MichaelCopeland

Nice bass! Congratulations on your new PB! ?

Howdy Ben and welcome aboard! ?

Haven't seen any turtles that big in there, but there's quite a few that are about 10-12" or so in diameter. I caught one of them a couple mornings ago. I posted a pic of it in the Latest Catch Pics section of Fishing Reports. Caught it on a chatter bait...lol.

I know there's 3 and 4lbers in there, I've caught one of each. A few people have told me that either they or someone they knew had caught a 6lber in there a released it back in there. I just heard tonight that there's also chiquapin and perch in there. I'm guessing those along with frogs, snakes, small turtles and crawfish are some of the forage available to the bass. Gonna try something I haven't really tried in a while a Carolina rig when I go early this morning. I also have a green pumpkin tube tied on with a 1/16oz crappie jig head stuff up in it with the line tie eye pushed out the side at the top. I read where that can be an effective way to rig a tube. At this point anything is worth trying.

Howdy Patricia and welcome aboard! ?

Howdy and welcome aboard! ?

I guess the best spots are the spots I can't get to from the bank. The bigger bass are what I'm targeting using bigger presentations but only 1lbers or smaller are hitting them. This pond is only maybe 5' deep give or take a little. Is it possible the bigger ones are in the deepest parts? What technique(s) should I try to maybe have a better chance at catching one?

I believe slack waters is another way to describe eddys in the water. That's what it sounds like anyways.

This is my girlfriend's son's brother-in-law. He just sent this pic to me of him and a nice 9.11lb bass he caught with a watermelon red flake brush hog on Lake Kincaid about 15-20 miles or so from where I live in Pineville. He was out night fishing with his uncle in his uncle's boat last weekend. I really need to get out in a boat and do some night fishing.

I can relate to that big time! Looks delish!

I try my best to be stealthy when I walk the bank. Sometimes it's not as easy to do. Little acorns and things like that are kinda hard to avoid when they're in abundance...lol. I use both my baitcaster and my spinning rod. I do close the bail by hand and on my baitcaster I have my thumb over the spool release button when I first begin to reel. It makes about as much noise as hand closing the bail on my spinning reel. Maybe a tad louder, a muffled click. Almost no noise. Seems to work ok. I'll definitely start avoiding the areas where turtle activity is going on. I hope it starts getting better when it finally starts cooling off some down here.

Lol! No, once I got it unhooked, which amazingly was pretty easy, it moved quickly back into the water. Never seen a turtle move that fast before...lol! ?

I've been wanting to get a machete for some of the lakes I fish for that reason. Not sure if it would be allowed for me to use it at the ponds here. They are private community ponds owned by the housing authority of the subdivision I live in. Probably wouldn't hurt to ask someone. Just have to find out who that someone would be. Great idea though and hope it's ok for me to do it.

That makes a whole lotta sense. I've been trying to get reaction strikes though it does work sometimes. I'm thinking most of the bass, especially the big ones, are in around those trees at the top right end of the pond. I can kinda get to the tree that's on the far left side of the three trees that are in that area, just not able to fish very far around it all. Hoping when the water starts cooling down they will get more active. I know there's some big uns in there and that's what I'm really after. Just been tough finding the right bait that they want. That looks bank accessible all the way around. Looks like a fun place to fish. I need to find something like that around here.

I believe you're right. I do fish that pond alot using the same baits just different colors more often than anything else. I fish there so much because it's walking distance about 10 mins from the house. There's another bigger pond that's walking distance also just doesn't have enough accessible bank to fish. Guess I could go there instead for a little while and give this one a break. I'll also do a better job of using different lures/baits when I go back to it.

When you say trapped, were they taking elsewhere? I don't have a way to trap and move them somewhere else and I'm not gonna do them any harm. I have thought about throwing some crappie jigs, just haven't done it yet. Guess it's time to try that. There's frogs in there too, can't seem to get bit on my hollow body or plastic frogs or any topwater bait for that matter. I'll keep trying those though, I figure that bite has to start some time.

The cooler weather hasn't quite made it here yet. We've been having upper 80s lower 90s during the day and upper 60s lower 70s at night and early morning. I can cast to almost all of the pond. A lot of the right side above the picket fence up to the upper right where the trees are I can't cast to without a boat/kayak. Tried with my boss' kayak a couple weeks ago and it was pretty awkward for me not being able to stay put in a spot without drifting some. Still with the warmer temps we've been having the summer baits that worked well aren't working at all now. I do have a few baits I haven't tried yet. Next time I get out I'll give em a shot.

