jiggerpole

Well I call it Jigger Pole fishing

Yeap! Every lake is different and each day is new. My Lake, if I choose just one, is a 40 acre pond. Lot's of forage for the bass, stocked with threadfin shad, fertilized and managed. Full of 4 pound + bass. Not so easy to catch. 1. Topwater before daybreak. Sometimes. Mostly Spinnerbait. 2. Worm, Jig, Shaky head, Etc. Bottom bumping bait after the sun hits the water. Sometimes a crank bait. No rattles. 3. Bass bite best with the wind chopping the water and in the heat of the day. Possibly even top water. 4. Late evening the bite shuts off and gets better again after dark. Two hours or more.

It sounds like you are on the right track. Getting with a Fisheries Biologist is the first step. Shocking a pond will not kill your fish and it is a very effective way of quickly determining the overall health and ratios of your fish populations. Beavers, Muskrats and Trees are a Dams worst enemy. Anything that will cause an opening or erosion issues is a bad thing. Bentonite is a product used to stop leaks in a lot of cases. Other methods can be used as well but this may be the cheapest and most effective way.

1. Catch at least 100 bass and weigh every single one. Then average them out. Spots and Largemouth. 2. Go bream fishing and see if you can catch the big bream that are most likely in the pond. 3. Look for small bream as well. between two to 4 inches in size. Odds are you don't have very many. 4. Check your P.H. and see if it needs lime but first determine if you have a weed problem. Liming a lake before getting weeds under control can cause them to explode. 5. Look for other Forage fish around the banks, Crayfish, Frogs, Small turtles, Mussel etc. 6. If you determine you have Skinny bass, Large Bluegill, and no small bluegills by the hundreds, poor P.H. and or weed problem then. 1. Kill Bass. Especially Spots. Lots of them. 2. Control your weed problem. 3. Lime properly 4. Fertilize properly 5. Watch your lake rebound. P.S. Don't get hung up on Genetics. Unless you plan to poison every fish in the lake and start from scratch you have no way of knowing the growth potential of bass that are already in this lake. It is a lot of work doing it yourself or a lot of money starting from scratch. Call your Local Fisheries Biologist. You may get free help from them and it would be well worth it. Good Luck.

Try a double bladed buzz bait. Hold your rod high and go as slow as it will go. Use a trailer hook. Swap the blades so the bubbles are on the inside. Lean your head to one side and grin but not too much. Really this works. Have fun and post pics.

Fished for 4 hour with my son this evening and caught 14 bass. Biggest was 2.9 although I did hang a 4 + on a 12" jelly worm and it got of because I played with her too much letting her jump. We call it Bill Dancing a bass. Made my son laugh. I didn't. Had fun.

Bass can see really well and can easily tell that your bait is not real. But I think that if you catch them off guard they will strike just about anything that causes them to (react and strike) rather than (target your bait and strike.) I think fishing line is a good reason that most fish don't strike. They see it and have been conditioned to spook at the sight. (Fishing around lights will teach you a lot about the line you choose.) I believe you can make a bass mad enough to strike. I feel that when bass are feeding aggressively they are simply trying to keep the other bass from getting to your bait first and make a mistake. As far as memory is concerned. I don't know. I have caught the same bass back to back and I have caught the same bass that broke off and got my hook and got it back on the next cast. If I could catch them every time I went out then I would either be rich or it would get boring.

First you need to identify the weeds. I would start by talking to a state fisheries biologist. It being a State Lake, I'm sure it would have to be under their jurisdiction and doing something on your own could lead to fines. White Armor Carp (Triploid Carp) are usually put into ponds for submergent weed control and they can be very effective on certain weeds and have no-effect at all on other types. Water depth and clarity can effect weed growth also. Some pond dyes are used to restrict sunlight causing weeds to die off but as soon as water clarity becomes clear and sunlight reaches them again they will almost certainly return. The use of fertilizer can cause a plankton bloom which in turn can restrict sunlight as well as jump start the foundation of the food chain which is what most managers try to accomplish. but with weeds present it will just contribute to their growth. Draw downs can actually increase weed growth unless it's done in the winter time and back to full pool by spring. Chemical sprays used right can kill them. If done wrong sprays and water dyes killing too many weeds at once can cause too much dead weeds which can deplete the oxygen levels possibly causing a fish kill. Good Luck.

