Private Ponds/lakes Cheating?

[Rolltide09]

What are yalls thoughts on managed private lakes and ponds when it comes to bass fishing? I have been fortunate to have access to multiple professsionally managed lakes and have a hard time going back to the public honey holes. Downsides are that friends dish out a lot of heat that its not fair fishing and is cheating. Would you mount a bass that you caught from a managed lake? What are yalls view on the subject matter?

[outdoorsman110]

What are yalls thoughts on managed private lakes and ponds when it comes to bass fishing? I have been fortunate to have access to multiple professsionally managed lakes and have a hard time going back to the public honey holes. Downsides are that friends dish out a lot of heat that its not fair fishing and is cheating. Would you mount a bass that you caught from a managed lake? What are yalls view on the subject matter?

Bass fishing is bass fishing right? And bass fishing is fun right? I love fishing farm ponds because it's FUN. Who cares what other people think. Unless your at a tournament level I don't see anything wrong with managed/farm ponds. I prefer river fishing but I do love farm pond fishing.

[shimmy]

Not much to brag about catching a big one out of a pond. However, give me a private pond and i will fish it everyday because it is sooooo much fun! Kind of like bobber and minnow fishing. The problem comes from those who brag about their fishing skills sticking big fish in private ponds.

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

Fish'em if you got'em but feel fish from those waters should not count towards records.

[Bluebasser86]

They don't hook themselves for you do they? Sure the fish aren't as pressured and much dumber than they are in public waters but they're still fun to catch.

[Rolltide09]

These private clubs just kind of fell in our laps over the past few years. We had always had private ponds but not ones like these that have a biologist looking over them every month. Its still fishing because if you dont know how to fish you arent going to catch anything. Just getting some insight on some fellow anglers.

[tomustang]

Shooting fish in a barrel comes to mind, I don't care about private property catches just don't brag about catching something special that's in a controlled envorment

[North Ga Hillbilly]

The fish are alot easier to find, and not as smart. But its still fishing and still fun. I wouldnt hesitate to fish them, I always enjoy a farm pond, but I wouldnt go showing pictures like I was the bees knees.

NGaHB

[Lund Explorer]

IGFA doesn't recognize fish from such places. Organizations like Boone & Crocket don't award scores for big game animals taken inside a 10' fence.

Who am I to say they're wrong?

[fowlskies]

Lund, that was the first thing that came to my mind. It's kind of like going on a canned deer hunt or duck hunting a managed marsh with levies, fun to do but bragging rights are left at the pond.

[ww2farmer]

Cheating?.............No, fishing is fishing. But it is much easier. I gave up fishing in all the private farm ponds we have where I work. It got boring. I had different ponds managed for different things, one for size, one for numbers, one for big bluegills, one that had a little of everything. I have not fished any of them in a few years, I plan on hitting them again a little this year to see how they have faired with out me tinkering with them in so long. The public lakes are much more challanging, and I feel I have acomplished something when I have a good day or cash a check in a tournament on a body of water that every one can and has fished.

[Flipzter]

I would fish it AND brag about the pictures of my catch. I could care less where I have my fun, be it pond, lake, river, swamp, etc. But I would admit that the fish were taken from a managed pond.

[Bankbeater]

Its much more fun to catch a hawg at a public lake where no one else is catching anything than to catch one at a pvt. lake where everyone else is catching too.

[shady oaks]

They don't hook themselves for you do they? Sure the fish aren't as pressured and much dumber than they are in public waters but they're still fun to catch.

Exactly as stated above. You still have to hook them, you still have to fight them in AND land them. Feel fine in letting everybody know what you caught, as long as you don't say it came from so and so lake that is public waters.

[Diablos]

I am fortunate enough to have in-laws with a house on a private lake and always enjoy fishing there.

I don't think anyone here would decline a chance to fish a low-pressured hole.

