ABW Posted August 26, 2014 Posted August 26, 2014 I have fished here ever since I was like 8 years old. I am 16 now. This past summer I have walked the entire banks of this pond and the biggest fish I was able to catch was only like a 3-4 pounder. I've heard that someone has caught a 7 lber out of here but I have no idea if it was true or not... There is a small island in the middle of the pond. I've been in a kayak out there and it is rocky until it drops off at 5 feet of water. Water clarity is stained. 1ft or less is visible. The bottom is basically dead leaves and plants. The deepest part is about 12 feet, and I'm not sure where that is. I think it might be around the area of the bottom of the map. The main forage is bluegill. On average, the bass I catch are about 13 inches. Sometimes I'll pull out some 2 lbers, but nothing more. How would you guys approach this? Or do you think I should just find somewhere else to fish? Quote
ABW Posted August 26, 2014 Author Posted August 26, 2014 What state are you in? Indiana... yeah not the best but not the worst The only reason I think there should be some big ones in here is because a guy caught a couple 5 lbers and released them a while ago in here. Also, the people that actually keep bass out out of here have kept ones that are just at the legal limit of 14 inches. Usually people don't even fish for bass here. Quote
Super User F14A-B Posted August 26, 2014 Super User Posted August 26, 2014 Do you have a depth finder? Try and find breaks and even if subtle mark those, rocks are good, so is vegetation if any.... Hard to say but, I have caught sizable fish outta smaller ponds, it's going to take determination and some ole fashion skill finding those drops, breaks.. But you can do it with out electronics, at any rate good luck.. Oh, and always look for other fishing opportunities. Quote
ABW Posted August 26, 2014 Author Posted August 26, 2014 Do you have a depth finder? Try and find breaks and even if subtle mark those, rocks are good, so is vegetation if any.... Hard to say but, I have caught sizable fish outta smaller ponds, it's going to take determination and some ole fashion skill finding those drops, breaks.. But you can do it with out electronics, at any rate good luck.. Oh, and always look for other fishing opportunities. No electronics. I think it is safe to say the whole pond is pretty much all vegetation Quote
Mattlures Posted August 26, 2014 Posted August 26, 2014 Are the bass you catch fat and healthy? is so then there is a good chance there are better fish in there. You have to target them. If the bass your catching are stunted then they will be small and thin.Usually in small ponds that get over populated there are a bunch of small skinny fish. Even then there are usually a few bigger skinny bass with big heads that are able to eat the dinks. In those situations there usually not much inbetween those 2 sizes. Quote
ABW Posted August 26, 2014 Author Posted August 26, 2014 Are the bass you catch fat and healthy? is so then there is a good chance there are better fish in there. You have to target them. If the bass your catching are stunted then they will be small and thin.Usually in small ponds that get over populated there are a bunch of small skinny fish. Even then there are usually a few bigger skinny bass with big heads that are able to eat the dinks. In those situations there usually not much inbetween those 2 sizes. The 2-3 lbers I have caught were usually very healthy, looks like they have never been caught before. Not really fat, but pretty thick. Quote
RAMBLER Posted August 26, 2014 Posted August 26, 2014 How deep is that "channel" that looks like it use to connect to the lake north of it? Is that a dam between the two? Have you ever fished the north lake? From the air, they both look like there could be some good sized fish in there, if there is plenty of food. Quote
BobP Posted August 26, 2014 Posted August 26, 2014 If the pond doesn't get a lot of fishing pressure and has lots of vegetation, I'll bet there are 5+ lb fish in there. The negative is that an over population of bass tends to stunt the average size of fish in the population. But that doesn't mean there aren't lunker bass in there somewhere. If you catch small and medium size bass to 3 lbs, that's an indication that there are probably a variety of year classes of bass in the pond. If the pond is rarely fished for bass and you have access, I'd count my blessings and keep fishing it. 1 Quote
