Big pond or little pond in winter??

[Luke Barnes]

Went to a fairly large pond today. Big enough where I cant cast to the middle in every spot. Its shaped like an L and the short leg is really wide. I was slow rolling an A Rig and dragging a ned. There are a few ponds I go to that are tiny and I can cast to every inch of water. With winter time temps and winter techniques, would a smaller pond be more successful because I can reach everywhere the fish could be and they are more concentrated, or am I still better off fishing the big pond and try more techniques? I figured they were deep and i have no clue the depth of either and I'm pretty sure they are both gentle slopes to the deepest spots. 

I tried to get the zoom to the same scale but I know its zoomed on the little pond more. 

[The Bassman]

I would definitely fish them both. Never mind that you can't reach the middle in the big one. Bass are apt to be anywhere in small lakes as temps are pretty consistent. There's plenty of opportunity to find fish. I like to focus on the side facing the sun and all the better if it's also the windward side. The culvert/dam spots look good, too. Good luck.

[Luke Barnes]

54 minutes ago, The Bassman said:

I would definitely fish them both. Never mind that you can't reach the middle in the big one. Bass are apt to be anywhere in small lakes as temps are pretty consistent. There's plenty of opportunity to find fish. I like to focus on the side facing the sun and all the better if it's also the windward side. The culvert/dam spots look good, too. Good luck.

So just fish where I can reach and either fish slow on the bottom or with a jerkbait with real long pauses?

[DitchPanda]

What are your current temps here you live? Water temps? You may be fishing to slow...bass will react to fast moving baits in surprisingly cold temps

[The Bassman]

Saw a Facebook post from a nephew in northeast OK that said water temp was in the upper 40's. Plenty warm for good action. I catch bass here by casting neds on ice and slipping them off the edge.

[BrianMDTX]

I fish an L-shaped pond similar to yours. Up until yesterday, most of the bass I’ve caught the past few weeks have been out deep (if you consider 8’-10’ deep lol). Today I hooked 9 and caught 7 and all were 2’-4’ from the bank. 

 

All they wanted were Zoom Trick worms. 

[Luke Barnes]

2 hours ago, The Bassman said:

Saw a Facebook post from a nephew in northeast OK that said water temp was in the upper 40's. Plenty warm for good action. I catch bass here by casting neds on ice and slipping them off the edge.

Im northeast oklahoma too. Temp today was 40. Tomorrow is 55. No idea on water temps. 

 

On the narrower section I could get my new almost half way across using a 1/16th. Next time I go I think I'm going to use a 1/8th oz to help keep it on the bottom better and change colors. I think I went too light on the color. Loving the Lifted Jigs weedless ned heads i just got. 

 

Next time I'll try pulling the A Rig faster and see if i can get a reaction bite. Gonna try a swinghead with a SK Cutr Worm crankbait retrieve too. 

[Biglittle8]

I usually use a locator lure, a lipless  like a Rattle trap or square bill crank bait to find where they are hanging out. You can cover a lot of water in a short amount of time. Then adjust my technic to work those areas. +1 on Bassman's wind comment, I found that mature bass have learned to exploit the wind to conserve energy and let the prey come to them.

Edited January 24, 2021 by Biglittle8
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[Biglittle8]

11 hours ago, DitchPanda said:

What are your current temps here you live? Water temps? You may be fishing to slow...bass will react to fast moving baits in surprisingly cold temps

Roger that! I catch a lot of fish in the winter ripping a Rattle-Trap through the water at a pretty good speed with my rod tip controlling the depth to keep it just above the weeds.

[Luke Barnes]

So ive tried to break the pond down from what ive learned here and what I observed fishing it. Im trying to learn where the bass would likely hang out to increase my chances of catching some.

Legend:

Red=grass line

Light blue=shallow

Dark blue=deeper

Yellow=flat

 

Slope from bank to deepest seems pretty even and gradual. Not sure if its steeper in some areas or There are humps. Just trying to learn to break down bodies of water to see the highest probability of catching. Lures I can figure out and change out but reading the water I'm learning.

[Luke Barnes]

I wish I could launch a kayak on this pond and have a good electronic unit on it to truly see whats under the water. From what ive seen it has the biggest bass out of any urban pond ive fished!