[Avalonjohn44]

I fish a private lake several times a month, and most days it is just as hard as anywhere else. You still have to find the fish. Just because it is a private pond doesn't mean there's a golden platter where you just grab your limit of lunkers and go on home...

I just don't understand why folks would say don't brag about what you catch at a private pond. What a load of crapola. If I catch a twelve pound bass in a lake, river, farm pond, private pond or out of the tank at BPS itself, I'm happy as heck I caught it, somebody's gonna hear about it. My avatar will show a pic of it and it beats any bass that weighs less than it no matter where it's caught...

Anyone saying otherwise is just one of those 'sour grapes' type of person.

[North Ga Hillbilly]

IGFA doesn't recognize fish from such places.

I never have been able to find this is the IGFA rules, tho I have seen people say the same thing many times. Anyone have any links?

NGaHB

[bassmaster3541]

In my opinion it is totally fine to fish these, have fun with it. if the fish are being maintained directly by human control, not naturally feeding on bluegills, craw all that stuff I wouldn't be going around saying I am better fisherman than someone else who hasn't caught one as big, but it's still a great fish. If they are living in a natural environment, I see no problem at all with it, what, just because it has bigger fish? That's like saying I am cheating saying I went to Falcon instead of the 500 acre lake up the street, as long as it is not like shooting fish in a barrell, i see no problem at all

[fowlskies]

I'm surprised flukmaster hasn't weighed in yet.

I would brag but it would come with a cavet of being caught in a private pond. I mean it's kind of like putting a pot of grain in a farmer's field and shooting the cow when it comes to feed for your steak dinner that night.

The real question comes down to where you draw the line between considering it fishing/hunting or farming.

[NCLifetimer]

Some of the most enjoyable days fishing i've ever had have been fishing at a farm pond. I've recently began to get more enjoyment out of catching a few fish out of a big lake then a 20 lb bag out of a farm pond.

Is it harder to catch bass in a big lake? sure it is. Its also harder to win the bass masters classic then it is to catch fish in a club tournament. But that doesn't mean that the club tournament is somehow inferior, just a different level of the sport called fishing, that's all.

[hatrix]

I wish I had a professionally managed pond to fish. Who doesn't want to catch only big fish and lots of them? doubt there is 1 person here who wouldn't fish it even if they say they wouldn't.

[1234567]

I never have been able to find this is the IGFA rules, tho I have seen people say the same thing many times. Anyone have any links?

NGaHB

I too thought private areas were off limits for being certified by the IGFA, but like you, I havn't seen anything in the IGFA rules that would disqualify it.

[Lund Explorer]

I never have been able to find this is the IGFA rules, tho I have seen people say the same thing many times. Anyone have any links?

NGaHB

If you go to the following link, click on the "English" version of the pdf.file. Scroll down to page 8, left side column under General Information, second paragraph reads as follows:

"No applications will be accepted for fish caught in hatchery waters or sanctuaries."

http://www.igfa.org/Fish/INTERNATIONAL-ANGLING-RULES.aspx

[Lund Explorer]

I wish I had a professionally managed pond to fish. Who doesn't want to catch only big fish and lots of them? doubt there is 1 person here who wouldn't fish it even if they say they wouldn't.

I don't think the question here is whether people want to fish at such places, but if fishing there is a true measure of an angler's skill. There is much more to fishing than casting into the water and reeling in the fish. Quality fish in open public waters are harder to locate and catch. If that wasn't the case, there wouldn't be a need for professionally managed lakes/ponds.

In my personal experience, it quickly becomes boring when the act of fishing becomes easier.

[North Ga Hillbilly]

If you go to the following link, click on the "English" version of the pdf.file. Scroll down to page 8, left side column under General Information, second paragraph reads as follows:

"No applications will be accepted for fish caught in hatchery waters or sanctuaries."

http://www.igfa.org/...LING-RULES.aspx

Seems like somewhat of a grey area to me. I would assume sanctuaries means government designated preserve areas or something. I sent them an email, well see what they say about it.

NGaHB