Yes, I have seen bass every year spawning as late as the end of June or even early July. We caught a bass this past Monday that had almost no tail left and bloody with a sunk in belly as if she had just spawned out, which got me to looking for bass beds and I was able to locate at least two. I have watch them doing the spawn ritual in June on several occasions. The more I study bass and lake management the more I realize that nature has some unique tricks up it's sleeve.

OK, I will chime in on this one. It really does depend on allot of variables. Depending on the fertility of the water, depth, location, etc. This may be the best answer. Anywhere from 15 to 50 per surface acre. Read the pdf and draw your on conclusions. As far as fish per surface acre, I have seen 12,000 pounds of fish come from a one acre pond. (Threadfin Shad) http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/files/fishmgt.pdf

I like the first irregular feature you come to north west of the dam all the way to the first north west pocket. The Island looks good to but it is probably a well hit target. More good features on the west bank for sure.

This is a pic of a bass my son caught the other day in a 2 acre pond. His friend hung a 4 pounder ??? that broke his line. The next cast my son got this one. Six + pounds. After that, they caught only a few dinks and he said the bite shut off. Learn what you can about the pond. "It's only two acres". Try and make a lot of cast with the same worm and weight and draw a map to outline the pond. Count how long it takes for your worm to hit the bottom and mark the counts on your map. Doing this should give you an ideal of the depth of the lake and bass strongly relate to areas where the water is next to deeper water. After doing this, one approach you should remember is stealth. Bass spook easier in small ponds, even if the water is dark. I believe they can literally hear your footsteps around the pond. After you catch one you may have to let it settle down. Repeating a cast to the same spot over and over could make a bass mad enough to hit your lure or it could more likely deter them from striking again. Switching baits after a few cast to a known good spot may be the ticket. (Sometimes they just won't hit anything.) Aside from live bait. Think small baits that look natural. One pond I take friends to fish, has almost without exception given up a bass on the first cast. After the second or third bass it becomes much less likely to give up a bass so easily. We always sneak up to it like sneaking up on a deer. Good Luck. and post your results.

I watched two buddies of mine (both big guys) fishing from a 10 ft. flat bottom and one of them got a bite. Yeah, he flipped the boat over on the hook set. I still laugh to this day nearly 40 years later.

White Armor carp are a sterile fish used to control weeds that grow under the surface and they can do a good job. For other weeds that grow above the surface such as Willow weed and Lillie pads to name a couple, spraying is a good choice. The thing with any chemical is you must go by the label (Instructions) not enough and it doesn't work and too much can cause a fish kill. If too many weeds die off at any given time then the rotting decay of those weeds can deplete the oxygen levels to a dangerous level causing a fish kill. A lot of other factors can go into weed control such a water visibility. If the depth is deep enough and the water visibility is such that it restricts sunlight due to a (bloom) or (water dye) then the weeds simply can't grow. Not having weeds in a lake is not any indication of how well the lake can grow fish. It can limit the targets for fishermen that fish tend to use. Weeds do produce oxygen but so does a bloom in a well managed lake. Just some thoughts.

My beautiful daughter with her bass. Caught last night after church. Still in her dress. Not Bad!

A lot of these comments are spot on. I manage 9 lakes for our community and some of the things that I have learned is: Not all lakes are the same. / Each lake has a fertility rate and potential that is different and unique. / You can learn to manage a lake for what it is or you can manipulate it in many ways to achieve your goals. / Most people look at a lake from the bass point of view that if it stays in the water it will get bigger with age. (True if the food is available) More people need to look at a lake from a food point of view. How do I take care of the food? Because the food will take care of everything else. Things to look for: Water quality: (PH and Acidic Buffering Ability) Fertility: (Bloom in a nut shell) Oxygen Levels: (Springs & Feeder Creeks, Algae & Plant Life, Currents and Wind or Aerators.) Habitat: ( Cover and or Structure for baitfish, and other aquatic life and predator fish.) Cary Capacity: ( The Competition for food and habitat for select species of desirable fish in pounds per surface acre.) Growing Season: ( The time frame for which a lake is capable of providing optimum conditions for growth due to all factors involved.) All this, lead to Management Practices: ( Selective Harvest of Fish.) I may have missed some things due to the fact that it can be made simple or complicated depending on variables. I am glad to see more people getting involved, individually at spreading the word on fish management practices. I believe it will make you a better fisherman as well. (JMHO)

