Hemi6677 Posted July 27, 2009 Posted July 27, 2009 Long story so those of you with short attention spans may just like the pictures! Two weeks ago I got permission to fish a small (and I mean real small) farm pond that rarely gets fished. I had been hearing stories from the owner that there were big bass in this pond and I was eager to try it out. That weekend we made a trip over around 4:00 PM on a Sunday afternoon. I soon as we pulled up my heart skipped a beat when I saw the cat tails and lilly pads blanketing this small piece of heaven! Although the fish weren't real active I still managed to sink into this nice 4lber. Catching this fish only made me want to fish this place more when it wasn't so warm out and the bass would be more willing to come out from under the pads. This past Friday I was sitting at home chasing my kid around the floor (he just learned how to crawl and is into everything now) when I told the wife I couldn't stand it anymore and that I had to fish that pond at night. We loaded up the kids and dogs and I dropped them of at the father-in-laws and I headed to the pond. Got there around 8:30 and my nerves were literally tingling at the notion that I could pull something really big out of this place tonight. I soaked down in bug repellent and started working my spro frog along the lilly pads. After a few casts I got my first bass interested in my frog, unfortunately the pads are so thick the bass can't punch through them to get the baits. (Not sure how to rectify this) This happened about 4 more times before I finally got discouraged and switched over to a chatterbait. After fishing the chatterbait along the cattails and edges of the pads I had 4 nice 1 to 2lb bass caught and released but still nothing to write home about. I had worked up a sweat so I hopped in the truck and listened to the Nascar truck race for a bit and then decided I would break out the jitterbug. Nothing, nada, not even a look. My jaw hit the floor. Next I tried a black on black cavitron buzzbait and once again the fish were not interested. It was about 10:30PM and I was on the verge of loading up and going home when I got one last idea. Pulled out a 10" Berkly black and purple powerworm T-rigged weightless. After a few casts I got the bite I was looking for! The Mag-Lite is 18 inches long and this bass easily surpassed that! I didn't have a scale with me but I would say it was easily over 4lbs as it was heavier than the one I pulled out of there the week earlier. Twenty minutes later I cast the worm into the open water and wham, another just like it. At this point I was satisfied with the nights catch and loaded up with a big smile on my face. A pond less than an acre in size with bass like these... Who would have thunk it! This pond has a LOT of big bullfrogs which I suspect is a main source of food for these bass. The three big ones that I had caught so far were really long but not real fat and are very lightly colored. I had a 12 or so bass chase a frog right up to my feet scaring the living daylights out of me. Next time I go back I'm going to work my rage tail frogs a lot more I think. Anyway, just a small story I figured I would share. Take a look at a few of the nicer fish I have caught this year if you are bored. Nothing super special but nice fish for coming out of small 1 to 2 acre ponds in Southern Indiana. http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/Knoke77/Fishing/ Quote
mrlitetackle Posted July 27, 2009 Posted July 27, 2009 ahhhh, small farm ponds....... they are great!!!!! good job. Quote
aarogb Posted July 27, 2009 Posted July 27, 2009 Don't you just love those little pieces of heaven? Congrats!!!!!!! Quote
BassDeaton01 Posted July 27, 2009 Posted July 27, 2009 I love small pond fishing. Always makes for a great time! Quote
Hemi6677 Posted July 27, 2009 Author Posted July 27, 2009 I've been fishing at night before but only for catfish and usually with a group of friends or family. That night I was out there alone with nothing around but frogs, crickets and bugs. The amount of noise being produced by the frogs was so loud I couldn't hear my topwater baits if they were powered by a 5hp motor. Fishing in the dark definitely takes things to another level that's for sure! Quote
BassDeaton01 Posted July 27, 2009 Posted July 27, 2009 I actually went night fishing with my cousin over the weekend and we had an ok time. His trolling motor broke right when we got there but we decided to stay anyways and fish in the open water areas. He only caught one and I got skunked but there is nothing more peaceful than being on a lake in the middle of the night. Quote
Super User Bassin_Fin@tic Posted July 27, 2009 Super User Posted July 27, 2009 You sure that pond isn't located in Ethiopia?Get that bass something to eat : Just kidding you man.Good catch regardless.They're all fun. Quote
