gulfcaptain

Small and skinny fish equal one thing.....over crowded and not enough forage base. Have a pond by my house like that....problem is everyone keeps putting more bass in there thinking that will solve the problem.....problem is there isn't enough food to sustain the fish that are there.

So the few bites you got, where were the fish? What were they relating to? Without a bit more details it's hard to give any kind of idea other then the above "that's why they call it fishing".

Planters and pads would be good, depending on where you live, water clarity, depth, I would look for something native around your area first. If it's a shallow water pond, well pads would be good, they can be controlled an extent, reeds and other emergents in that class will have to be kept controlled as well or they will take over. There are seasonal grasses that can be used but I would suggest hiring someone to come in and advise you so you. And xmas trees in small ponds aren't a great idea, I'd sink Willows before those. And if it's your private pond, you can look into the preformed fish attractors you can get at BPS or one of the other outdoor stores or look to make your own out of PVC filled with concrete. Once growth starts to attach themselves to it they become good cover and hooks are pretty hard to hang in them as well.

Tom's post(both of them) state it all. Look at the shore, you can get a good idea of the bottom from the terrain around the bank. But a crankbait or something you can use to feel the bottom when looking for underwater structure are good tools. But Tom pretty much summed it all up in those two posts.

First, start with a seasonal pattern. Where are the fish likely to be, what forage base is in the lake, what kind of cover is available. What has worked for you in the past there. Start out there, when you get a fish, what did it bite, where was it, what kind of structure. You get another fish and on the same bait, was it in the same area or cover as the last. Then you start to see the pattern develop. What the fish are keying in on....could be timber next to broken rock on a deep point, Thing is to always be observant to your surroundings and never put blinders on. Always be willing to alter you game plan if needed and change on the fly. Start with your strongest techniques that you have confidence in. But always read the conditions and understand how fish relate to whatever conditions are at hand by reading as much information as you can as well as each time you catch a fish review in your head all the conditions and area that fish was in. Put the pieces together and you will start to see the pattern that you can duplicate on areas that have the same conditions or structure.

What time were they fishing, water temps, season....etc. All of those will drop off a crankbait bite if the fish move or change forage and patterns. But I do believe you can overfish a smaller population of fish and cause them to become fickle. Fishing local city ponds in S. Cal well they get lots of pressure and being small you have to think outside the box to be productive. A new lure or pattern different from everyone else will work for a few days and quickly dry up due to the smaller population of fish in that body of water. 27 acres isn't very big, so you could quickly run out of fish that are willing to follow a quicker rattle-trap style bait. Only thing this shows is if you fish slow you will catch more fish. Ummm, yeah we all already new that. But yes if you find something new they haven't seen or fish outside the box from other people you may catch fish that some missed with lures they have seen all the time.

First off, if you're looking to fish 6-8lb line, you're looking to fish clear water. Most would say fish a spinning reel. Being from S.Cal, well it's not out of the norm to fish 6-8lb on a baitcaster. If you're looking to go that light, I would suggest a Carbonlite reel in the 6:1 ratio for all around use, and look for a 7ft M Fast action rod. I like fishing 10 to 12lb on mine, but use 20lb braid which is about a 6lb dia or even 30lb braid and then topshots of either 10 or 12lb flouro or mono depending on what I'm fishing and then would bump up to a 7'MH.

Pin it when I flip or pitch any kind of grass, weeds, timber....just want it all to fall together. Pin it when I fish a senko with a willow blade screwed into the tale when swimming it through grass. Other then that I don't pin the sinker.

Spray on's if I need it, SPF 50 and like stated above, use sun protective clothing, and a full brimmed hat to cover my head/ears where my neck where the buff doesn't cover. Yes, it may be a bit warmer, but no sun burns and no need to re-apply sun screen makes it all worth it. Besides, they cool pretty well if you get them damp. My only thing is I wish Simms made sun gear in small sizes that would fit my 9yr old son.

