Help Me Fish My Pond.

[msdstc]

Alright so there's a pond about a half mile into the woods near my house. A neighbor of mine used to own and keep this pond in shape stocking it with all sorts of different fish. Probably 10 or more years ago we went down there and caught all sorts of fish- Blue gill, Yellow Perch, pickerel, Large mouth, and even some catfish. We caught the biggest fish I had ever seen back then (probably only about 4 pounds, still really big for me back then) Now years later my neighbor has moved away and the pound has really gone down hill.

Last summer a couple of my friends and I headed down to this old pound, which was now all muddy around the outside and completely overgrown. Things looked pretty bad until we tossed in some senkos, pulled up 3 or 4 Yellow Perch, no bass after walking the whole thing and fishing for a few hours. This summer with my new equipment I decided to take a walk down there again. everything is so overgrown you can really only access two points. from these small points I managed a tiny blue gill on a shiner, a bunch of small bites on senkos and small hits on top waters such as heddon torpedo or the rebel Pop'r, and the highlight point was what looked like a bass nailing a red devil, which I was simply bobbing up and down in front of the weedbed.

We took a small boat out on this pond and fished the entire thing, not managing a single fish after 3 hours until the very end. We saw a decent sized ripple in the water and tossed a senko right on top of it. Right away my friend pulled up a 2 pound Large mouth. So here's where I get confused. I've fished the hell out of this thing in several different ways. I'll paint a quick picture.

The pond is fairly oval shaped, with large weedbeds outlining the entire thing. Frogs are EVERYWHERE on top of these ridiculously thick/heavy weedbeds. The weedbeds don't look so good, as they're sort of rust/brown colored, but every fish I've caught so far has been right under these things. So here's what I've tried.

1. Spinnerbaits running in all different ways right along the edge of the weedbeds.

2. senkos and shads along the edge.- Landed a Largemouth

3. top waters- Pop'r, hula popper, and jitterbug all different colors.

4. spoons- Hooked a largemouth.

5. A tiny bit of jigging.

What should I try now? Is it even worth fishing it still? I imagine if the fish have survived all these years, there's potential there.

[DILLY07]

You could try by mowing the grass so you can have the access by fishing on the shore. I would try frogging, chatterbait lures. How deep is the pond that your mentioning? If I were fishing the pond that, I'd flip a jig and jig in the weed beds. Doesn't the weed beds give oxygen to fish?

[Sam]

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Can you post a pciture of the pond?

[msdstc]

You could try by mowing the grass so you can have the access by fishing on the shore. I would try frogging, chatterbait lures. How deep is the pond that your mentioning? If I were fishing the pond that, I'd flip a jig and jig in the weed beds. Doesn't the weed beds give oxygen to fish?

I read the weed beds give oxegyn also, but it's only a good indication if the beds are green. In this case they seem to be brown/rust colored... however like I said both times I caught the bass they were under these beds. I definitely want to try the jig in the beds...however how should I approach this? Should I punch it directly under the bed? These bedsclearly have a lot of space underneath them. As for the depth of the pond I would say at its deepest it's about 8 feet deep, which is a sort of basin in the center, and through the middle on average around 5-7 feet. On the edges it can vary from anywhereas shallow as just under a foot, to about 4 feet.

I'll see if we can get the boat out there tomorrow toget some good pictures, if not I'll take some shots of the little sport I can fish some to give you a better idea.

[Mad Fisherman]

I would try some plastic weedless frogs on the weed's. It may be dead weed's but it still gives fish cover and a place to ambush prey. You might want to try a jig in the central deep part.

[Nitrofreak]

Sounds like there is a pretty good food source there, I would try putting a jig in there with bream colors, you mentioned you caught one of those bass on a spoon, I would also try a salt and pepper or a white tube or fluke along the weed line.

[msdstc]

I would try some plastic weedless frogs on the weed's. It may be dead weed's but it still gives fish cover and a place to ambush prey. You might want to try a jig in the central deep part.

Would they still live under them without the oxegyn supply though? Also is it possible they just turned that color from the muck in the pond? Might be a stupid question.

Sounds like there is a pretty good food source there, I would try putting a jig in there with bream colors, you mentioned you caught one of those bass on a spoon, I would also try a salt and pepper or a white tube or fluke along the weed line.

I'll give that a shot. I'm actually about to head down in about an hour. Really overcast right now so hopefully they'll be a little more active. I'll try to get some pictures up today.

[MT2]

Id say its worth the effort to keep going. The main thing right now might be just unlocking the pond and being able to get to know it to make the proper adjustments to stay on em once the conditions change. I do beleive ponds are easier to figure out due to the size. Try throwing a carolina rig or some other heavy bottom bait, to get a idea of how the bottom relates to what you can see visualy.

A friend of mine took me to a pond a few years back. That in his words "use to be good but isnt any longer", up untill I got to know the owner and got permission to fish solo I saw positive signs but never really felt like I had unlocked it. In the past 2 years Ive caught probably 12 fish in the 4-6lb class while none actually went 6 biggest one was 5-8. Now Im in the process of getting some of the dinks out and tryin to see about getting some more baitfish into the pond. I mention this because I think its a prime example that if your catching fish dont judge it to fast good or bad, fish it learn it and then decide.

[Mad Fisherman]

I think they would still be there and I am not sure why the weed is that color. I am not sure why the weed would be that color but could be the muck

[msdstc]

May I ask what could kill a pond? Is there an invasive plant or creature that would clear out fish? As far as I know nobody has touched this pond in years... shouldn't the fish have thrived? it's definitely deep enough for them to survive the winter, and it's a fairly large pond. I was nervous that the weeds on the outside were milfoil, but I was reading that really shouldn't effect the fish.

[MT2]

There is a awesome video with a guy here who talks about fish management go find it. Sorry if that sounds mean but I got to crash, its not hard to find think its one of the first videos listed.

Alot can cos a fish kill, chemical run offs, over stocking, alot. At the same time, nature alot of times replinishes a pond in time, so as long as all the fish didnt die and there remained a solid about of food they are there.

[Mad Fisherman]

Is it possible snakehead's got into the pond?

[msdstc]

Is it possible snakehead's got into the pond?

I sincerely doubt it.