Is it true big fish big water???

[Pondtooner]

I'm wondering what everyone thinks? Do big bass only live in bigger ponds and lakes?

[HOIST-N-HAWGS]

ABSOLUTELY NOT! My biggest LM, 7+(My avatar) came out of water less then 200 acres, and biggest Smallie, 5+ out of less then 400 acres

[wagn]

ABSOLUTELY NOT! My biggest LM, 7+(My avatar) came out of water less then 200 acres, and biggest Smallie, 5+ out of less then 400 acres

x2

My biggest LM was over 7lbs and came out a small pond.

My biggest Smallie came out of a pond less then 100 acres.

I mostly fish smaller waters but the big fish are in them just like in the bigger lakes

[Tin]

Lake Dixon in Cali is 76 acres and has kicked out a few over 20.

[bigbaitfisher]

I have a 50 some acre pond/lake in the area that has a potential state record swimming in it (current is 11 pounds 2 ounces).  I have hooked a 10+ pound largemouth twice in there and am very confident that come this spring, I will have the new State Record.

[DoNKeYMEAT]

I don't beleive so...

I do beleive that big bait catches big fish... But, even that can be untrue at times...

[tyrius.]

I caught an almost 7lber (big for northern IL) out of a rention pond that's less than 10 acres.

I grew up fishing 1 acre and smaller farm ponds and my uncle's got a fish mounted that was over 7 that came from a pond that I could probably cast across the entire thing.

If the body of water is big enough to hold forage then the fish will be there and they'll grow, so long as they don't get overpopulated.

[Pondtooner]

Thanx I was starting to get discouraged with the fish I've been catching. I was starting to think it was the small pond theroy.

[tyrius.]

Thanx I was starting to get discouraged with the fish I've been catching. I was starting to think it was the small pond theroy.

Many small ponds are severely overpopulated though.  The pond I fished the most growing up was like this.  It was less than 1/2 an acre and we'd catch a bass about 1 out of 3 casts.  Never caught one larger than 2 pounds though.

I'd look into that as the reason why they are so small.  Other than that, try fishing bigger profiled lures near deeper water structure.  Caught my 6 3/4 on a jig and rage chunk trailer.  That leaves a big profile for the big fish.

[Pondtooner]

When you say over populated, do you mean bass or all fish in the pond? How do you tell if it is over populated?

I've been fresh water fishing 8 or 9 years. The biggest fish I ever caught was before we had a scale.No tellin how big it was.

My buddy insists it was over 5, but we all know how guesstamation goes. I still find that we over estamate and thats after using a scale for 5 years or so. Granted we are over estamating by nearly as much as we used to.4+ pounds is usally a the biggest we catch in a season.

How big do you guys think is to big for a boat with a trolling motor?? Ponds I mean.

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

Our record in RI is 10.6, came from a 48 acre pond

[HOIST-N-HAWGS]

When you say over populated, do you mean bass or all fish in the pond? How do you tell if it is over populated?

I've been fresh water fishing 8 or 9 years. The biggest fish I ever caught was before we had a scale.No tellin how big it was.

My buddy insists it was over 5, but we all know how guesstamation goes. I still find that we over estamate and thats after using a scale for 5 years or so. Granted we are over estamating by nearly as much as we used to.4+ pounds is usally a the biggest we catch in a season.

How big do you guys think is to big for a boat with a trolling motor?? Ponds I mean.

I somtetimes fish large ponds over 600 acres w/my 12' jon & trolling motor. But I know how long the battery will last, as well as making sure to have back up paddles and all the needed safety equiptment just in case. If I have any doubts that the battery is getting weak or old ( more then one seasons use) I always bring a back up battery. Wind and weather play more of a role for me then the size of the body of water.

Safety first

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

Thinking of Fork in particular, Mustang Cove.  If I lived near there, I could easily see myself fishing that cove (or any of the many others) with my jon.  

Granted, the lake itself is 27,000 acres but you don't fish them all at once

Pick an area and fish it like a 200 acre lake.  That's pretty much how we attacked Fork overall.

[Marty]

My two biggest bass came from a six-acre pond. These days my best place for bigger bass is a pond that's smaller than 30 acres.

Of course there are big bass in bigger waters too, it's just that small water doesn't have to mean small bass.

[HOIST-N-HAWGS]

My two biggest bass came from a six-acre pond. These days my best place for bigger bass is a pond that's smaller than 30 acres.

Of course there are big bass in bigger waters too, it's just that small water doesn't have to mean small bass.

Good point! The smaller ponds also translate to less water that needs to be covered