Suggestions for Targeting a Large Bass in a Heavily Pressured Park Pond

[J Francho]

Off topic ranting has been removed.  Please play nice.

[Sooner32]

17 hours ago, PhishLI said:

Perhaps that's true in some places, or many places, but not everywhere.

 

Most lakes and ponds closest to me are very similar. They're weed choked and they're all tree or brush lined with a beaten path outside of the foliage, and no floating devices allowed. There're periodic cuts down to the water that are the only option for shore anglers to cast from. Apart from the bluegill spawn when they're driven to make a bed anywhere, the water near those cuts is devoid of baitfish during daylight hours.

 

Call it fishing pressure, or fishing presence, but the bait is gone during the day and so are the bass it would seem. Maybe it's a billion baits hitting the water. Maybe it's the endless footfalls. Maybe it's the shadows anglers cast, but It's unusual for anyone daytime fishing from these cuts to catch a bass. I have a good vantage point from the unpressured spots I wade and catch from. The stuck-on-the-shore guys get relentlessly skunked during the day. I talk to most of them when I'm circling. They get their butts kicked brutally, including the more sophisticated ones that I've fished with elsewhere and who've had good success otherwise.

 

Here's the big BUT. But at night, when I fish more than any other time, those very same cuts are loaded with bait. We've caught a ton of bass when fishing from those very same well hammered shoreline cuts. I can't tell you how many times we were striking out at our prime hard to reach wading zones only to go to the shore cuts to throw a Hail Mary at the end of the night and struck gold. Numbers and size. This doesn't always happen, but it happens a lot.

 

It's possible that a more complete assessment or better descriptor exists for what I've observed here, but for my purposes I'll call it pressure.

This pond is fairly similar. There are several cuts that allow you enough space to cast. Honestly, the habitat is perfect for bass from what I have read. A lot of those trees are actually in the water. A lot of big branches have fallen in the water from an ice storm A while back. The problem is being able to cast to them. I don't have a boat and most likely won't be getting one any time soon. I have tried fishing the trees and laydowns with many of the methods mentioned in this thread. However, all I have caught in those areas are bluegill, green sunfish, and crappie. The bass I have caught have been on the deep end near that drainage pipe.

And of course, my main reason for posting this topic, was the giant fish I have twice seen breaking water. I really would like to catch that thing. 

 

Since I have posted this, I have figured out that not only are there shad in there (the Wildlife Department only stocks bluegill, channel cat, and bass here), but there are apparently quite a few of them. I saw some activity that appeared to be fish surfacing north of the deep open portion, but south of the trees on the east side. I believe those were shad. I wonder if the big one was out there chasing them? Do bass do that? If that's the case, would a silver crank bait be a good idea? I really appreciate all of the comments. I am learning from all of this and it is just a matter of being on the water I believe and getting a little more experience 

[Sooner32]

Here's one of the silver fish to which I was referring. Is this some type of shad?