goosejetski

Caught this bass in a pond really close to the ocean and it is really weird. It had a strange pattern and really bumpy scales. The teeth were also abnormally sharp, I’m guessing from eating mostly bait fish. I have caught others like this one too. If anyone knows what is causing this bass to be like this or have caught one similar I would be happy to know.

These guys have over run the Morgantown and Hildebrand pools of the Mon and are all tiny. If you go to other pools they are not as bad but they are definitely messing with the populations of the other bass species.

Where at do you fish it? I have luck at the locks around Morgantown with live shiners for walleye (check my profile picture) And also this past summer I caught some pretty good smallmouth all aound two pounds. However the Morgantown pool I fish is well below average, I think it is getting better. Also if you check the stocking lists for WV and PA the river hasn't been stocked with anything since around 2009.

These ponds are on a "private" golf course and tucked away from populated areas. Hardly anyone fishes these ponds.

I’ve never used a War Eagle spinnerbait and compared to other brands it’s night and day. It didn’t give me any trouble at all and I’ll probably put it to use up here in the spring.

Live Scope!

Went down to Charleston, SC for a week around Christmas during my winter break from school. I asked earlier in the forums about what baits to use while I was down there. You guys have some good advice! So I met up with a friend who has a house down there and we fished some golf courses right by a tidal river. Hardly anyone fishes here and we had it all to ourselves. The weather was in the high 60s and sunny every day of the trip. We started at the largest of the ponds and I threw a variety of lures. My friend threw a small paddle tail the whole time. We caught a few on the first day but nothing to write home about. The second day we branched out and fished some other ponds/lagoons. These ponds were pretty stained and tannic from plants in the water. The water temperature was slightly higher from the first day around 58 degrees. So I decided to throw a 1/2oz chartreuse and white War Eagle spinnerbait without a trailer. It’s like a fish switch was flipped and the bite was on! The last day of the trip we probably caught around 25 fish around two and a half pounds and they fought harder than any largemouth I’ve ever caught before. I just chucked that spinnerbait into cover and any different features or structures in the ponds. It was insane that these ponds could support this many bass and they were all fat and healthy. These ponds have tons of tilapia, carp and even mullet that the bass must be feeding on. Below are some pictures of the average sized bass in these ponds. SORRY SOME ARE SIDEWAYS I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO FIX THIS. And the last hour of fishing in a small pond I caught my PB on the spinnerbait! It was 6.39 pounds and a really cool looking fish. So that was my trip to South Carolina I had a great time and thanks to @Koz for recommending the spinner bait. I’m excited to go back! And to finish the year, I caught this 28 inch walleye on New Year’s Eve!

Fishing the surf on Kiawah is amazing, a long strip of squid has caught me many over slot reds and some big stingray in the past few years. And the fish are in the shallows and you can catch them right at your feet.

Fellow West Virginian here! My advice would be to slow down as much as you can. I have fished a pond similar to this before that seemed to have very few bass in it. For this situation I would also downsize. I like to use ned rigs that have more action than a TRD but less than some with larger kickers and dangly bits. Try something like a hellgrammite imitation on a 1/10 ounce head. Barely move it at times and don't be afraid to dead stick it. If there is a lot of vegetation on the bottom of the pond, try a drop shot and slowly drag it along the bottom. If you want to cover water, the last thing you could try is a small swimbait. I like the Keitech swing impacts. An almost 5 pound bass is no joke here so I definitely wouldn't give up on the pond since it is able to hold a bass like this, there's sure to be more. Good luck!

Close... Kiawah Thanks for the info, I will be packing a small box with lures so I will make sure to add these lures. Also, I'll let you know how I do. I think I saw some ladyfish in these ponds but I'm not sure.

Hi. So I will be going on vacation for a week right around Christmas. I will be staying on an island near Charleston, SC. I am from WV and the bass fishing here is about over for the winter. My home lake/river is currently in the high 30s. Alright, back to the vacation. So this island has a large golf course with a bunch of freshwater ponds right near the ocean. And the weather in the winter is supposed to be really nice. I went earlier this year and fished for around and hour and caught two bass around 4 pounds. So my question is, what should I bring to fish these ponds around this time of year? The ponds are a little stained and don't have much aquatic vegetation. I think the bottom is mostly sandy and there are tons of bluegills and what I would assume are tilapia. Any help with this type of fishing would be greatly appreciated and I am very excited to see what happens!

Bad

That’s awesome

I am not sure about the dorsal fin as I was not thinking about which kind of bass they were at the time. My thoughts are that they are some sort of local type of large mouth that are maybe more "creek" living but im not sure. sounds reasonable