out west