How Should I Fish These Ponds?

[JimmyBird]

There is a graveyard by my girlfriends house and there are 3 ponds there. None of them are big at all. There is little to no cover except when they cut the grass around the ponds and then grass gets in the ponds. There are a lot of bluegill and a lot of bass. I have caught one little catfish out of one of them. People always tell me that there is a lot of big catfish and carp in them but I haven't tried to catch any. I'm trying to target the bass though. I have only really caught them off of some wacky rigged Yum Dingers. Some days they work really good but other days I won't catch anything. What baits, colors, ect. should I use to start catching them non stop. I see people catching them every time that I go but the majority of them just throw anything in there and hope to get lucky. I'd really like some helpful tips because I love fishing there when I catch them. Please be specific as possible. Thanks.

[FloridaBasser1]

  Do you have any medium size swimbaits? If so, try those. If you dont and would like to purchace some, I would recomed the Huddleston Weedless Shad, or the Bull Shad Swimbait. 

 Even though their is no cover, i would recomend a small topwater frog, and cast it right up agent the basnks.

 

~Ish

[Bruce424]

Try finesse setups like shaky heads and a straight tail worm Watermelonseed, pumpkin. Split shot rig (like a very light carolina rig. I would do this until you figure what size bass are in there. Probably catch numbers with these rigs. Maybe try some poppers In natural colors. Use these on calm overcast days. Smoke colored Curly tail worms on a 1/8 - 1/4 oz jighead work pretty well to. Just cast out reel in at a slow steady pace. Hopefully these things work for you

[deep]

Cover top, middle, bottom; fish fast and fish slow. Depth and speed!

 

How are you fishing these wacky senkos? In the middle I'm guessing. When action slows down, try something slower on the bottom. Or try a bait that you can fish faster- like a swim jig or a spinner.

 

This is assuming you figured out where the fish are- in any case the ponds aren't big, right?

[hatrix]

A weedless shad and a bullshad have a giant gap in price range. I highly doubt the OP is looking to spend $50-60 on a bullshad or even maybe the $8-9 it is for weedless shads now.

A jp on the other hand can cover basically anything. A 1/4oz with a grass head is probably the most versatile. You can try swimming them with a paddle tail trailer or grub, craw, creature, it doesn't really matter as they will all work. You can also just work them along the bottom. If there is no weeds to get hooks fouled on then a rooster tail with catch tons of fish and so will a size 4 Rapala X-Rap. Those are both better fish on something like a ultra light rod and can be difficult to get any distance with on standard slinning rods. Also 2" white grubs on the lightest heads you can throw like 1/16 or even 1/32 will catch tons and tons of fish. Again those are also better on light tackle if possible.

[JimmyBird]

Thanks for all of the feedback. Yesterday I was fishing the ponds and realized in parts of 2 ponds, there are grass beds at the bottom. I'm sure there are going to be fish down there. How would I try those places out? Would it be worth trying to fish them?

[716RAVEN]

Spinnerbait and a Texas rigged bait..

[FloridaBasser1]

Yes, try a weedless texas rigged senco, and try a small swimjig/ 1/4oz or less with some sort of swimbait.

[Mswen]

Think about your approach too.  I fish a number of small ponds.  In small waters, bass tend to rely on a larger variety of foods, bluegills will be the primary (possibly only) fish in their diet, while amphibians and terrestrial species (frogs, snakes, mice, insects) play a larger role in their diet.  I've seen bass sitting right up next to shore in 5-6" of water, or less.  I've cut 2-3 pounders open and found they had been gorging on insects.  Also cover in a pond is different than cover in a large lake.  A single stick in the water can be surprisingly important.  And pay attention to nearby cover like trees, especially those that hang over, or shade a significant or important part of the lake.  Even tall grass can be important.  Trees and tall grass mean insects, which attracts bluegills.  Bluegills attract bass.

 

One question: You say there's no cover, what about weeds?  And how about moss/algae?

 

But some of the best advice might be to follow the example of other anglers, at least to start with.  Throw some crankbaits or spinnerbaits, and topwaters at dawn or dusk.  Concentrate on covering water, and pay attention to the areas where you catch fish regularly.  Once you've gotten familiar with the ponds, work those areas where you know bass hang out with jigs or plastics to try and catch some of the bigger ones.

[Sea NaCl]

The Powerbait U-Tail worm Texas rigged on a 3/0 O'Shaughnessy hook has always been my go-to to catch numbers. I like the purple colors the most and I use a 3/8 ounce bullet weight.

[Ozark_Basser]

to start catching them non stop.

Probably not going to happen. Even in small ponds, a nice bass can be hard to catch at times. I'd bet the bottom is soft, so I'd start with an swim jig, drop shot, top water, single tail grubs, or anything else that would keep the bait off the bottom. Try fishing pretty fast also.

[Mswen]

Something else that I forgot to specify, when I say bass will sit next to shore, I mean they may be as close as they can get without being on dry land.  It can be hard not to spook them, but I have still caught bass that were right in front of, or within 10 feet of me.  Try making long casts parallel to the shore, especially along the dam, or in shallow expanses, and work a topwater, frog, jig, or soft plastic just a couple feet from shore.  I like to use CLU's Zero Gravity Jig, or an unweighted soft plastic, because they won't sink into a soft, or mossy bottom.  If you have a steep dropoff next to the dam, you can try throwing spinnerbaits and crankbaits to a little deeper water.

[hatrix]

How is that zero gravity jig? I was looking at one last year and almos bought it. It had a weird shaped head to and I don't know if it was the same brand.

[Danturner]

Swim bait

[flyfisher]

i wouldn't focus on the baits as much as i would your presentation.  On small ponds you need to be extra stealthy and not get close to the area you are fishing if possible.  Remember, these fish are probably very spooky due to the type of water they live in.