Small Pond Question

[phisher_d]

Lately ive been fishing a small, shallow pond in southern ontario.

THe fishing there is great, but almost everything ive caught has been really small  You can cast a spinnerbait anywhere in the pond and catch an eight-incher every time.  I know there are big fish in there (the biggest I've caught was close to 5lbs) but i hardly ever catch them.

I know that usually the solution would be to go bigger and slower, but whenever I do that I don't get any bites at all. I think since the pond is so small the fish get spooked by the really large baits.  Is there anything else I can do to make my lures appeal to the big ones more?  So far all of my big fish from there have been caught on jigs w/out trailers.

The pond is about three acres with lots of islands and windy creeks.  It's real shallow and the deepest hole is about 8 feet or so.  There's really no structure in the pond but it has very shady parts and in the summer most of it's covered with thick, floating vegetation.  Where do you think the lunkers would be hiding at different times of the year?

Thanks in advance

[Keepin_It_Reel]

Try 5in senkos they are small enough to get hits from small fish and big enough to get the ones attention. Also for big fish try roadwarriors favorite bait lol the fat ika. With it gettin cold get out the jigs and jerk baits.

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

6" !!

5/0 hook

wacky

[Pond-Pro]

     I would at least try a buzzbait.  Buzzbaits have the tendancy of producing bigger fish. At least they have for me!

[roadwarrior]

I do like the Fat Ika (watermelon w/ large black flakes #194J) in water <12'.  Fish it on a 3/0 or 4/0 EWG Gamakatsu Offset Worm Hook, weightless with the skirt up. I fish it on light line like a Senko.

Cast it out and let the lure fall on slack line. Let it sit for a minute then move it 6-12" with a horizontal sweep. Let it fall on slack line and sit for 10 or 15 seconds and repeat until you are out of the zone.

Good luck.

[Jaime]

try topwater or a bigger spinnerbait

[bassmaster043]

Have a fish fry.

[phisher_d]

Have a fish fry.

Done it!!  

The amazing thing was that the bass actually tasted good! :o

I don't usually like the taste of bass, but they were small and the water was cold, so they turned out allright.

Thanks for the responses everyone.

[alhuff]

The problem you are going to run into with ponds is that they can and do get over populated very quick.  I was reading an article that stated you should take 10 - 15 lbs of bass out of a pond/lake a year to insure they don't get over popluated.  Cull out the smaller fish and in a year or more you will have some quality fish in the pond.

Hope this helps,

Alfred

[phisher_d]

Yeah, the pond is seriously overpopulated.  It's a private pond and the owner hardly ever fishes it.  The only real fishing pressure it gets is from me.