Focusing on Individual lures/techniques in "highly pressured" city ponds

[Rora]

I'm starting to want to just simply focus on individual techniques instead of just focusing on what I think may work (ie drop shot). 

Is it worth just taking only a single rod with only a single rig to try and force myself to learn how for a week or two? Only problem is, I live in Southern California and the local city ponds are what I would consider beyond pressured.

Wondering what you're guys thoughts were. I just want to invest myself into being a better angler even if it hurts in the interim.

 

 

[Pat Brown]

I think there isn't a better way to learn to fish a new technique than to put hard sweat time in with it exclusively til you start catching fish.

 

It forces us to be creative and to experiment and to really learn the technique and most importantly it forces us to learn what not to do when throwing the technique, which almost more important than knowing how and when to throw it.

 

The dropshot is incredibly versatile and a known fish catching machine, I'd bring two or even three rods with different leader lengths and weights and bait profiles.  Maybe mix a power/bubba shot in there.

 

Go in DEEP when you're learning a new technique.

[Bankc]

I do this a lot.  It really helps you to focus in on what you're doing and makes you learn new techniques faster.  It's also good for honing old techniques.  The only real downside is you get too focused on the technical side of fishing and lose sight of the fun aspect.  Once it loses it's fun, it becomes work and you burn out.  So long as you're not "making yourself do it" and instead having fun indulging your curiosity, I say go for it!  Just remember to enjoy the act of fishing.  

[RRocket]

I am extremely committed to a finesse, minimalist fishing style. Therefore I only bring one rod. And one small backpack.

 

I prize tackle/baits that have multiple uses. For example, my drop shot hooks are also my wacky hooks. My weights can be used for drop shot, Jika Rig, Free Rig, etc.  For me, it's about doing more with less.

 

To get to this point,  I had my own "world series of bass rigs" to find out what would work best for my area and my minimalist approach. So I learned and fished most every bass technique. Almost obsessively.  And this took quite an extended period of time as I had to learn the technique, then fish it extensively, figure out the optimal tackle and bait for the technique, etc There's really no other way to know what will work for you and your area. You've got to put in the time.

 

This can still be fun and rewarding, particularly so if you use fishing as part of your daily mindfulness routine. But that's another thread altogether! 

 

So yea, learn something new and out of your comfort zone. Just try to do it intelligently. For example, if you're fishing a small pond, a new finesse technique might be more useful than a new power technique. 

 

Assess your needs, your wants and pick a couple of techniques that most closely match those...then have at it! 

 

And, as pointed out, have fun! 

 

 

[Rora]

3 minutes ago, RRocket said:

I am extremely committed to a finesse, minimalist fishing style. Therefore I only bring one rod. And one small backpack.

 

I prize tackle/baits that have multiple uses. For example, my drop shot hooks are also my wacky hooks. My weights can be used for drop shot, Jika Rig, Free Rig, etc.  For me, it's about doing more with less.

 

To get to this point,  I had my own "world series of bass rigs" to find out what would work best for my area and my minimalist approach. So I learned and fished most every bass technique. Almost obsessively.  And this took quite an extended period of time as I had to learn the technique, then fish it extensively, figure out the optimal tackle and bait for the technique, etc There's really no other way to know what will work for you and your area. You've got to put in the time.

 

This can still be fun and rewarding, particularly so if you use fishing as part of your daily mindfulness routine. But that's another thread altogether! 

 

So yea, learn something new and out of your comfort zone. Just try to do it intelligently. For example, if you're fishing a small pond, a new finesse technique might be more useful than a new power technique. 

 

Assess your needs, your wants and pick a couple of techniques that most closely match those...then have at it! 

 

And, as pointed out, have fun! 

 

 

Im interested in learning more about making fishing a daily mindfulness routine! what do you do? I have started listening to finance podcasts while i fish but i would hardly call that being mindful. I do like to go out every morning before sunrise and fish an hour or 2.

 

 

[RRocket]

Do you currently do any sort of mindfulness or meditating daily? 

 

If not, you really need to start there, as this is also something that takes plenty of practice.

 

But can be soooo worth it.

 

 

[FishTax]

I'd bring 2 rods, even if rigged very similar, because there's a great chance I'll blow up the first one somehow in first 5 min. 

[Hammer 4]

Depending which city park ponds you fish, a dropshot isn't always a good idea, due to the shallow and yuky bottoms on some of those ponds/lakes.

I've fished just about every city park lake in so. cali on a regular basis, and I can tell you that your best bet a t rigged 6" Robo worm with purple in it, Legg lake for example that worm on grape is killer. 

Alondra, El Durado, ect the t rig with a 3/16 or 1/4 oz weight, will work, another good bait is a 4" robo worm in hologram shad. Rig it with a 3/16 oz split shot about a foot or so from the hook, the worm in this case should be nose hooked.

The fish you see in my avatar was caught at El D, on that same split shot rig.

Keep in mind, other baits will work, but not as consistent as the ones I mentioned.

[LrgmouthShad]

@Rora @RRocket I’ve found meditation to be one of the best proactive things you can do to change the way you think. 
 

Of course fishing can get you in a meditative state as well. Not as effectively, in my opinion, but still beneficial nonetheless. A simple meditation routine is paying attention to your breath while sitting quietly. Not much different than paying attention to working a worm across the lake bottom, paying attention to the way that it bumps against stuff and trying to detect any bites. You are putting all of your focus onto the worm, similar to focusing on breathing

[WRB]

Spinning tackle is your friend for whatever Finesse Fishing you chose to do. 

1.Slip Shot rig; 1/8-3/16 oz cylinder weight, 8mm glass bead pegged with rubber peg-it (easy to adjust length) #5133 Owner Down Shot hook size 1/0 or 2/0 depending on soft plastic. 5# Maxima Ultra Green copoly line.

