Anyone hike to backwoods ponds?

[MikeOGNR]

Recently I haven't had time to fish out of my canoe on lakes so I've been bound to shore fishing. To up my odds of catching big bass what I started doing was going on google maps and hiking to remote bodies of water be it ponds, beaver ponds, swamps. And I'd fish this has gone well for me so far as I've found some pretty good bass areas. Wondering if anyone else's does this and what there tactics might be? I also live in NH 

[A-Jay]

I hike back into the backwoods & I take my canoe ~ 

Usually have these places to myself and I'll fish many different presentations.

A-Jay

[Rollincoal420]

I wish I could here.  95% of the water that's not part of the main lake or it's tributaries, is private land.

[BuzzHudson19c]

Hiked to lake in the Adirondacks this year. About a mile hike in and we shore fished. It was gorgeous and completely secluded but we didn't catch a thing (unless you count leeches on my feet). Should have toughed it out an carried the kayaks with us.

[Paul Roberts]

I do. But, believe it or not, I have found that ponds closer to the parking area can be overlooked by the more serious fishers. Many just hoof right on by.

[soflabasser]

Yes I have hiked to some backwood ponds in South Florida and many of these ponds provide very good fishing.

[ohtheguilt]

I do a good bit of hiking to get to most of my spots....not exactly backwoods, though. I live in a big city that is still skirted by large amounts of city- and/or county-owned greensapce; almost all of which have lakes and ponds that are rarely fished due to accessibility issues (i.e., old parks that have been neglected and old abandoned city buildings on large wooded properties with ponds). Luckily, because of the land ownership and the local laws, my hikes and fishing (with a license) are all legal.

 

Tactics-wise, everything I've found was from google maps searches, followed by a bit more "interneting" to make sure that I wouldn't be trespassing. So far, I haven't run into any issues. I also carry tackle in a backpack that allows me to attach my rods (I like to keep my hands free in case I run into grumpy wildlife or grumpier urban-outdoorsmen).  Some areas have required the use of 4wd to get close enough to hike to water, though.

 

All that said, I've had pretty decent luck pulling out bass while fishing frogs and poppers around dawn, and various t-rigged plastics (mainly small stuff) at other times of the day.

[Fishing_FF]

Same here for Central Florida. The local ponds closer to the road have a lot of fishing pressure. I've loaded up a tackle backpack and grab a pair of poles (M and MH) for hikes to ponds off the beaten path. Found some real gems that way.....

[senile1]

Yes, I do.  The one in the picture below was built a couple of miles back in a Missouri Department of Conservation area.  Very few people hike back to it as it requires scaling some steep hills with your equipment to get there.  The paths aren't exactly the best either.  

 

[Bluebasser86]

My biggest swimbait bass came from a tiny puddle I found on Google maps and walked through the woods to get to. I'm always searching for remote water. 

[fishwizzard]

Yep, it is my favorite way to fish.  Except for the ticks.  And the thorns.  And chiggers.  And the poison ivy.  

[Fishing_FF]

3 hours ago, Bunnielab said:

Yep, it is my favorite way to fish.  Except for the ticks.  And the thorns.  And chiggers.  And the poison ivy.  

 

Don't have the issues with ticks, but I've lost more than once set of hiking pants due thorns. 

 

I actually hiked into a spot on Monday. The area was loaded small, thorn filled bushes. I was doing fine until I hooked into a fairly good size bass that got hung up in the weed line. As I stepped down towards the bank edge, I got hung up in one of these bushes. I hooked the fish, but the bush hooked me. 

 

Glad I was alone and there was no cameras. 

[fishwizzard]

Man, I would take ticks over gators any day.  

[bigbill]

We have a pond that's in the middle of the woods. It's off a trail. If you didn't know it was there you would walk right by it. I stand six feet above the water and I see black lines that move in the shadows. I figured out there large bass. Now the water is gin clear. I started playing with a rebel bumble bee and twitching it. I had a big sunfish on. As I reeled in the sunfish a large bass went after it. I pulled out the sunfish from the water just in time to save it. Then I remembered big bass eat sunfish. I just wasn't thinking. This place is quite a walk.

[soflabasser]

Good thing we do not have many ticks in South Florida since ticks can transmit lyme disease. At least gators can be easily avoided.

[OCdockskipper]

3 hours ago, Bunnielab said:

Man, I would take ticks over gators any day.  

 

At least if a gator latches on to you, you don't have to put a lit match to his head to get him to let go...

 

Have you ever tried to jam you thumb into the eye of a tick to get him to release?  It takes a lot of precision & a tiny thumb...

[wdp]

8 hours ago, OCdockskipper said:

 

At least if a gator latches on to you, you don't have to put a lit match to his head to get him to let go...

 

Have you ever tried to jam you thumb into the eye of a tick to get him to release?  It takes a lot of precision & a tiny thumb...

Anyone ever seen or tried this trick for removing ticks using peppermint oil? Looks very effective. 

 

Luckily, it's probably been 30+ yrs since I've had a tick. But if I ever do, I would def try this first. 

 

 

[Doelman]

I used to live in Palm Beach and fished canals full of gators on a regular basis.  As long as you have good sight lines around the bank, gators aren't a problem.  

 

Ticks on the other hand.....man I hate those things.  I'll take swarms of mosquitoes, ponds of gators, and fields of poison ivy over ticks.