Being new to the baitcasting world, I would go with a BPS either a Pro Qualifier or a Carbonlite. Have 3 of the Carbonlite reels and they are one of my favorites. Very simple to use. And being a BPS brand, if you have an issue, take it back and exchange it for something else. Rod wise, well look around and you can find a decent IM-7 or IM-8 rod at BPS as well. If you're familiar with Academy, they have the H20 brand there and they are pretty good rods for under $60. The 7'MH IM-8 is a good start and still a nicer rod then some that are in the $100 range.

I know it's not in the 2 brands you have listed, but Falcon makes a nice 7'MH in the Bucco series. Light, and has a mod fast action and is sensitive. Would work well for the application you're looking for. But I do have one of the Black Omens, and the 7'6"MH is light, but compared to some MH, it's more of a heavy action.

When I'm home from work for my 2 weeks off....every day right after I drop my son off at school till I pick him up....so 8-10days for 7hrs each day, and if you count when I fish at work, well a few hrs 2-3 times a week.

Depends on the time of year and what I believe the fish will be keying in on. Spring/Fall or shad spawn....A-Rig, Summer with sunny days, throw a green pumpkin creature bait with a punchskirt into the thickest grass I can find, or run a hollowbelly frog across the tops when it's overcast. Winter where I live, pick up the 8" swimbait from Dec to Feb and nothing else.

I had to have my two shipped to the store an hr from me as well. I use both of mine for swimbait rods fishng 2-8oz baits. They don't stock musky rods at my BPS.....then again there aren't any muskies in CA.

Used to use Ande in Saltwater applications. It was a bit softer then Big Game and had more stretch to it so it was a good option when I was fishing with live bait off of charter boats. Fishing plastics and jigs though, I wouldn't use it due to the stretch and softness, it also would have memory issues if it sat too long. Liked the tournament though for real light fishing....trout, light surf fishing outfit(S. Cal use 4-6lb surf fishing and small grubs). Liked the limpness and small dia that it had. But never used Ande for bass fishing.

come to think of it, most of my larger fish have been caught between 10 and 2pm. There are exceptions but 80% would fall in that window.

finesse jig, jerkbait, or could try a lipless crankbait ripped and hopped off the bottom.

look into fishing a weightless Yamamoto Fat Ika. The local city park lakes around me get hit hard yet these things still produce fish.

you want to try one of the bigger swimbaits down there, I wouldn't hesitate to look into the floating 8" Savage Gear top hook line thru baits. You can creep them across the tops of grass since they float, And at $18 half the price. You are never gonna know what you can catch unless you throw one. Just make sure you have the gear to bring them out of the cover. And like stated above, the bigger fish will give up their location when they follow even if they don't bite, you can come back later and try with something else, but you will know where they live. I'd stick with the 68 weedless if you're gonna throw the 6" models and fish it on a steady retrieve.

check out BPS graphite musky rods....they are on sale right now and can get a decent rod to fit your budget without breaking it.

Have a carbonlite reel matched on a 7'6"MH crankin rod. Use this combo for my lighter A-Rigs, nice, light, strong, and has just the right action and give for the application. Loved the reel so much had to get 2 more to go with my extremes, which one is paired to an older Bionic 7'6"MH. Great reels and rods.

Have 6 of the Bucco rods, needless to say, great feeling rods. Don't have the 6'10", have 2 of the 7'MH's and great worm rod, also have a 7'3"H and used it for pitching and punching uses. But for the price Walmart sells them for, def well worth the $75 Walmart price. The 7'6" I want is double that and wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger if I found that for the same price.

Yep....have to agree with most, nothing beats a roostertail, well any quality inline spinner.....also available online.

All kinds of real news happening and CNN.com has this......yep avoid the real news, look at this scary ghost caught on camera. It was probably caused by climate change. That will be today's topic.

I believe the use of the glass rod is to let the fish eat it a bit longer before driving the hook home. I did the same thing for the A-rig, went to a MH crankbait rod as to let the fish eat the bait a bit longer and increased my hook up ratio quite a bit. Glass composite or straight glass just gives the fish a bit more time to close their mouths before hooking themselves. But everyone has their own techniques and ideas. Another issue is does everyone have the budget to have a rod for each technique, so a lot of rods serve double duty.