2. Weightless 5” Senko, wacky hooked using size 1 #4107 Jungle Wacky hook, 15 lb Fins Spin5 braid, 7 lb Sniper FC leader.

Soft plastics;

Roboworms MM111, 6” (2/0 hook). Oxblood 5” curl tail (1/0 hook).

  Fishlab Natural Nymph 3 1/2”, Green pumpkin chartreuse (2/0 hook)

Yamamoto Senko 5” #301.

Tom 

 

[Rora]

I really appreciate everyone’s thoughtful comments! I cant wait to try these out Monday morning!

[GetFishorDieTryin]

You can learn a lot relatively quickly, by concentrating on 1 technique, with 1 or 2 similar baits.  If you start to add too many variables, like different colors and sizes it can slow you down.  The most versatile is probably a ned rig.  You can take the back half of torn floating finesse worm, throw it on a 1/16 jig head with a #2 or #1 hook and catch em on retrieving the bait a bunch of different ways, not just letting it soak.  1/16oz free rigs, with a little floating worm are really fun too. The fish dont see worms slow float often, so it works really well on pressured water, or at least does for me.

[Bird]

Listen to whoppi Goldberg while you're fishing, you'll learn to really concentrate on fishing ?........ sorry.

 

Dropshot is a fantastic technique in pressured water, here it is anyway.

Wacky finesse worms is perhaps my favorite, 1/16 head.

[PaulVE64]

I can take a second rod when I bring a yak or canoe. 

[TriStateBassin106]

I live in Northern NJ so I have my fair share of fishing ponds similar to what your talking about OP. Try to throw things that nobody else is throwing, at one pond I fish everyone throws wacky rigs and in line spinners so you know what I do? Throw ned rigs and texas rigged plastics instead, fishing these type of ponds can make you a better angler in the long run because you learn how to get on bite patterns and grind it out to achieve said patterns. I find it very rewarding when I have a good day of pond fishing and everyone around me isn't because it means I'm doing something different and it's working, if you have any questions about urban pond fishing dm me on here, i'll be happy to provide tips for your situation OP. ? 

[Bankbeater]

When I fish the city park ponds around here I always take the finesse rigs. I usually start off with a weightless small senko, and a finesse worm on a split shot rig. 

[osummerer23]

Not from shore, but from boat, I haven't put the jig rod down this summer. I've caught fish on jigs, but never consistent. Most times it was on a 1/8 or 3/16 bitsy bug, spinning finesse presentation. 

 

Never had good luck with 1/2-1oz jigs and bait caster. Could fish with brush hogs or christie critters, but add a jig head and skirt and I never got bit. Spinner bait too.

 

Last year I caught 99% of my fish on jerkbait, ned, and spooks. 

 

 

[MAN]

On 7/28/2023 at 3:20 PM, RRocket said:

Do you currently do any sort of mindfulness or meditating daily? 

 

If not, you really need to start there, as this is also something that takes plenty of practice.

 

But can be soooo worth it.

 

 

This is where I am at in life. I try to go fishing daily after work as a part of my mindfulness training.  I have actually found I do a lot better relaxing watching a bobber or tossing bait on the bottom for cats and waiting for the rod to double over....than bassfishing with lures. Seems like I can sit there and solve nearly all of lifes daily questions just staring at the rod or bobber, and being mindful of the birds and wildlife around me as well.  Really helps to wind down after a long stressful day. 

[Bazoo]

I've been fishing my local city lake, and it's pretty highly pressured. I've caught 2 largemouth bass, one on an ozark trail topwater frog, and the other on a weightless and weedless rigged zoom 6" lizard.

 

The other bass tackle I've tried, I've not had any success with. I did catch a couple crappie on an ozark trail crankbait though, I think its the 2 3/4" version. Surprised me.

 

Because a lot of people fish it, I've been researching techniques to help deal with the pressure. One of the reason I ended up finding this forum.

 

I pretty much figure I'll have to go all fitness, or use something very obscure to have any success.

 

I also figure I'll need to get into the spots that are not as easily accessed, though the bass I caught were right off a commonly fished area. There is a lot of shoreline that is not easily accessed unless you have a boat. I figure that will be more productive when I get set up to my pond hopper boat in there.

[roadwarrior]

 

[T-Billy]

I never take just one rod, but I will force myself to leave my confidence baits on the deck for at least part of the day, and focus on a new technique. Learning some baits comes quickly, others not so much. 

 The A-Rig took what seemed like forever for me to get the swing of. Last fall I made up my mind, I was gonna learn it. I forced myself to put it in my hand and keep it there. Once it finally clicked, it ended up paying off BIG. Now I can't hardly put the thing down when the water's cold and the shad are schooled up.

[Rora]

On 8/3/2023 at 3:39 PM, T-Billy said:

I never take just one rod, but I will force myself to leave my confidence baits on the deck for at least part of the day, and focus on a new technique. Learning some baits comes quickly, others not so much. 

 The A-Rig took what seemed like forever for me to get the swing of. Last fall I made up my mind, I was gonna learn it. I forced myself to put it in my hand and keep it there. Once it finally clicked, it ended up paying off BIG. Now I can't hardly put the thing down when the water's cold and the shad are schooled up.

This is kind of the mentality I was going for. Just grab a rod with a certain technique and force myself to become proficient with it 

[T-Billy]

44 minutes ago, Rora said:

This is kind of the mentality I was going for. Just grab a rod with a certain technique and force myself to become proficient with it 

Best way to learn. If you feel like the conditions are right for the bait you want to learn, put it in your hand and don't put it down.