productive areas?

[Mr. Aquarium]

so ive been fishing this pond off and on for years!  all my big bass have come from one side of the pond. the pond is 11 acres, 30 feet deep, sharp drop offs, water is clear with a stain to it. i can see about 3 feet or so.  the side ive caught my big bass on has a sharp drop off with shoreline pads, brush and logs. its on the south side of the pond thats has a lot of tall trees along shore. the other side of the pond has a mix of open cranberry bogs and wooded areas! this has tall reeds some pads and some nice lookin blow downs.  this area is also a little deeper. theres some flats that are in 6 feet of water near shore. the reeds are in about 5 feet deep.  this is on the north side.

any reason to why i catch my big bass on the south side.

["hamma"]

  I imagine its the available shade, with the tall trees/pads, and logs to boot. This will most likely hold more forage, therefore bass,.. than the sunbeaten northern shore. Small ponds do seem to follow suit, as to most fish being in one area. Since the diversity of a larger body of water isn't available,.Favorable predator locations are limited.. But if you can find one that has good shoreline access in the said area?  Thats a gem, as all you really need is a couple lures, your fishing license, and a rod. And your good to go, no boat to prep, just one rod, and you can bankfish, and be on the decent fish

Just a guess, about the southern shore, could also be a spot that receives a prevailing wind direction as well. Like a small pond in a slight valley, with the winds coming from the north mostly etc, again another guess.

Keep ya line wet!

[Mr. Aquarium]

yea most of the north side and west side is all bogs, just opened land, south and west are woods.
no shore access to the productive side there is some but cant fish it good. the best areas you need a boat!

[jr231]

Sounds like a treat tho man! 11 acres ??that's a hell of a pond. My neighbor has a 4 acre pond and it feels pretty good size.  And honestly. I've caught bass on every single part of it. All the way around it. The big ones too. (Even tho there isn't a whole bunch) the behavior ive noticed while at the pond is as follows.

-in the shallows chasing prey

-early AM soaking up the sun

-out deep where I can't reach them and not much other than a jig or senko seems to work

-and lastly my favorite, where they are out in the middle hanging in the grass or around cover and are very active; where I can take them on my top waters, crank baits, and nearly any plastic . 

I've noticed nothing works consistently. They adapt quickly in my experience. Except for the senko.. it took awhile for them to get used to the senko but it has slowed way down. but the cranks and top waters.. I swear I haven't caught the same fish twice out of that pond on a shad rap or top water (two of my favs)

You can get a cheap blow up boat or kayak and get out there where you're missing..drop shot em. good luck dude. 

[Mr. Aquarium]

yea i fish this pond in a yak. most of my big fish here have come on frogs and swimbaits! cant wait to fish it more. i need to crack the code for the deeper fish! 

[Team9nine]

5 hours ago, swamp hawgs said:

so ive been fishing this pond off and on for years!  all my big bass have come from one side of the pond. the pond is 11 acres, 30 feet deep, sharp drop offs, water is clear with a stain to it. i can see about 3 feet or so.  the side ive caught my big bass on has a sharp drop off with shoreline pads, brush and logs. its on the south side of the pond thats has a lot of tall trees along shore. the other side of the pond has a mix of open cranberry bogs and wooded areas! this has tall reeds some pads and some nice lookin blow downs.  this area is also a little deeper. theres some flats that are in 6 feet of water near shore. the reeds are in about 5 feet deep.  this is on the north side.

any reason to why i catch my big bass on the south side.

So I'm trying to picture this...is the side where you're catching most of your big fish with the sharp break also the side closest to the deepest water (the 30' hole)? Does that drop-off you mention fall into that deep hole, or is the 30' just out in the middle somewhere between both sides you describe?

-T9

[jr231]

BA profile pic too. Is that an effect on your phone or a drawing or what. ??!

[Mr. Aquarium]

8 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

So I'm trying to picture this...is the side where you're catching most of your big fish with the sharp break also the side closest to the deepest water (the 30' hole)? Does that drop-off you mention fall into that deep hole, or is the 30' just out in the middle somewhere between both sides you describe?

-T9

30 feet some where in the middle! the pond. last time i saw the drop off drop quick into 15-20 feet deep. theres a nice tree in about 16 feet deep in the south side. also this pond is spring fed theres not inlets or outlets 

8 minutes ago, Yeajray231 said:

BA profile pic too. Is that an effect on your phone or a drawing or what. ??!

yea its an app on the iphone, its called super photo. you can make any picture look like a painting or animated. tons of cool effects you can do to a picture 

[buzzed bait]

sounds like a gem mine!!

[JigMaster4]

If you are going for bigger bass that are deeper, I would highly recommend throwing a jig.

[Mr. Aquarium]

ive had great luck with swimbaits up shallow but theres those big bass hanging deep that i cant get! 

[scaleface]

I'll wager that the other side of the pond has good fishing too . Sometimes its just poor timing .

