why can’t i catch fish in my pond anymore

[bigbasss]

i used to fish this pond a few years ago and i would go almost everyday and i never caught less than 15-20 bass every time. i even caught my personal best (8lbs 6oz) out of this pond in 2017. i moved away and didn’t fish for a few years and i started fishing it again last year and i only fish it maybe 2 times a month now. the first few times i went since i moved back i’d catch maybe 3-5 bass. but i still see a lot of fish around the bank and jumping in the middle but they just won’t bite and idk what to do. i’ve thrown the entire kitchen sink at them and i’ve fished all kinds of different rigs, baits, techniques, and even downsized my baits and upsized them to but they just won’t react to anything

[Skunkmaster-k]

Live bait?

[bigbasss]

back before i moved away for awhile i never even used live bait because they would always bite soft plastics and top water and those are my favorite ways to fish so i never changed up. but since i moved back i’ve had to try it and i have caught only one fish off live bait and i had to put a bluegill on a bobber and leave it out in the middle all day but it’s like they got lock jaw. the last time i caught fish out of there which has been a few trips ago now but i swear the only way i could even get a bite that day was to cast the lure directly in front of its face 

[bulldog1935]

How about bottom-bouncing?   Ned rig, etc.  

In our clear flagstone rivers, bottom-bouncing a sinking fly line and cats whisker, I've seen 5-lb bass follow the mud balls and slam their head sideways into the bottom a half-dozen times trying to find and eat the fly.  (ok, this one's 9-10 lbs)

It's the way to catch a limit of white bass when no-one else is catching any, and turn heavily hit rainbows in our beaten tailwater.  

 

The other thing is stealth.  In his stealth talk, Gary Borger makes his point using fish IQ (6) and natural selection  - brave and inquisitive fish become food.  Big fish aren't smart, big fish are cowards.  

Try getting out and set early before you can be seen, make fewer select casts, and expect they're just getting too wary for any of the old stuff to work.  

 

Most of the really big fish I've caught, the lure was sitting at rest - easy in the case of topwater, but when they pick it up from the bottom, you have to feel it before they reject.  

[bigbasss]

i’ve tried ned rigs, shakey heads, carolina rig, texas rig, tokyo rig, drop shot, and i always stay about 20 foot from the edge of the water and cast until i make it around the pond once and then i move up and try to sight fish 

[LCG]

Maybe try the other direction... Reaction lures such as spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, square bill crankbaits. Could be they are just in a funk, but sounds like they are actively feeding. 

[E-rude dude]

Maybe the numbers aren’t there anymore. Happens in ponds a lot 

[GetFishorDieTryin]

Pond is a somewhat relative term.  In my the majority of ponds are for irrigation so they aren't bigger then a couple acres.  What they call ponds in NE are as big or bigger then most of of what we lakes down here.

In small ponds the fish get an education real fast.  If they're spooky, just your footsteps will flare them.  Bright colored clothes don't help either.  Without culling smaller fish the resources in a small pond will be depleted and the fish that are affected first are the bigger ones. 

Try being as quiet as possible when walking and even shutting your car door.  Try to use something different.  If you see dozens of wrecked senkos and dingers all over the ground, don't use a senko.  This time a year the water can be full of fry, which is really hard to compete with.  Try scaling down and if that doesn't work see if you cant find the bite elsewhere for a little while then try it again.

[bigbasss]

could i possibly get someone to come help me figure my the pond out because it’s seriously is so annoying not catching anything but i love fishing there and i don’t want to go anywhere else until i at least get dialed in on what they bite here

i live in lufkin texas

[BrianMDTX]

You’re a bit over 100 miles from me (which ain’t far in Texas lol). And I get ya. I have had the same issue myself. The pond I fish has a tough bite since early May. Last year at this time I was consistently catching 8, 10, 12 bass or more in a morning of fishing, with many in the 2-4 lb range and some heavier. This year has been different. My last 5+ lb bass was in March and 3+ was in early May. Since then it’s been dinks and 1-2 lb bass at the most, and numbers are down. 

 

Its less pressured than 2020, so that’s not it. I want to say maybe excessive rain and high water, but I’m not totally convinced that’s the reason n, either. Even a Senko WR is a tough bite. 

[David 7]

Get some nightcrawlers and go to town. You’ll catch something no doubt about that.

[fishballer06]

It's very well possible that the fish just aren't there quite like they used to be, or they have wisened up. A fish kill, fisherman keeping fish, or perhaps someone else is fishing this pond daily and has made all the fish a little more lure shy. 

[bigbasss]

well i have no problem catching bluegill and mud cats on night crawlers and cut bait but when i try to use a live bluegill i catch nothing. since the spawn has ended i have caught around 5-6 bass in 2 trips but they were all less than 2lbs. but as i fish i see huge bass explode all over the place and i reel in and cast over there with a weightless lunker log or a different soft plastic but i don’t get any bites.

my biggest problem is i don’t have a great selection of lures right now and i’m not in a position where i can go buy new ones. i might be able to spend $50 a month if i’m lucky 

[FishTank]

I pond I fish has become the same way.  2 years ago something happened with the herbicide they use to kill the weeds.   I was told that the commercial formula had less regulation now, and was more effective. that fall we had a huge amount of rain that caused a lot of run off.  In late October that year there were tons of floaters.  The property manager hired a crew for clean up but did not restock the pond.  It hasn't been the same since. 

[mikey z]

Have you tried weightless texas rigged flukes yet? Grab a pack of Zoom Super Flukes for about $5 per pack of 10 and some cheap (Lazer Sharp) 3/0 EWG hooks for less than $4 per pack of 6. I've been relying on them on tough days fairly successfully.

[TnRiver46]

On 7/19/2021 at 6:58 PM, bigbasss said:

could i possibly get someone to come help me figure my the pond out because it’s seriously is so annoying not catching anything but i love fishing there and i don’t want to go anywhere else until i at least get dialed in on what they bite here

i live in lufkin texas

Try a different body of water would be my suggestion 

[thediscochef]

I'm in Denton, not super close to you but similar conditions. My local ponds are different the last few years, but I think the freeze earlier this year caused a lot of change in the smaller bodies of water too. I don't really know how well Bass handle temps below 0 but I'm guessing fish in DFW aren't used to that and it may have affected the population in the ponds. All the extra rain probably isn't helping either, depending on how much draining your pond does.

The only bait I'm getting bit on right now is what I call a 'chatter ned' which is basically just a skirtless micro or mini chatterbait with a TRD rigged as straight as you can get it and then fished like a standard Ned. Chartreuse 1/4oz eyeless head with a coppertreuse TRD has been yielding strikes on nearly every cast at Ray Bobs from the shore over rock piles. Pulled in two largemouths over 4lbs in the last two days on that bait (Catch/Release only). So you might try that, not much else is working for bass where I'm at if you're shore fishing or on a pond. Hope your luck improves

[bigbasss]

13 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Try a different body of water would be my suggestion 

i’m kinda limited right now 

[LCG]

The bite has been off for me in a pond I frequent a lot. Was getting my limit every time out, but last few outing have been one or two. Went today and got skunked. Tried moving baits, weighted texas rig, senko, trick worm, Ned rig. Not a single tap. Searched the bank, out deep, around wood, around Rock, in the weeds... Nothing. 

[bigbasss]

the only thing i’ve been getting bit on lately is a zoom 4 inch mini lizard rigged weightless and weedless and just slowly swimming it with a few quick twitches here and there. but the only thing that’s catching is little dinks most of them under a pound