Hemi6677 Posted July 28, 2009 Author Posted July 28, 2009 You sure that pond isn't located in Ethiopia?Get that bass something to eat : Just kidding you man.Good catch regardless.They're all fun. Trust me that was noticed immediately upon catching those fish. I'm beginning to think that with the small size of that pond and the size of the bass they are probably eating up the small bait fish pretty quickly. I'm not sure what needs to be done whether we need to remove any smaller bass we catch or transplant the big ones to another pond that is close to there and much larger in size? Any recommendations? :-/ Quote
RhodyBass Posted July 28, 2009 Posted July 28, 2009 Ok i read as far as "dropping the family off at the in laws" ;D SAS Nice fish and sweet looking spot congrats. Quote
Super User Bassin_Fin@tic Posted July 28, 2009 Super User Posted July 28, 2009 You sure that pond isn't located in Ethiopia?Get that bass something to eat : Just kidding you man.Good catch regardless.They're all fun. Trust me that was noticed immediately upon catching those fish. I'm beginning to think that with the small size of that pond and the size of the bass they are probably eating up the small bait fish pretty quickly. I'm not sure what needs to be done whether we need to remove any smaller bass we catch or transplant the big ones to another pond that is close to there and much larger in size? Any recommendations? :-/ A pond that small yes theres a very high probability that they are going to be skinny or stunted. Don't think they are stunted yet since there are some sizable ones in there but they're probably short of food.If you plan on frequenting the place then start yanking the dinks out first. Check your state laws to see if it is legal to transport the bigger fish from other lakes. There are other things you can do such as stocking forage and such but that can be very expensive if it isn't your "pet" pond on your own property then that isn't a very good option. Best advice in my opinion would be to take some smaller ones out and enjoy the place for what it is and see if nature takes its course Quote
32251 Posted July 28, 2009 Posted July 28, 2009 Any recommendations? :-/ Yes. Stop laying the fish on the ground. Damages the protective covering on its body and makes it open to invasion by bacteria etc. Quote
Hemi6677 Posted July 29, 2009 Author Posted July 29, 2009 Any recommendations? :-/ Yes. Stop laying the fish on the ground. Damages the protective covering on its body and makes it open to invasion by bacteria etc. I knew that would get a comment and I do apologize for that. I guess I got greedy wanting to get a picture and the only way was to lay it down. It didn't flop around any and was quickly back in the water!! I do promise not to do that again though!! :-[ Quote
GonzoFishing Posted July 31, 2009 Posted July 31, 2009 You sure that pond isn't located in Ethiopia?Get that bass something to eat : Just kidding you man.Good catch regardless.They're all fun. Trust me that was noticed immediately upon catching those fish. I'm beginning to think that with the small size of that pond and the size of the bass they are probably eating up the small bait fish pretty quickly. I'm not sure what needs to be done whether we need to remove any smaller bass we catch or transplant the big ones to another pond that is close to there and much larger in size? Any recommendations? :-/ If the owner of the pond is ok with you taking some of the dinks out then thats what I'd do. Less competition for food. I definitely wouldnt transplant the big fish! Might just ruin a good thing Quote
BassNub Posted July 31, 2009 Posted July 31, 2009 ahah thats true, there's a pond north of me that my buddies mom's bf owns, and that pond probably isn't as big as that and he pulled a 22' bass out of it. Quote
Hemi6677 Posted July 31, 2009 Author Posted July 31, 2009 You sure that pond isn't located in Ethiopia?Get that bass something to eat : Just kidding you man.Good catch regardless.They're all fun. Trust me that was noticed immediately upon catching those fish. I'm beginning to think that with the small size of that pond and the size of the bass they are probably eating up the small bait fish pretty quickly. I'm not sure what needs to be done whether we need to remove any smaller bass we catch or transplant the big ones to another pond that is close to there and much larger in size? Any recommendations? :-/ If the owner of the pond is ok with you taking some of the dinks out then thats what I'd do. Less competition for food. I definitely wouldnt transplant the big fish! Might just ruin a good thing I'm going to talk to the land owner and see about doing that. It really doesn't seem like there is a huge bass population in the pond but it doesn't look like there are many bluegill in there either. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.