I have tried several different baits. Chatter baits, a spinnerbait, a buzzbait, Rat-L-Traps, Red Eye Shad, hollow body and plastic frogs, H2O Express Model TWS topwater, weightless wacky rigged Senko style baits and trick worms, weightless Texas rigged ol' monsters, trick worms, SK Rage Bugs and KVD Perfect Plastics rodents, 12" jelly worm and quite a few others. The wacky rigged and Texas rigged stuff works sometimes but only catching dinks and one 1lber with the jelly worm. Can't get bit on it again now. If I use bullet weights on them I can't get bit. I think I need lighter bullet weights than the 1/4oz, 3/16oz and 1/8oz I have. Guess I'm gonna have to buy some other baits and bullet weights. Any suggestions? I can see that happening with the big turtles, but can't the bass eat the smaller ones though?

Did some fishing early this morning and this afternoon. Within the first 30 mins of being there, throwing my black and blue 3/8oz chatter bait with a watermelon red flake super fluke trailer, I got a massive hit. Bam! Set the hook! Oh wow it's a big un! I was pulling and reeling and it didn't seem to put up any fight but the weight felt like 8lbs or better. Kept pulling and reeling and finally it surfaced and I was like "you've got to be kidding me!" It was a freakin' big turtle...lol! First turtle I've ever caught. I did catch a little dink later on. Things just haven't been working out the greatest for me lately.

I'm a bit confused and it's a little frustrating. I have read almost every article there is in this forum's menu about fall patterns and the transition. All of them tell about how the bait fish start to migrate to the backs of creeks and into channels of lakes and/or rivers. None of them mention what they do in ponds, specifically small ponds. The only place I really get to fish anymore is the small pond in my neighborhood near my house. There's a bigger pond too, it just doesn't have enough fishable bank to really go there much anymore. I'm not really sure what type of bait fish is in this pond. The only things I see in schools near the banks look like tadpoles. They're pretty small. I do see little baby bass occasionally around the bank in little groups of 3 to 5 of them. They seem to be feeding on the tadpole looking things. There are lots of turtles big and small in this pond along with some frogs and some of those are pretty big too. There's also a few small snakes around it at times as well. I would think that there's some bream, possibly blue gill or maybe even perch in there. I just haven't seen any. I can't imagine that largemouth bass are the only fish in it. All this being said, what do the bait fish and bass do in small ponds in the transition to fall and the fall? Been having a hard time trying to find them and when I do, it's only one and usually a dink here lately. Last night I caught the first one a pound or better in like 2 weeks or more. The water level is maybe 5 feet give or take a little. Below is a pick of the pond I'm referring to. I can fish all the left side and bottom end around the right side up til a picket fence blocks it off(should be able to see that fence below the bottom house on the right). I can also fish the top end all the way to the first tree of a group of three trees that are in the water not far off the bank. There's also patches of matted vegetation of some kind around the entire pond. Some patches are longer than others. How would y'all go about fishing this pond this time of year?

Wowzers that's a lot of fish in one day! I wouldn't know how to act if I caught that many in a day. Congratulations on your new PB!

Nice brownie! Congratulations on your new PB!

Well it's been a couple weeks or so since I've caught anything a pound or more. I've caught some major dinks, we're talking not even an ounce. Didn't bother with taking any pics of those. Since the daytime bite has been almost nonexistent, I desided to risk encounters with snakes and fished the smaller pond by my house tonight with my headlamp on. Took both my Lew's baitcaster with a 3/8oz black and blue chatter bait/watermelon red flake Super Fluke trailer tied on and my Lew's spinning rod with a 12" blackberry Mann's jelly worm tied on. Nothing doing with the chatter bait, but I did catch this 1lb 1oz 14g keeper size on the 12" jelly worm. First one I've caught on that worm. I pitched it at the ponds pump and almost immediately he hit it. Being as dark as it was, with the exception of the almost full moon, it was kinda hard to take a selfie. I managed these two pics. I guess they turned out ok. I know I say this alot, but I'm sure ready for some cooler weather and more active bass. ?

Howdy and welcome aboard! ?

Howdy John and welcome aboard! ? You definitely came to the right place to learn about bass fishing. Lots of great articles in the menu section and lots of great knowledgeable folks on here to help you any way they can.