ABW Posted August 26, 2014 Author Posted August 26, 2014 How deep is that "channel" that looks like it use to connect to the lake north of it? Is that a dam between the two? Have you ever fished the north lake? From the air, they both look like there could be some good sized fish in there, if there is plenty of food. I would say the channel is about 4-6 feet deep. That isn't a dam, it is just a bridge the city build to walk on. There is a 12 acre body of water that is on a hill within walking distance to this one. I've fished there a lot too and I've only been able to catch dinks. I've asked people to fish on their property where there is structure and still only have caught dinks. My dad's friends have said there are big ones too in this particular one. There is more structure on this one than there is the first one, but it is unreachable by bank. Quote
ABW Posted August 26, 2014 Author Posted August 26, 2014 This is the second pond I was talking about. On the left side there are fallen trees, some docks that people own, and shady spots. Too bad I can't reach them from the bank. The channel on the bottom left corner is filled with thin tree branches and timber and trees, but cannot be accessed. Deepest part of this one is 14 ft. Quote
Mattlures Posted August 26, 2014 Posted August 26, 2014 Big fish tend to let their guard down some at night. Cover the whole pond throwing a buzzbait parallel to the shore where the water is at least 2 ft deep. Then cover the pond again throwing a large slow swimming wake bait like a jointed rat, ms slammer, etc. . Those are two of the most reliable consistant summer time big bass techniques. The fish in your picture arrears to be healthy and bigger then a typical stunted bass. I would guess there are better fish in there. 2 Quote
TorqueConverter Posted August 26, 2014 Posted August 26, 2014 I sometimes fish a little 13 acre weedy Iowa state pond and have been surprised by size of the fish that can come out of it. The key to catching the big ones for me has been targeting the low light periods. The big fish will get out from under the coontail beds and cruise the inside weed line at dusk looking for bluegills and bullfrogs. Quote
Super User Raul Posted August 26, 2014 Super User Posted August 26, 2014 A friend of mine´s grandparent owns a ranch about 40 min drive from where I live, he has 3 ponds, 2 are about 50 x 50 mt and the big one is maybe 100 mt x 50 mt. We fished those ponds for years and years, average fish was about half a pound in weight, tons of stunted fish. I got my first 10 pounder in the big pond. So, do I think there will be a big fish ( define "big" please ) in your pond ? ----- > I have no reason to doubt there is a ( or several ) big fish. Quote
ABW Posted August 26, 2014 Author Posted August 26, 2014 A friend of mine´s grandparent owns a ranch about 40 min drive from where I live, he has 3 ponds, 2 are about 50 x 50 mt and the big one is maybe 100 mt x 50 mt. We fished those ponds for years and years, average fish was about half a pound in weight, tons of stunted fish. I got my first 10 pounder in the big pond. So, do I think there will be a big fish ( define "big" please ) in your pond ? ----- > I have no reason to doubt there is a ( or several ) big fish. I would call "big" 5-7 pounds. I don't think there are any double digit bass in there. Quote
ABW Posted August 26, 2014 Author Posted August 26, 2014 Big fish tend to let their guard down some at night. Cover the whole pond throwing a buzzbait parallel to the shore where the water is at least 2 ft deep. Then cover the pond again throwing a large slow swimming wake bait like a jointed rat, ms slammer, etc. . Those are two of the most reliable consistant summer time big bass techniques. The fish in your picture arrears to be healthy and bigger then a typical stunted bass. I would guess there are better fish in there. I don't really have the money to spend on large swimbaits and wakebaits, would larger lures such as jigs and big California type swim jigs suffice? I love to fish jigs, have never used swimbaits though. Quote
Super User Raul Posted August 26, 2014 Super User Posted August 26, 2014 I would call "big" 5-7 pounds. I don't think there are any double digit bass in there. For Indiana a 5 - 7 lber is a true whopper, anyway, as I said I see no reason to doubt there are several fish that big. I´ve caught some really nice fish out of pretty small places. Quote
Mattlures Posted August 27, 2014 Posted August 27, 2014 I don't really have the money to spend on large swimbaits and wakebaits, would larger lures such as jigs and big California type swim jigs suffice? I love to fish jigs, have never used swimbaits though. No The idea is something that looks big and swims on the surface at night. I bet you can afford a buzzbait. Quote
ABW Posted August 27, 2014 Author Posted August 27, 2014 No The idea is something that looks big and swims on the surface at night. I bet you can afford a buzzbait. I'll go with the buzzbait then. Haven't been able to get out because I'm busy with school. Quote
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