I was Jiggerpole fishing one night in a two man boat with a small light on the front as my guide. This cottonmouth kept coming to the light and trying to get in the boat. I splashed the water several times with my paddle trying to spook the snake away but it was determined to get in the boat. So I let it. When it got it's head over in the boat I lifted my arm up high and with a swing I broke a brand new paddle over it's head. That did the trick. Others I just shoot now.

I like spinner baits or deep diving crank baits. But, on one trip the wind was blowing so hard my trolling motor was lifting out of the water with each wave. Just to be silly I tied on a top water plastic rat. I caught 30 bass on that rat.

It really depends on weather it bust the surface of the water so the other person in the boat gets a look at it or not. If they see it was a dink then I'll say that's called catch and release. If they don't get a look, I'll say man that bass was huge, Did you see that thing????? I must not have gotten a good hook set.

I catch and release allot of the time. It depends on where I fish and what type of bass it is and if the lake needs some bass harvested or not. I don't have any problem killing a bass to eat. Eggs or not. They are good in the skillet. I manage one lake that is at a crossroad now, with the question of should we continue to harvest or catch and release. Two scenarios can play out at this point. The lake is full of 4 and 5 pounders and it has plenty of forage to justify catch and release, but at some point harvest will be necessary to maintain the health of the lake. If we continue to harvest the bass, the ones that remain will get even bigger with less bass in the lake. Less competition for food. If we practice catch and release the lake will support more 3 to 5 pounders in greater numbers but you will not have as many 7 to 9 pounders. It all depends on what you want out of a lake. Personally I get tired of catching the dinks and prefer to manage for quality bass. Catching 3 to 6 pounders is great and you still catch the dinks, just not as many. I ask fishermen what they want and they tell me more bass, but a chance to catch ten pounders and we all love to catch the 4 plus. It's hard to have it all. So if I say Catch and release and everyone does it then we create a bass crowded condition. If I say harvest then the wrong bass may get took out of a lake. It's a judgment call on every bass. Some lakes are big enough to manage themselves without our help and others need our help to stay healthy. It's your call!

To be honest, it depended on the participation that day. I guess I just winged it. There were a couple of times I only paid out two places.

I have held several Tournaments to raise money for Boy Scouts while at the same time trying to Manage for over crowded bass lakes. In doing so I charged $40 per boat, two people per boat, 20 fish limit, only one bass could be over 14 inches per boat, and I had a 40% pay back to three places. I had a separate big fish pot with a 100% payback, (Usually $10 per boat). I also gave a gift certificate and or door prizes that were donated by local Sporting goods stores. The big prize would go to the Smallest Bass Award! The rest were random drawings. It was fun and we managed to raise most of our money for the year doing this and selling pop corn. Most people will participate if it's for a good cause and it stays fun. Good Luck.

I was told as a kid that you couldn't strike a match with a 22 rifle so I practiced until I could. I was told you couldn't shoot a 1 inch group consistently at 20 yards with a Bow & Arrow, but after 27 consecutive X's I was happy that I could. I was told I could not make a 1000 yard shot with a 243 Remington 100 grain Win. Bolt Action. But I can. I was told I could not take a 40 acre lake that was extremely bass crowded and turn it around with only hook and line and a few committed fisherman (with a management plan that didn't involve poisoning and starting all over). I did it, and now we have a 4lb. overall average in just 7 years. The Hard Way!!!!! Yes! I still can not catch a limit of bass every time I go out. Even when I know right where they are. Good Luck With That. Let us no when you do. Would love to know. Ha.

Cant argue with that type of science ! Go catch one and you'll feel better.

I saw one good buck and took a 6 point the same day. Here is a video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcTB68_xOVA