Pond Bass Fishing With Swimbaits

[Las_Vegas_Bass_Fishing]

Hello, I was wondering if anyone had any tips on fishing for pond bass with swimbaits. I was wondering like what color swimbait to use and what size. Also what type of swimbait to use, like hollow body, soft plastic, or a hard body. The pond I fish (Sunset Park Pond) is 14 acres and has a maximum depth 12 feet. The water is stained to muddy right now. The pond is located in Las Vegas and we have had a warm couple of weeks so the bass are starting to move up and spawn. The main forage is bluegill but there are also tons of small carp and sunfish. Any info. would help, Thanks.

[Angry John]

Not the right tool for the described job. Use a chatter bait or spinner bait in white

[gulfcaptain]

stained you can get away with several swimbaits or glidebaits.  Golden Shinner color in a Hudd 68 is a good choice(also the midnight special when available which is all black).  S-Weaver 168's your choice of color, MC Mini Slammer and even use a Line Thru 8" swimbait.....if it's stained.  Muddy, the 68 should still work due to the amount of tail kick it has.  Could fish blugill size wakebaits(shellcracker/ LT Bluegill wakes) which really would be more like big cranks, Spro's new Rat.  Smaller swimbaits I would look for baits with a good kick in the tail to be able to put off that vibration for the fish to be able to key in on and would fish them on a scrounger head as well or on the back of a bladed jig.

[Ozark_Basser]

Not the right tool for the described job. Use a chatter bait or spinner bait in white

Quite frankly I do not agree with this. I think a swimbait is good anywhere there is a bass big enough to eat one. I'd even try a hudd in ponds if it had big bass. If you have big females moving up to spawn and feeding up, I'd say swimbaits are a go.

[Las_Vegas_Bass_Fishing]

Not the right tool for the described job. Use a chatter bait or spinner bait in white

 

stained you can get away with several swimbaits or glidebaits.  Golden Shinner color in a Hudd 68 is a good choice(also the midnight special when available which is all black).  S-Weaver 168's your choice of color, MC Mini Slammer and even use a Line Thru 8" swimbait.....if it's stained.  Muddy, the 68 should still work due to the amount of tail kick it has.  Could fish blugill size wakebaits(shellcracker/ LT Bluegill wakes) which really would be more like big cranks, Spro's new Rat.  Smaller swimbaits I would look for baits with a good kick in the tail to be able to put off that vibration for the fish to be able to key in on and would fish them on a scrounger head as well or on the back of a bladed jig.

Thanks for the tips.

[Las_Vegas_Bass_Fishing]

Quite frankly I do not agree with this. I think a swimbait is good anywhere there is a bass big enough to eat one. I'd even try a hudd in ponds if it had big bass. If you have big females moving up to spawn and feeding up, I'd say swimbaits are a go.

There are definitely big bass in this pond, the record is like 9 pounds, that's why I am looking into throwing some swimbaits to see if I could catch one of those pigs. 

[Ozark_Basser]

There are definitely big bass in this pond, the record is like 9 pounds, that's why I am looking into throwing some swimbaits to see if I could catch one of those pigs.

Its definitely a good idea, but if you want to throw big swimbaits, you really need the gear for it. For cheap, I'd look at a shimano cardiff reel and the okuma guide series for the rods. Also just because there are big ones out there and you are throwing big baits, doesn't mean your gonna nail one on your first, second, or even after a lot of trips. They take some patience and dedication.

[Las_Vegas_Bass_Fishing]

Its definitely a good idea, but if you want to throw big swimbaits, you really need the gear for it. For cheap, I'd look at a shimano cardiff reel and the okuma guide series for the rods. Also just because there are big ones out there and you are throwing big baits, doesn't mean your gonna nail one on your first, second, or even after a lot of trips. They take some patience and dedication.

Yeah, I am going to buy a combo for swimbaits here soon. And thanks for the help.

