A Good Day...

[Josh Smith]

I like to challenge myself by fishing public waters, figuring out what others haven't been able to figure out.

However, sometimes I just want to catch bass without a lot of work.  That's when I turn to private ponds.  This one belongs to my wife April's aunt and uncle.  I did quite a bit of fishing in it as a teenager, having been best friends with my wife's brother all those years.

April scored first:

Nice bluegills in there...

 

My first bass of the day:

Strangely, I don't recall what I caught it on.

 

Another:

Frog bass.

 

Third bass:

Another frog bass.

 

Fourth bass:

My first jerkbait bass in years!

 

After this fourth bass, I'd seen April not hook up again, so I went to helping her hook up.  She got on-the-water training, I guess, about bass and their habits. 

 

It worked:

April's first frog bass!

 

I went on to catch four or six more, and April caught a couple more.  I left off during that time to run the trolling motor, an old Minn Kota transom-mount with a handle.  That was fun, too, and rewarding when my coaching saw April hook up with another frog bass.  I tried a jig, and caught absolutely nothing on it.  I found that really interesting as jigs are my go-to lures.

Only one or two other people fish this pond, but none fish it regularly.  This results in almost zero pressure on bass.  I caught a total of eight or 10, and April caught two but missed several more (she's learning!)  One was actually in the boat but flopped off, hit the deck and bounced out.  I guess we could count that for a third one.

Wind was from the east, we had bluebird skies, the moon wasn't full or new, and a cold front just went through a few days ago.  Not ideal conditions, but the bass didn't know that!

Most bass were 14"-15", decent sized for Northern Indiana.  I couldn't tell what they'd been eating for sure; their teeth were not worn down, so nothing hard.  We were to keep what we caught as these critters need managed, and the owner knows how to manage ponds.  April got to learn how to fillet fish, too!

It was a fun time, and we're planning to do it again.  More of those larger bass need to come out, and I need to figure out whether there are still larger ones in there.  (There were when I was a kid.)

Meantime, April wants to start helping me in my boat repairs.  She's caught the fishing bug, and wants to get our fishing boat out on the water as soon as we can!

Regards,

Josh

[Reel Guy]

Sounds like a nice day on the pond! Congratulations to both of you!

[timsford]

Sounds like a great day on the water! Most of the pond bass around here feed mostly on bluegill and crappie once they get big enough. Bugs and tadpoles until then. The bigger ones also feed on craws and frogs, but I guess you already figured the frog part out. Shad and most other bait fish bass feed on in larger lakes aren't in small ponds for the most part. My favorite and by far most productive bait in ponds for catching large bass is bluegill swimbaits. I like the mattlures ultimate gill the best, but I like the u2 gill a lot too. I've also caught some big ones on the savage gear bluegill, hudd bluegill, and little creeper sunfish. A bigger Keitech fat impact in a green pumpkin or watermelon color works good too, especially if there are lots of weeds because you can rig it weedless with a screw lock swimbait hook. Or if you don't have the time or money to try these, or just don't want to, the real thing works great. A live bluegill around hand sized hooked under the dorsal with a small balloon tied on the line a couple feet up has caught some huge largemouth, stripers, and flathead catfish for me. I usually use the swimbaits but sometimes in really clear water when I've already tried those, I try the live bait option fished near any cover or fish holding structure

[Steveo-1969]

Great fishing report.  And I see you are a student at the @*HootieSchool of Bass Photos.  You must be at the top of your class!  Your wife will get better, as you said she is still learning.