Fishing Small Ponds Without Structure

[Gsickels3]

I am from Iowa and I have a small farm pond I bass fish. I have not had very much luck fishing it this year. There is not really structure such as a fallen tree or rocks. I have used a Texas Rigged plastic worm and spinnerbaits but have not had any catches. What techniques should I use to fish this pond. Thanks!

[tdown1207]

Build structure, it would be very easy to make a back yard pond in to a fun honey hole just by adding one or two brush piles.  if you are still feeling out the pond small crankbaits usiually work for me to help find where the fish are hiding they cover a lot of ground and draw a ton of attention.

[BassAssassin726]

I think you mean cover not structure. Structure is things like drop offs, humps, channels and such. Cover is things on the actual structure like brush piles or fallen trees or rocks on a hump. Picking up what im putting down? Try and find structure. Any kind of irregularity in the bottom. Humps, points, ledges. I found that where i fish in small quarry lakes all the things that you find on a big lake exist in small bodies of water just on a small scale. You may think that tiny point isnt really a point but it is. And probably holds fish.

[J Francho]

Let's get some basics down first.  Brush piles and laydowns are cover.  The shape and contour of what's under water is the structure.  Rocks, sand, mud, muck, and clay are all bottom composition. 

 

If you have permission from the owner, I do suggest some form of artificial cover.  Brush piles are a good start.  Another suggestion, more related to how you fish, is to NOT cast straight out to the middle.  Many times the bass are along or near shore.  You spook them as you walk.  Get into position, and cast parallel to shore. This is why cover is important, as it makes the fish feel safer and less vulnerable, offering an ambush point as well. It also gives you a casting target.

[Grizzn N Bassin]

X2 what they said try a wacky rig senko it will catch you fish

[OkeechobeeAngler]

Rattle Trap it.

[Revival]

Try a KVD 1.0/1.5.  All i do is fish ponds from shore and struggled for a month using plastics/spinnerbiats etc.  I tried a 1.0 yesterday and got 2 on but lost both.  I changed the stock hooks and got 3 this morning.  Fish early morning or late evening.  If possible, fish at night too.  I have caught more bass at night then during the day.

[WRB]

We all have our own definitions to structure and cover. To me cover is everything that' grows or floats . Structure is everything mineral natural or man made. The pond bottom; soil, sand, clay, rocks of all sizes, the dam, man made posts or pilings, road bed or channel, etc are all structure elements.

Your pond has aquatic weed growth that provides cover and a break line where the weeds stop growing due to depth or soil types. These break lines are very important to pond bass, it is where they find food and sanctuary.

As mentioned pond bass are aware of everything near them, their life depends on this..

So tell us about your pond; how big is it, how deep, any docks or islands? Is this pond spring feed or stream feed? What type of prey is there for the bass to eat?

Tom

[ClackerBuzz]

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/13845-guaranteed-to-catch-bass/

the first cast will generally get you the biggest fish in the area so i relocate often.  no standing in the same place for an hour casting over the same water 100+ times/

[JayKumar]

+1 on wacky-rigged Senko.  Also a 10" or 12" Power Worm, or a frog or Spook Jr.  Swim-jig might work too.

[harmon]

Rattle Trap it.

X2, 

[bgraham91]

If the water is clear I would use watermelon magnum finesse worm weightless and if its a little dingy I would use the same thing but I would use pumpkin or black and also a jig with a big trailer. Good luck

[hookset on 3]

Let's get some basics down first.  Brush piles and laydowns are cover.  The shape and contour of what's under water is the structure.  Rocks, sand, mud, muck, and clay are all bottom composition. 

 

If you have permission from the owner, I do suggest some form of artificial cover.  Brush piles are a good start.  Another suggestion, more related to how you fish, is to NOT cast straight out to the middle.  Many times the bass are along or near shore.  You spook them as you walk.  Get into position, and cast parallel to shore. This is why cover is important, as it makes the fish feel safer and less vulnerable, offering an ambush point as well. It also gives you a casting target.

 

 

John's post should be framed and hung under the BR Banner on the home page.

 

My 2 cents. FWIW.

[Gsickels3]

I did not understand that structure and cover were different. Cover would be the term I was meaning. How do you locate the bottom structure of a pond? Thanks for the replies!

[hooah212002]

How do you locate the bottom structure of a pond?

 

A carolina rig, a jig or a texas rig dragged sloooowly across the bottom.

[Hattrick7]

Try using a drop shot with roboworms. Maybe the 4" ones to start. I'd position the drop shot weight about 6" from your bait. There's probably grass or weeds down at the bottom.

I'd fish it slow shaking the bait slightly and then dragging it in slowly with the same process. There's gotta at least be some grass at the bottom and they may use that as cover. There's tons of YouTube vids on dropshotting.

Experiment with different worm lengths and colors if the 4" ones don't get bit. I'd also try using a shakey head with roboworms.

Experiment until you get something. If there's bass in there they have to fees on something.

Wacky rigging senkos work well too. Good luck!