How should I fish a small, gunky pond?

[Turtles_R_us]

Basically my only place to go fish, is nearly unfishable simply because of the gunk in it. Its on the top, in the middle, and on the bottom. It was incredibly bad last summer, but winter helped it clear up a bit, however It is starting to come back though as the warmer weather comes in and is only going to get worse. It is not what fisherman would call "grass" but something closer to algae. I have tried treble hook baits just to see if it was not as bad as it seems, but as you would expect, they are unfishable. Spinnerbaits also catch a lot of algae so those are out. I have also tried jigs of all sorts, football heads, finesse jigs, and swim-jigs, but the only semi-successful one was a swim-jig (most of the gunk is on the bottom, so that could explain it). Texas rigs, Ned rigs, Tokyo rigs, and wacky rigs didn't work so well either, as the weights will bury down in it and snowball it up (weightless Texas rigs aren't heavy enough to punch through it so they just sit on top). It is still early for top-water in my region, so that wont be an option yet. As of this season in this pond, I have only caught one on a swim-jig (got lucky because it hit before I had to reel through a clump of it) and a couple on some old flounder fillets bait fishing. Any insight on how to catch fish here is highly appreciated.

[rtwvumtneer6]

44 minutes ago, Turtles_R_us said:

It is still early for top-water in my region, so that wont be an option yet.

If nothing else is working, try throwing a frog.  You might be surprised.  I start throwing a frog here in PA as soon as the trees start to bloom with great success.  It is not just a morning/evening summertime lure.

[Turtles_R_us]

28 minutes ago, rtwvumtneer6 said:

If nothing else is working, try throwing a frog.  You might be surprised.  I start throwing a frog here in PA as soon as the trees start to bloom with great success.  It is not just a morning/evening summertime lure.

Thanks, I'll give it a try

 

[scaleface]

Frogs and weightless soft plastics are the only lures I have found that will come through the stuff you describe .

[roadwarrior]

Find somewhere else to fish.

[Michigander]

I was forced to mainly fish in a similar body of water for a time. Frogs and unweighted Power Worms were all I could get bit on due to the slime.

[BrianMDTX]

I know of what you speak. Have you tried a weightless Senko TR? They are heavier than most soft plastics like a Zoom Trick and unless your pond is truly covered in a thick mat of algae (if so, I’d follow roadwarrior’s advice), it should reach bottom and not pick up much gunk. 

[DitchPanda]

Weightless fluke,senko or trick worm rigged weedless...frog

 

 

That's about it

[BrianMDTX]

30 minutes ago, DitchPanda said:

Weightless fluke,senko or trick worm rigged weedless...frog

 

 

That's about it

I love fishing a weightless Zoom Trick, but if there’s a lot of stuff floating on the water, they aren’t great at sinking. They weigh very little. That’s one area a Senko shines. Casts far and sinks well all on its own. 

[Turtles_R_us]

1 hour ago, roadwarrior said:

Find somewhere else to fish.

Ive tried but anywhere within 30 mins is private or no bank access

 

all true, right now the weightless texas rig will work, but in summer it gets really thick on the top and only a frog will work. I was just wondering if there was something I was missing. I appreciate it!

2 hours ago, scaleface said:

Frogs and weightless soft plastics are the only lures I have found that will come through the stuff you describe .

 

1 hour ago, Michigander said:

I was forced to mainly fish in a similar body of water for a time. Frogs and unweighted Power Worms were all I could get bit on due to the slime.

 

1 hour ago, BrianMDTX said:

I know of what you speak. Have you tried a weightless Senko TR? They are heavier than most soft plastics like a Zoom Trick and unless your pond is truly covered in a thick mat of algae (if so, I’d follow roadwarrior’s advice), it should reach bottom and not pick up much gunk. 

 

1 hour ago, DitchPanda said:

Weightless fluke,senko or trick worm rigged weedless...frog

 

 

That's about it

 

32 minutes ago, BrianMDTX said:

I love fishing a weightless Zoom Trick, but if there’s a lot of stuff floating on the water, they aren’t great at sinking. They weigh very little. That’s one area a Senko shines. Casts far and sinks well all on its own. 

 

[Bankc]

Are you sure there's enough fish in it to even make it worth the hassle?  If the pond is completely covered in algae, that usually means there's high quantities of fertilizer being washed into it.  That'll mess with the pH of the water.  In high concentrations, algae can also suck all of the oxygen out of the water.  Even though algae creates oxygen in the day when the sun is up, it can suck the oxygen back out at night.  Some algae is beneficial, but if it's covering the whole lake, it can wreak havoc on larger fish.  

[Turtles_R_us]

12 minutes ago, Bankc said:

Are you sure there's enough fish in it to even make it worth the hassle?  If the pond is completely covered in algae, that usually means there's high quantities of fertilizer being washed into it.  That'll mess with the pH of the water.  In high concentrations, algae can also suck all of the oxygen out of the water.  Even though algae creates oxygen in the day when the sun is up, it can suck the oxygen back out at night.  Some algae is beneficial, but if it's covering the whole lake, it can wreak havoc on larger fish.  

there are there used to be a fountain that helped but now thats gone i still catch some though and i saw a few swimming around

[scaleface]

1 hour ago, Turtles_R_us said:

ll true, right now the weightless texas rig will work, but in summer it gets really thick on the top and only a frog will work. I was just wondering if there was something I was missing. I appreciate it!

I have caught bass in really thick gorilla snot like stuff  in the summer with a weightless/weedless Yum Swurm    [ actually a Riverside Top Gun but they are the same thing]. Its flat and slides over the stuff fairly well . Sometimes I   get it to stay in place and jiggle the hook so it plops up and down on the mat. I caught some big bass doing that . Use a heavy hook to give it a little extra casting   and be able to pull in   a six lb bass along with six pounds of gunk  .

[RDB]

If you’re talking about the gooey algae stuff (I call it snot grass), I find it super hard to fish.  Like others have said, your best bet is to stay above it or just fish the more open areas.  The good news is that in my experience, the fish don’t like it either.

[CrankFate]

Use live shiners. This way you’ll at least know if there are any bass there in the first place.

[Turtles_R_us]

2 hours ago, CrankFate said:

Use live shiners. This way you’ll at least know if there are any bass there in the first place.

there definitely are but i dont have anywhere to get them

 

[garroyo130]

I've had luck with rapala floaters in those conditions. 

[MAN]

5 hours ago, Turtles_R_us said:

there definitely are but i dont have anywhere to get them

 

Goldfish from Petco sir

[Boomstick]

Have you tried a chatterbait? I mention this because they come through the gunk a little bit better than a spinnerbait and you can pop it off.

If it's too gunky, try a frog. I'd probably go with a full size frog to make the most commotion possible.

[CM-fisher]

I'd have to say frog. My personal favorites are the booyah pad crasher and livetarget 55T frog. Also, make sure that fishing the pond is worth the trouble. Are there any large fish in it? or is it a bunch of dinks? Frogs are not just summer lures. I've had luck with them in early May and mid September.

[TriStateBassin106]

If there's water beneath this stuff I would definitely recommend either punching/topwater frogs.