[Bluebasser86]

I agree with the suggestion to get a bait with some good thump to it and maybe rattles also. I catch bass in ponds with stained to muddy water on swimbaits all the time. Not the best option a lot of the times but they will catch fish. The R2S S Waver has caught me quite a few pond bass. I think the Shellcracker would be a good option and you might want to look at the new Lucky Craft Real Gill. I haven't gotten to fish mine in anything except extremely cold water but it does have a lot of thump and a good profile that I'm very confident will attract some big fish in a pond. Rats and wake baits should work well also. 

[OK Bass Hunter]

These are the swimbaits that have worked for me.

[timsford]

Id try a mattlures ultimate bluegill or u2 gill and the little creeper sunfish. Also the hardgill if you can find it and maybe a jackall gantarel or giron if the cover isnt too thick. Ive used all these except the gantarel with very good results in ponds much smaller than that

[stkbassn]

Wow, sounds like a great opportunity to have some fun with swimbaits. All suggestions for swimbaits above are good. I do think you'll have fun with the wake baits there. I just got the SPRO Rat and that thing is just awesome looking. It's fairly light and the profile isn't huge like I anticipated. It would be a perfect bait for you to try. Try a CL8 Water vole or Mighty Mouse from Tackle Warehouse too, those would be killer for you. You could also try the Huddleston weedless shad. This is a great little bait that you can reel straight in or let it fall to the bottom and throw around brush without getting hung up. It's a smaller profile that will land you big fish as well as average fish but you'll catch plenty of average fish on big baits too. Chances are whatever you're going to try isn't being thrown in that lake so show them something new....have fun!

 

PS: Those CL8 baits will not require a swimbait set up. The Vole and Mighty Mouse are both fairly light baits.

[Penguino]

I would personally use a jerkbait or walk the dog style for those pigs in the pond.

[Las_Vegas_Bass_Fishing]

These are the swimbaits that have worked for me.

Nice Fish!

[Las_Vegas_Bass_Fishing]

Wow, sounds like a great opportunity to have some fun with swimbaits. All suggestions for swimbaits above are good. I do think you'll have fun with the wake baits there. I just got the SPRO Rat and that thing is just awesome looking. It's fairly light and the profile isn't huge like I anticipated. It would be a perfect bait for you to try. Try a CL8 Water vole or Mighty Mouse from Tackle Warehouse too, those would be killer for you. You could also try the Huddleston weedless shad. This is a great little bait that you can reel straight in or let it fall to the bottom and throw around brush without getting hung up. It's a smaller profile that will land you big fish as well as average fish but you'll catch plenty of average fish on big baits too. Chances are whatever you're going to try isn't being thrown in that lake so show them something new....have fun!

 

PS: Those CL8 baits will not require a swimbait set up. The Vole and Mighty Mouse are both fairly light baits.

Thanks for the tips. I am definitely going to throw the Hudd weedless shad and I'm also going to try some of the LT bluegills. 

[primetime]

Just be careful fishing expensive swimbaits from the shore, especially if casting toward shorelines with brush etc. I know lure knockers and retrievers are typically designed for boats, but a knocker often helps, but usually if you get snagged on bottom it is game over with treble hooks.

 

If you are looking to fish a wake bait like a spro wake or any segmented swimbait,  even a fast sink is good for waking if you want to go faster and also have it drop in the water column if fishing cold water using a stop and go retrieve, you can use a chatter bait or even a swim jig as a wake bait and then have it flutter down, or use some soft swmbaits as mentioned.

 

If you have open water then cast away but I know I am guilty of trying to cast toward "Fishy" spots and nothing can ruin a day faster than losing a brand new high dollar lure on a cast that was risky....

 

I like to throw baits that cover water in larger ponds regardless if fishing from shore or a boat/kayak, figure out if fish are active in any spot of lake, and if I find some big females than I will chance it with an exensive swimbait, but you can buy good soft swimbaits or wakes that are only a few bucks that work well. If the baitfish are small, you may want to throw a small wake or swimbait, I like small baits when it is early spring to find fish, 3/8 rattle traps, 1/8 swim jigs, 4" grubs on a jighead, smaller jerkbait etc....I love throwing Chatterbaits especially early in the year when weeds are sparse, they pull big fish and cover water as well, and can be fished subsurface and also hopped on bottom or slow rolled near bottom and if you lose it no big deal....

