Ever since the herring entered the ponds a few weeks ago, I’ve been out almost everyday targeting big bass on the same pond. (massachusetts) I’ve gone back and fourth from day time fishing to the night shift in search for a herring eating giant. However, I’ve struggled to put a pattern together as these LM seem to be so keyed in on the actual herring, it seems impossible to fool a big bass. I’ve been throwing almost strictly swimbaits such as the Klash 9, 8” magdraft, and big wake baits for when it gets dark. I’ve caught a ton of 1lb-3lb bass fishing pretty erratic with the klash9 in glide mode along with slow strolling the magdraft above grass and rocks. The spots I’ve been targeting is main points with lots of rock and deep water close by, along with paralleling docks with glides. I’ve had some 5-6lb LM come from out of the docks and follow my glide but never bite. I’ve switched from open water glide with the big lazy S swim, to quick erratic jerks with the K9 but still I can’t find the big ones. I wonder if I’m just missing the timing because I don’t have the chance to fish in the morning which is maybe when the big ones feed the best. Its frustrating as all heck because when I’m out fishing at night, I can hear the sound of LM destroying the herring but for some odd reason I can’t get them to commit. I know guys have done well in the past with big wake baits at night but that hasn’t been the case for myself. Not sure if im working the bait to quickly or not giving it enough action, either way it hasn’t worked out. I’m used to throwing crawlers at night but I’ve quickly noticed they don’t attract the same fish as a non herring pond does. I would love to hear some guys/girls thoughts on fishing herring ponds in the spring and how they approach the night scene. For reference the pond I’m talking about has an average depth of 8’ and the deepest point being 15’. Please feel free to ask any questions and shoot me some pointers, thank you!
