Big Pond Fishing

[Karsonclowers]

The pond I fish is a pretty good size one. I recently got a boat and have been using it there. It's just a little two man boat. I'm gonna put a old fish finder on it this weekend. So my question is, how do I find "offshore structure" in a pond and how about the fish on the old fish finder. It's a lowrance. And where will the fish be. I don't know for sure but the water temp is between 55 and 60 probably. And when it gets winter where will they go.

[Bluebasser86]

Any idea how deep the pond is? Assuming your depthfinder will be a regular finder and not SI, if the pond isn't very deep you won't see much because the cone of the depthfinder won't be very wide and therefore won't show you too much other than depth changes. That can still be really helpful though as your fish will most likely head to the deepest water in the pond during the coldest months (usually near the dam). With water temps in the 55-60 degree range, they'll still most likely be in shallower cover until the water drops below 50. Ponds are unique in that the fish have a pretty limited amount of water to work with, so you may still find them all over regardless of where they should be. 

[deep]

Your sonar will only show what's right underneath your boat. So you need to get in the ballpark first, use topo map and shoreline triangulation.

 

Here's a little submerged pond I found with my sonar. 60X25 ft pond, about 700 feet offshore.

 

[scaleface]

I have an old Eagle Fishmark 320  which may be similar to your old lowrance . Its a great sonar unit . I dont have to tweak it  , ever . Just turn the power on and it shows fish , cover , water layers , I can even track a fishing lure with it if its in the cone . It shows fish in perfect arches just like the advertisements . If the fish,  are moving like a school of feeding white bass then they will show up as slashes . Its a really good unit .

[Karsonclowers]

The deepest part of the pond is about 25-27 ft.  There is also a dam underwater that separates what used to be two separate ponds, but ever since I've known it, it has been one big pond.  There is one bank that is a rock wall and has some fallen trees in the water.  I have been catching them shallow, and also paralleling that wall, but before too long they will be deep.  Another thing, I know there are some big catfish in the pond, there have been 30 lbers caught out of it.  How can I catch them.   

[scaleface]

It would help to know where you are located and what kind of catfish .

[Karsonclowers]

mid/northwest Alabama;  I know channel and the bigger ones might be something different, maybe blue, dont know

[scaleface]

Winter time in Missouri channels cats are caught with shad sides . I pick dead ones up along the banks of rivers throw them in a bucket and fillet them where I'm fishing . Most people buy jars of stinking rotten ones , I prefer something fresher .

[jjrayguns]

Catfish will eat chicken livers good but my favorite has become shrimp. Don't waste the money trying to buy live shrimp, go to the grocery store and buy a pound of raw shrimp. I like to thread a egg sinker (weight depends on current and conditions) then tie on a small swivel with a leader anywhere from 12" to 24" set the rod in your rod holder and relax!!  you can do this set up with livers as well. Night crawlers will work as well , but I seem to notice that I get the smaller cats on crawlers. Cats like stinky stuff, cut bait, shad, bream etc. Flatheads will take whole live bream and shad too.

[tander]

Don't think that just because it is cold that they are not in the shallows. I use to fish a 12 acre lake and caught bass in the shallows year round.

[Karsonclowers]

So swimbaits work good for catching big bass in ponds

[Looking for the big one]

The easiest way to catch catfish is use to use a dead bait or smelly meat at night, even cheese works. At this time of year any time is a good time though. Put it on the bottom, and you'll need heavy line, a big rod & reel, and lots of patience. I know that freshwater fish will take a shrimp, it's my grandma's 'secret' bait, but shrimp are just one extra thing you have to buy when you can get a bluegill so much easier. The one thing I would suggest with bluegill is to cut it a little bit so that it bleeds. Catfish rely a lot on smell and a bloody bluegill is like a walking steak with an airhorn.

[Looking for the big one]

And yeah swimsuits work, but fish it slower with the cooler weather coming in. And if a cold front hits you, finesse finesse finesse!

[Looking for the big one]

Swim baits. not swimsuits. Autocorrect.

[Bluebasser86]

So swimbaits work good for catching big bass in ponds

You can see almost the entire pond behind me that this bass came out of on a 7" Slammer.

[the reel ess]

Don't think that just because it is cold that they are not in the shallows. I use to fish a 12 acre lake and caught bass in the shallows year round.

Right. Some fish never go deep. And they're more likely to be shallow in winter than in the hottest part of summer, especially of the water is normally stained. In a pond where most of the water is shallow, most of the bass probably will be too.

 

But shallow is a relative term.

[Karsonclowers]

ive caught a good bit on an x-rap 1/4 oz. and a green pumpkin trick worm t rigged.  What about small hard body swimbaits, like 2-4 inches