[hatrix]

Basstrix, keitech, LFT shads, big hammer, skinny dippers, sick fish, shadaliciois, grass minnow, weedless shad, 3d trout, 68 special, s-waver, jointed claw, negotiator, deps 175, s-song, ms slammer, triple trout, shell cracker, lunker punker, bull shad, bbz.

Those are all proven and cheap baits that crush ponds. They are also smaller in size so a 1.5-2 will eat all of these.

[Angry John]

Yes you can throw swimbaits any where any time. They might work but for the described conditions they would not be first choice. If you already had the gear why not give it a try. I love swimbait fishing and want others to enjoy it to. My earlier post was aimed at baits that I would throw in that situation first. Hate to see a guy new to big baits get frustrated because they don't hookup. They do make hudds in white and dark perch patterns that might help you get bit this early in the season. When it warms a little more a cheap glide bait like a s-waiver or even the slamer would be good proven baits to check out.

[Penguino]

Personally, throwing treble hook lures like big swimbaits are not usually that good in small ponds. Unless you want to get hung up a lot in the weeds, I would suggest downsizing to a smaller swimbait like a fluke or shad.

[Las_Vegas_Bass_Fishing]

Yes you can throw swimbaits any where any time. They might work but for the described conditions they would not be first choice. If you already had the gear why not give it a try. I love swimbait fishing and want others to enjoy it to. My earlier post was aimed at baits that I would throw in that situation first. Hate to see a guy new to big baits get frustrated because they don't hookup. They do make hudds in white and dark perch patterns that might help you get bit this early in the season. When it warms a little more a cheap glide bait like a s-waiver or even the slamer would be good proven baits to check out.

Yeah I totally understand, I know that it is going to take a lot of work to catch the big fish but I am definitely willing to put in the time it takes to catch one. Thanks for the tips by the way, they are very helpful. 

[HookdUP]

lol the post I see against throwing big baits in little ponds are why I get bit so much throwing big baits in small ponds.... Not many are doing it ... But they get bit even by small fish ... There's so much stigma with big baits ... I hardly ever go out and fish solely swimbaits and do not get bit... And that's always in a small pond during the week after work ... From 9in ms slammers in chesapeake va to hudd 68s to got em coach real gillz ... But swimbaiting takes time to learn the approach .. And the ideal retrieve for each bait... It's a more focused fishing for me .. Similar to when pitching for hours in Florida mats ... Many times with a swimbait you can tell exactly where you'll get but or you'll get but shortly after passing that point . In any case don't be scared to throw big baits but from land. Id only throw floating lures and hudds ... Until you really know what you're doing chucking 2+ounces .

[2833-34497]

Basstrix, keitech, LFT shads, big hammer, skinny dippers, sick fish, shadalicious on these , grass minnow, weedless shad, 3d trout, 68 special, s-waver, jointed claw, negotiator, deps 175, s-song, ms slammer, triple trout, shell cracker, lunker punker, bull shad, bbz.

Those are all proven and cheap baits that crush ponds. They are also smaller in size so a 1.5-2 will eat all of these.

+1 on these baits mentioned. I've had some of my best days fishing the 68 Weedless Hudd, 8" Savage Line Thru and 9" MS Slammer at a pond/small lake.

[hatrix]

It does depend on the place your fishing though. Some places fish just seem way more aggressive and don't think twice about attacking a 7 or 8" bait. But then again I know places where the same size fish don't ever seem to want to hit a 8" bait. You can always throw a hollow belly or a keitech ect on a swim jig, chatter bait, swimbait hook, or jig head and catch them anytime and it will appeal to any size fish. I would say for your best chance at a big swimbait fish while using smaller baits just buy some weedless shads.