Pond dynamics?

[Mr. Aquarium]

So the pond I recently fished has a bunch of healthy fat fish. All the same size. 2-4lbs. They are aggressive but all very healthy. I don’t think I’ve broke 5. This place also grows big perch. I’ve caught 3 perch over 2lbs here. 
 

Do I suck or does it not have what it takes to grow bigger bass. Like 5 plus. 

[Bluebasser86]

It might just not have the biomass necessary to support anything bigger than what you're catching. 

[Scott804]

Only one way to find out. Keep fishing! Can't tell you how many bodies of water I've written off as a numbers spot only to catch a random biggun having a bad day! 

[Mr. Aquarium]

12 hours ago, Scott804 said:

Only one way to find out. Keep fishing! Can't tell you how many bodies of water I've written off as a numbers spot only to catch a random biggun having a bad day! 

My favorite cold water spot.   

My buddy lost a giant smallie here years ago when we first started fishing it.   But that’s one of the few smallies I’ve caught. Mostly largemouth

[Derek1]

A pond full of 2-4’s. That sounds awesome. 

[Dwight Hottle]

Three perch over 2lbs is impressive. Sounds like that might be some bigger bass in there than you realize. 

[WRB]

Remember only female bass get heavier the 4 lbs, more likely 3 lbs max in a small body of water. Your pond may not have a population of 5+ lb female bass. It should have a few big females with a good prey to predator mix.

Tom

[Mr. Aquarium]

5 hours ago, Derek1 said:

A pond full of 2-4’s. That sounds awesome. 

It’s awesome!  I was there late January, pond 80% frozen with skim ice. I ended up with 5 bass and 5 pickerel on jigs I made. I only fished 2 hours. All 2-3lbs fat healthy feisty fish 

5 hours ago, Dwight Hottle said:

Three perch over 2lbs is impressive. Sounds like that might be some bigger bass in there than you realize. 

All yellow perch. 3 yellows over 2lbs. These yellas fight like bass to. I never know if I have a bass or big yellow 

[the reel ess]

So many variables. But there are many, many ponds that have just a few or no big bass. I have a friend who has a pond that I caught a 6.5 at about 18 years ago. I haven't caught a bass there over 2 lb. since. And I have fished it many times in those 18 years. A 4 lb. pond bass is a big fish.

 

The smaller the pond, the more you need to harvest bass. 20 lb. per acre per year is a rule of thumb. That will allow some fish to grow larger.

[Alex from GA]

My buddy and I used to fish a pond and catch 50 or more bass less than 12" until one time my buddy caught a huge fish, probably 8 or 9 lbs.  We fished the pond a few more times for a couple of years with all small fish caught until he caught, what we think was the same big bass, now way over 10 in the same place he caught it last time.  What does that tell you?

[the reel ess]

1 minute ago, Alex from GA said:

My buddy and I used to fish a pond and catch 50 or more bass less than 12" until one time my buddy caught a huge fish, probably 8 or 9 lbs.  We fished the pond a few more times for a couple of years with all small fish caught until he caught, what we think was the same big bass, now way over 10 in the same place he caught it last time.  What does that tell you?

It tells me that monster probably eats bass. LOL.

On 11/6/2021 at 5:21 PM, Derek1 said:

A pond full of 2-4’s. That sounds awesome. 

The OP would laugh if I told how long I fished before I caught a bass over 5 lb.

[Derek1]

I heard that. 

I maybe only caught two over 5. Since I never have a scale when I catch a good one. 

[Raul]

My friend Pedro had a pond in his grandfather's ranch, I estimate it may have been about 100 m in length and 50 m wide, half a hectare in surface, for years we fished that pond and caught nothing but dinks by the truckload, 8 - 12 inch fish all day long, I'm not going to deny it, it was fun because they were always very cooperative. One day we went to fish expecting nothing more but a good time but that day was different, that day I caught my first 10 lber ever, not only that I caught another one later in tha day and lost another biggie right at the bank .... the pond we fished for more than a decade and produced nothing but dinks.

So to answer to your question, yes, there is the chance that there might be something bigger and like in my case, it may take years before you catch it but you won't know if you are not there fishing, who knows ? maybe you will be there, that particular day.

[Derek1]

On 11/6/2021 at 11:04 PM, Mr. Aquarium said:

It’s awesome!  I was there late January, pond 80% frozen with skim ice. I ended up with 5 bass and 5 pickerel on jigs I made. I only fished 2 hours. All 2-3lbs fat healthy feisty fish 

All yellow perch. 3 yellows over 2lbs. These yellas fight like bass to. I never know if I have a bass or big yellow 

I bet, a outing like that in two hours. That’s the stuff I live for right there. 

[Hammer 4]

How big is this pond.?

Reason I ask is cuz, a 4 acre park pond I fish on a regular basis, had the DFG come in a shock the pond to get a count on the bass. Turns out that there were 10 Bass 14 lbs , 18 were over 10 lbs, and something like 2 dozen were in the 6 to 8 lb range.

The majority of bass caught by the locals was 2 to 5 lbs. Needless to say they were shocked " no pun intended " to hear of the number of big bass in there, so ya never know what is in that pond. 

[Mr. Aquarium]

1 hour ago, Derek1 said:

I bet, a outing like that in two hours. That’s the stuff I live for right there. 

Yea I love this spot. Awesome fat healthy fish and they fight hard to!  Pretty easy to find them in the cold. They hold up in one area. 

