According to the text books available today, **** sapiens (man) first appeared about 200,000 years ago. Fish first appeared during the Cambrian explosion about 530 million years ago. Man invented the wheel between 6,500 and 4,500 years ago and has since (among other things) invented the steam engine, transistor, placed a man on the moon, invented the internet (thanks Al Gore), and has increased technology at an exponential rate. Fish, on the other hand, have yet to invent the wheel. They do have a Lazy Susan but they didn't invent it - it's due to water currents in a stream typically called an eddy.
My point is, "fish are stupid." The brain of the largest bass or trout is about the size of an overgrown pea. They are not wily. They are not cunning. They are creatures of habit and are subject to inbred instinks (misspelled on porpus) and not intelligence.
I am a gregarious person. I enjoy people and absolutely love women! Except when I fish! The problem with public fishing areas (city parks, ponds, public accesses, etc.) is the people/brats/idiots you have to put up with. Like I said, “I enjoy people.” But, when I am fishing, I also enjoy the solitude. I think so do the fish! I don’t like ice but I will fish just before the river freezes if it means I have it to myself.
Now to pond and bank fishing:
I caught my first fish, at the age of five, in 1955 out of a little pond/tank in D’Hanis, Texas. My parents (now deceased) captured the event on film. I still have a copy which was transferred to video cassette – I think VHS format. Since that time, fishing ponds and rivers from the bank has changed dramatically. In that day, and through my late teens, permission to fish was generally granted assuming one was not of a threatening appearance or known to be ‘trouble’. Today, many prime spots on rivers and almost all farm ponds are subject to ‘no trespassing/posted’ signs and permission to fish has become increasingly hard to come by. So, while the ability to fish may have changed, the fishes catchability has not.
Fish cover if there is any. Fish shaded areas. Fan cast with ‘confidence baits’ that cover the water column. Fish top water, spinner baits and bottom bumping cranks – all with varying retrieves. If you are able to locate fish, try a jig. . . . . Now I frankly do not enjoy fishing jigs for the most part. I suffer from Adult ADD so my attention span suffers greatly. Jigs require a lot of attention. I have, however, caught many fish with jigs, and, to be frank, if the fishing gods granted me one and only one artificial that I could fish with for the rest of my life, it would be a jig. They catch fish year round, and plenty of them, (even through ice, I’m told) if you can maintain focus.
Now to bathtub fishing:
I once put five bass (10” to 12”) in a bathtub full of water. Actually, it was a spa/hot tub at outdoor temperature, but you get the point. I got into the spa/hot tub with them and began fishing with a worm threaded onto a paperclip fashioned into the shape of a hook. Within about ten minutes after I sat down and remained still I began catching the fish (some more than once). That should tell you how smart fish are.
Ponds dug out of the earth without any natural cover are a problem. The fish could be anywhere. It is like fishing in a large, nondescript, bathtub. So keep moving. If you find them, fish a jig (or a worm on a paper clip). Sometimes there simply are no fish to be had. So, you are far better off fishing ponds that are known to have fish. If it is big fish you after, then you should fish those streams and pond know to harbor big fish. It only improves your odds.
Now to ice fishing:
I don’t do it. I think jigs would work nicely, but I was born in the South. When ice is outdoors, I try to stay indoors. The only ice I want to see is in my glass of Jack. Daniel’s of cource. Misspelled on porpus.
