Fishing neighborhood lake with no structure

[lexjrey]

I fish a small private lake that features many homes with docks and a few fountains for cover, but little to no structure. The lakes max depth is probably 10-12 feet and the bottom is covered in weeds.. My question is what would be the most effective lures to throw to get those fish out of deeper water on these hot summer days when it is difficult to locate any significant changes in structure that may be holding bass.

[kcdinkerz]

Fan casting a small spinner bait, or dragging a weightless worm, has been pretty good for me when I'm trying to locate bass in ponds.

[speed craw]

I have good luck targeting weed lines and edges . But also one of my favorite ways to catch fish is using a lipless crank bait and ripping it out of the grass for a reaction strike . You can also cover an immense amount of water looking for active fish . But when in doubt weightless senko , trick worm etc will suffice  . A Carolina rig can also be deadly with a long tag end to trail above the grass . Might also try the drop shot setup when in a pinch I can just about catch anything on it , just down size your offerings when it gets tough .

[OCdockskipper]

If the lake has enough fountains/bubblers to keep the shallow water oxygenated, the warm weather may drive a majority of the bass under the docks as opposed to the deeper water.  I found this especially true if the lake is relatively clear and the docks are fairly low to the surface of the water.  In this case, more forage is shallow & the bass follow, whether it be to feed or to just sit inactive in the darkness & safety of the dock overhead.

The trick is to get a reaction strike far under the dock...

[Preytorien]

I know lately my go-to retention pond bait has been a Ned Rig. I fish quite a few of these ponds and since there's no cover and rarely any structure, finesse presentations don't spook them as much and tend to catch quite a few fish.

Anyways, glad to have you in the forums. Head over to the Introductions section and tell us a bit about yourself! 

[Quesenek]

10 hours ago, speed craw said:

I have good luck targeting weed lines and edges . But also one of my favorite ways to catch fish is using a lipless crank bait and ripping it out of the grass for a reaction strike . You can also cover an immense amount of water looking for active fish . But when in doubt weightless senko , trick worm etc will suffice  . A Carolina rig can also be deadly with a long tag end to trail above the grass . Might also try the drop shot setup when in a pinch I can just about catch anything on it , just down size your offerings when it gets tough .

This is pretty much my go to when I fish ponds, I also have really good luck using a weightless/light weight T-rig fluke both regular and paddle tail when nothing else seems to be working.

[FastVette]

My neighborhood lake sounds similar to yours, save for we have no docks or cover.  I've had good luck using topwater frogs, and crushed them the other day (caught 7 bass total) using the Ned Rig.

[Mr. Aquarium]

i have a pond like that as well. there is some structure but not much. i havent done very well in the day here even tho ive heard it can be good. BUT at night. ITS GAME ON!!!!!!  night fishing places with little structure is the way to go! 

[blckshirt98]

You can always do the dirty and drop a piece of structure in there lol

[Drew K]

Senkos

[josh colley]

for fishing grass and limited amount of visible cover i fish a green pumpkin chatterbait or fancasting a squarebill crankbait

[dallasdb]

On 6/17/2016 at 9:32 PM, blckshirt98 said:

You can always do the dirty and drop a piece of structure in there lol

In the winter in Colorado you'll occasionally see ponds with Christmas trees dragged onto the ice.... when it warms up... instant structure!

Just gotta make sure to remember where the trees were!

["hamma"]

 A spinnerbait retrieved so its just ticking the weeds, a topwater fished slow above said weeds may draw a few strikes, a swimbait like a caffeine shad fished on a lightly weighted hook again ticking the weeds, and a smaller crankbait  that will dive deep enough, to touch those weeds as well.

Not knowing how tall the weeds get these lures are guess, if they grow only a couple inches a jig and pig should work as well

[Ratherbfishing]

Neighborhood lakes and pods can often be the EASIEST to fish because considerably less time needs to be spent finding the fish.  But while there may not be any well defined "structure", the fish will still generally hold at a certain depths or along weed edges.  Personally, when there are a lot of weeds but they are not super thick, a weightless Superfluke or Sluggo is a great choice.  Actually, even when they are thick (providing there are open pockets), the fluke/sluggo works well.  If you only had ten dollars to spend on bait (and hooks), that's probably what I'd spend it on. 

[Scarborough817]

bladed jig or lipless crank 

[Fishes in trees]

Going back to our Buck Perry glossary - structure is something that is on the bottom.  It your pond has a depth change - it has "structure"  What you're talking about is "cover"   According to Buck, cover is nearly everything else that wasn't originally on the bottom but now is, like brush piles, lay downs, stuff like that.  In Missouri ponds, for the most part,  the easy way to create cover is to drag a several Christmas trees out on to the ice during the winter and in the spring, when the ice thaws - instant cover.  Don't really see that happening in Fresno.   MY guess is that in that pond, the weeds don't cover the entire bottom edge to edge.  Somewhere, there is a deep edge to that weed line and that is where I'd start looking in the summertime.

[jr231]

Try a shad rap. Long casts parallel to shore. So many fish I've caught on the shad rap. And multiple 4lbers. Also double tail hula grubs. Fished weightless or small weight  t-rigged . Mepps spinner. Bomber model A (chartreuse blush is my favorite ) , I've had success with the rage craw t rigged. Sometimes all I had was my rod and the pack of rage craws and had 5+ fish nights from the bank. 

I think your issue is location more than presentation . But it could be both. the only way to get better and find the fish is to spend more time on the water. 

[J Francho]

On 6/17/2016 at 1:45 AM, lexjrey said:

but little to no structure

What do you mean by this?  It has no shape, no bottom? "Structure" is the shape and contour of the bottom.  Describe that.

[Molay1292]

Try a 6 or 4 inch straight tail Roboworm on a light mojo rig, it will come right through those weeds if you cut your peg off flush.

[Catt]

[fishwizzard]

2 hours ago, Catt said:

I am not sure what I am looking at here, but I think I like it.  Do you fish it fast so it spins and causes a ton of disturbance, or slowly so it twitches and falls?  

[Catt]

15 minutes ago, Bunnielab said:

I am not sure what I am looking at here, but I think I like it.  Do you fish it fast so it spins and causes a ton of disturbance, or slowly so it twitches and falls?  

It's just a Trick Worm, don't know why the ends look curled.

The swivel stops line twist, adds weight for easier casting & makes for an interesting rate of fall!

I hook all my wacky worms like that for weedlessness

[fishwizzard]

Very interesting.  I have been trying to get into wacky rigging of late but have had just awful hookup ratios with weedless wacky hooks, but was snagging too often on open hooks.  Is that like an 1/0 or 1/2 worm hook you are using there? 

[Catt]

14 hours ago, Bunnielab said:

Very interesting.  I have been trying to get into wacky rigging of late but have had just awful hookup ratios with weedless wacky hooks, but was snagging too often on open hooks.  Is that like an 1/0 or 1/2 worm hook you are using there? 

That's a 2/0 hook 

Swivel size varies depending on how much weight I want.

Leader length varies as well

[J Francho]

I like the swivel idea.  I either use a lightly weighted wacky jig, or a pinch on bullet weight, just above the hook.