 

1 hour ago, Hammer 4 said:

How big is this pond.?

Reason I ask is cuz, a 4 acre park pond I fish on a regular basis, had the DFG come in a shock the pond to get a count on the bass. Turns out that there were 10 Bass 14 lbs , 18 were over 10 lbs, and something like 2 dozen were in the 6 to 8 lb range.

The majority of bass caught by the locals was 2 to 5 lbs. Needless to say they were shocked " no pun intended " to hear of the number of big bass in there, so ya never know what is in that pond. 

20 acres and 25 feet deep. I need to know where that pond is lol. I need a DD bass, hard to come by up here in Massachusetts 

[CrashVector]

On 11/6/2021 at 4:21 PM, Derek1 said:

A pond full of 2-4’s. That sounds awesome. 

 

Lol no kidding...sounds like an awesome place to fish to me...

1 hour ago, Hammer 4 said:

How big is this pond.?

Reason I ask is cuz, a 4 acre park pond I fish on a regular basis, had the DFG come in a shock the pond to get a count on the bass. Turns out that there were 10 Bass 14 lbs , 18 were over 10 lbs, and something like 2 dozen were in the 6 to 8 lb range.

The majority of bass caught by the locals was 2 to 5 lbs. Needless to say they were shocked " no pun intended " to hear of the number of big bass in there, so ya never know what is in that pond. 

Can't remember where I read it, but there's a certain percentage of bass that will never bite on a lure for some reason, and those tend to be the biggest ones.

[Hammer 4]

3 hours ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

Yea I love this spot. Awesome fat healthy fish and they fight hard to!  Pretty easy to find them in the cold. They hold up in one area. 

 

20 acres and 25 feet deep. I need to know where that pond is lol. I need a DD bass, hard to come by up here in Massachusetts 

I'd be willing to bet that are more than a few DD bass in there. Here's the tough part about fishing a pond, especially from shore, Finding the dang fish. If you haven't done so already, instead of casting straight out from shore, fan cast from parallel to the shore outward. Vary the length of the cast's. Also helps if you happen to fish there on a regular basis, and at different times of the day.

Here in So. Cali, all of my biggest bass have come just before noon, and most of them after noon, maybe different in your area. Anyhow, hope you find a solution to getting some big girls.

[GreenPig]

My pond is under 1 acre and I catch hundreds maybe 1,000's of smaller bass and then for some reason unknown to me she'll hit. It does happen more often in Jan. - March.

[N Florida Mike]

This is a very interesting subject to me. 

The amount of forage , stress factors, growing season based on location , numbers of fish , all contribute to large fish production( or not ).

Ive been trying to manage my little lake for years, and it has its ups and downs. Fishing pressure comes into play also. The lake record is 13 1/2 pounds, caught in the 70s. I caught an 8 pounder 3-4 years ago, next year a 7.6, next year only a 4.12. This year a couple just over 4. This is Very strange to me. I attribute the lack of bigger fish caught to increased fishing pressure on my lake due to the virus, and that I think the bigger class of fish just timed out, I think they only live 10 years or so. A nieghbors friend did catch a 6 1/2 pounder last year.

I know it’s against what some br members promote, but you can try live bait, you will find out pretty quick what all is in your pond.!

[Mr. Aquarium]

6 hours ago, Hammer 4 said:

I'd be willing to bet that are more than a few DD bass in there. Here's the tough part about fishing a pond, especially from shore, Finding the dang fish. If you haven't done so already, instead of casting straight out from shore, fan cast from parallel to the shore outward. Vary the length of the cast's. Also helps if you happen to fish there on a regular basis, and at different times of the day.

Here in So. Cali, all of my biggest bass have come just before noon, and most of them after noon, maybe different in your area. Anyhow, hope you find a solution to getting some big girls.

I doubt there’s a DD. I live up here I Massachusetts. The shore is very limited. So I fish here in a yak or boat. Yak when I’m alone. 

[txchaser]

Something I learned here is that big fish and little fish do different things. Whatever is working for the 2-4lbs, don't do that. Do something else. More/less color, louder/softer, etc. Find the very best pieces of cover and pick them apart. Same for structure. Start with locating the deepest water, more often than not they seem to be near it. Outside weedline near deep water, on a flat near deep water, etc.

 

Somewhere around here is a story where I pitched a jig at the same bush 26 times without a bite. Eventually found the right spot on the bush - it was the biggest submerged cover, halfway down a slope, 10 feet off the bank, with close access to the deepest water. Anyway there was a big fish there. It almost had to be there, because the only other options were structure.  But if you drove by it too fast with a couple of casts you were never catching that fish. 

 

 

[Mr. Aquarium]

5 hours ago, txchaser said:

Something I learned here is that big fish and little fish do different things. Whatever is working for the 2-4lbs, don't do that. Do something else. More/less color, louder/softer, etc. Find the very best pieces of cover and pick them apart. Same for structure. Start with locating the deepest water, more often than not they seem to be near it. Outside weedline near deep water, on a flat near deep water, etc.

 

Somewhere around here is a story where I pitched a jig at the same bush 26 times without a bite. Eventually found the right spot on the bush - it was the biggest submerged cover, halfway down a slope, 10 feet off the bank, with close access to the deepest water. Anyway there was a big fish there. It almost had to be there, because the only other options were structure.  But if you drove by it too fast with a couple of casts you were never catching that fish. 

 

 

Solid advice man! I’ll try and swimbait fish this spot!