[Mr. Aquarium]

23 hours ago, scaleface said:

I'll wager that the other side of the pond has good fishing too . Sometimes its just poor timing .

i fish the whole pond twice or 3 times mostly casting with siwmbaits. but the south side always produces larger fish.  

for the record my buddy and i went ice fishing there a few years ago. we had a flag and the bass was to big to fit through the hole, we lost the fish. this was on the north side of the pond

[papajoe222]

There are likely a number of reasons why. Close proximity to deep water along with shade and possibly wind (current) would be the most obvious, forage availability and cover preference could be others.  Regardless, the more contributing factors one can find in a given area, the higher it's potential for attracting bigger fish.  This is why anglers that target the biggest fish in a lake never rely on just one factor when choosing an area.  When choosing they take as many factors into consideration as possible.  Unknowingly, you have the determining conditions located.  Once you recognize them, you will be able to identify them easier on other bodies of water.

[primetime]

I bet the best spots have hard bottom areas near by. I find in ponds that moving water and hard bottom areas with cover are usually best. However, I also tend to fish the easiest water more than the "Deeper water". I would imagine the biggest bass are in spots that never get fished since I always get my bigger fish in ponds when I can get to a spot never fished before. Although I notice Muck Bottom is usually not as good as hard bottoms.

[WRB]

Must have missed the fact you are fishing from shore, no boat, float tube etc.

You don't mention anything about what the structure elements are, dam, rocks or anything off shore. No dam than your 11 acre  pond becomes a small lake natural lake.

Where do the bass spawn?

Tom

[Mr. Aquarium]

On 10/1/2016 at 0:20 PM, WRB said:

Must have missed the fact you are fishing from shore, no boat, float tube etc.

You don't mention anything about what the structure elements are, dam, rocks or anything off shore. No dam than your 11 acre  pond becomes a small lake natural lake.

Where do the bass spawn?

Tom

i dont know much about the offshore structure. theres is plenty of spawning areas for the bass!  yea its a kettle hole pond fed by springs. 

i fish the pond from a yak! i need to bring my fish finder out here

[WRB]

The bass are not going to spawn along mud/mud bottom areas, if they can spawn on harder bottom areas ideally with something to protect their backside or oneside of the nest sites. The reason for the question was to determine if deeper water is close by the spawning sites. This should be where the adult size bass are located.

Spring feed is important because the spring water is a constant temperature about 60 degrees year around, cooler water in summer and warmer water during the winter. You need to locate the springs.

Fishing for a boat you have full access to the entire small lake.

Good luck

Tom

 

[Paul Roberts]

Especially in small waters I'd all but ignore the idea that "deepest water is the home of the fish". Not true in probably the majority of my small waters.

Two things draw bass during most of the year: cover and food. Cover offers both security and food. Food is not available or most vulnerable everywhere. There's other stuff -always- but these are primary.

The annual exceptions are the spawn where substrate and environmental stability take precedence, and during winter when temperature stability takes a front seat, esp during periods of extreme weather.

One part of your description stands out for me: "a lot of tall trees along shore". In small waters, shoreline vegetation -the taller the better- act as security cover as surely as weed walls and drop-offs. 

[WRB]

I think what people misinterpret about deep water is bass don't follow the bottom to move out into "deeper" water, they stay at whatever depth thier air ladders are adjusted to neutral bouyancy and suspend over deep water. Bass have only a few choices to seek sanctuary, hide under cover or suspend over deep water. Hiding along a shoreline is risk from predators like Ospery, Eagles or great blue herons, shoreline animals and man.

If the bass is acclimated to 8' depth in a small lake it can suspend at that depth safely and move into shallower water easily or go deeper if needed. 8' depth is wherecI would start looking for bigger bass in small lakes.

Tom

[Mr. Aquarium]

ive  caught bass here on bottom in 30 feet. that was in december a few  years ago

thanks guys i appreciate the tips and useful info

[WRB]

3 hours ago, swamp hawgs said:

ive  caught bass here on bottom in 30 feet. that was in december a few  years ago

thanks guys i appreciate the tips and useful info

I believe you were ice fishing and bass will seek the warmest water during the cold water period, usually the deeper water or where spring water comes into this lake.

In this small lake when it freezes, leave the bass until the ice thaws.

Tom

[Mr. Aquarium]

17 hours ago, WRB said:

I believe you were ice fishing and bass will seek the warmest water during the cold water period, usually the deeper water or where spring water comes into this lake.

In this small lake when it freezes, leave the bass until the ice thaws.

Tom

negative. i was in my yak this was on a shiner on bottom. i did catch another fish in about 10 feet yo-yo-ing  a lipless crank. 

the only time i iced fished this place was a few years ago during a bad winter. slow day but i lost a fish that couldnt fit through the hole. it was a big friggin bass. this was on the northern side of the pond in a flat  thats about 7 feet deep near a big blow down. 

so im thinking in the winter the northern side is better due to the deeper water, which means warmer water.  the south side is better during the warmer months due to the structure and deep water adjacent to the shallow water