Best tackle for pond fishing bass and bluegill

[NotASpy]

Hey, I used to have a bunch of fishing stuff when I was younger but it got lost. I just bought a new rod and reel and I'm now needing to get tackle. I'm gonna mainly be fishing in ponds in CA for bass and bluegill. Any recommendations?

[roadwarrior]

 

[813basstard]

There is no other bait created that works better in ponds than a worm. Weightless, weighted, wacky, whatever. 

Start there.

Catch fish.

Try something else. 

—spinnerbait

—frog

—jig

Triple secret vibrating, battery powered, fish calling, double reverse engineered, drop shotted, ultrasonic, radar stealth...don’t worry about those right now

[Fishes in trees]

For Bluegills, it is hard to beat bobbers & crickets, maybe earth worms.

 

When it comes to using artificial in ponds for bass, for numbers I'd recommend Charlie Brewer Sliders.  Medium/Light spinning rig,    6 lb test, 1/8 or 3/16 or quarter ounce slider heads with the 4" slider worm.   If you can't find any locally - go to their web site, they have lots of colors available, tell them where you're from and they will suggest colors and their turn around time, from order to your door is excellent.   There are lots of other options and I'm sure others will chime in concerning those.

[Hook2Jaw]

In the clear ponds I fish, my first order of business is absolutely rip reeling a suspending jerkbait.  If that doesn't catch fish I'll Texas rig a YUM Dinger, and that will.  I slow the jerkbait down in winter, but this time of year I'm a bank or kayak bound power fishing machine.

 

In stained ponds, creeping or burning a paddletail swimbait on a weighted EWG is my first offering.  I allow the fish to tell me what they want.  If that doesn't catch them, a YUM Dinger to cover will.

 

I throw quite a few plastics and hard lures, but I currently prefer powering the jerkbait around or the steady cadence of a 3.5-4.5" swimbait.

[Black Hawk Basser]

I'll chime in on the bluegill: Get some 1/32 and 1/16 oz jig heads and some 1 1/2" or 2" twisters, tubes, and other little plastics in that size.  Sometimes just casting and reeling these hair jigs or plastics will work.  Other times, it helps to put your jig below a tiny bobber and reel in much slower, with some jerks and pauses mixed in.  Little inline spinners like rooster tails and Mepps can work when they are aggressive.

 

1/64, 1/32, and 1/16 oz hair jigs are great most of the time, too.  I hand tie tungsten bead head flies that imitate things they really eat, like freshwater shrimp, mayflies & bloodworms.  I rarely use anything for panfish other than what I make, because they work so well.  You could search out "bead head flies" and find all kinds of options that will work.

[The Short Fisherman]

try using a 1/16 oz jighead and put on a small plastic that imitates a minnow, like as twister tail or a crappie bait. You can catch both bluegill and bass 

[GReb]

If you want to catch a ton of fish and have fun grab your fly rod with some little popper flys. 

[JBT1981]

I've had excellent luck catching bluegills using a 1" bobber, 4# mono, and a *** hook. For bait I use 1" Berkley Gulp! Minnows.

I may try putting the minnows on a 1/32" jig head to avoid gut hooking anything in the future, although that's rarely been a problem.

Have fun! 

[Dom Hendricks]

Beetle spin, beetle spin, beetle spin. 

[AlTheFisherman313]

As far as for bluegills, usually a small jighead and a short curly tail work out here in Michigan. As far as bass, depending on depth you wanna try at least 3 options. Top mid and deep. I’d go with a buzz bait, a whopper plopper, popper or a frog for top water. A small rattle trap, or spinner for the middle collum, and soft plastics for the bottom. 

 

I also have luck luck with both bluegill and bass with j-9 or j-11 rapalas in the black and gold, black and silver or perch colors. 

 

Oddly enough frogs, craws and plastic worms work everywhere! In tons of situations. If you wanna go really basic, grab some 3/0 4/0 hooks and some jigs grab 2 colors of craw, 2 colors of worms and a couple weedless frogs.

 

Attempt to figure out the main food source and at first try baits you can cover water with.

 

if you see others fisherman try approaching without tackle or your rods like your out for a walk and just act like a fishing newbie “hey catch anything?” And take a look at what’s on the end of their line haha.

 

i should mention ask the guy catching fish not the guy banging his head on the ground because he’s frustrated ?

 

Heart shaped paddle tails for swim baits are killer as well, especially if you get a nice weedless jighead.

 

Also forgot to mention, approach the pond quietly, stay a few feet back when casting, fish are smarter than you think. When I shore fish I will sometimes attempt to hide behind cover if possible or crouch haha 

[CHIP-MAINE]

#4or #5 mepps is my #1  lure for largemouth and smallies. doesnt seem to matter much about color of blade or hair. after many years of using this color i believe bass come to vibration of blade because of their big laterall line on their body. had a day i caught 100 large without changing my lure. caught them up to 8 lbs on this too.

[greentrout]

H&H 1/16 ... BEST I'VE USED FOR GILLS AND BASS IN CREEKS AND PONDS ... SPINNING ...

 

GOOD FISHING ...

[LCG]

Keep it simple to start. 5in Senko (I prefer bps stick o's) and some 4/0 round bend worm or EWG hooks, and some weedless wacky hooks. 

 

Weightless Texas rigged senko and a simple wacky rig senko is a pond staple. Will produce bites if there are bass. 

 

For a moving bait, I would go with a spinnerbait with or without a trailer, your choice. 

 

The senko is extremely versatile and there are so many ways to rig it and make the presentation different. 

 

For bluegill, take the senko cut it in half and throw it on a 1/16oz jig head, aka ned rig or better yet buy zman TRDs which are designed to float, catches everything that swims both big and small. 

[bigbill]

Learn and practice different presentations with each bait the fish will let you know when you get it right. It’s not luck in fishing it’s skill.

[thinkingredneck]

On Wednesday, June 19, 2019 at 9:30 AM, Pickle_Power said:

I'll chime in on the bluegill: Get some 1/32 and 1/16 oz jig heads and some 1 1/2" or 2" twisters, tubes, and other little plastics in that size.  Sometimes just casting and reeling these hair jigs or plastics will work.  Other times, it helps to put your jig below a tiny bobber and reel in much slower, with some jerks and pauses mixed in.  Little inline spinners like rooster tails and Mepps can work when they are aggressive.

 

1/64, 1/32, and 1/16 oz hair jigs are great most of the time, too.  I hand tie tungsten bead head flies that imitate things they really eat, like freshwater shrimp, mayflies & bloodworms.  I rarely use anything for panfish other than what I make, because they work so well.  You could search out "bead head flies" and find all kinds of options that will work.

This.  I fly fish for gills and love it.  You can use a small float and spinning rod with flies, too.  I suspend them under a popperI am looking into the finesse side right now, and the Ned rig and slider are good to try..  Trick worms t rigged for bass almost always works for me.  

 

Another way to think of it is to fish a pond like a cove of a reservoir, and fish a cove like a pond.  d**n, I am Zen today.