Fishing small ponds

[Laggyman]

Thanks for all the warm welcome on the other thread!!

I need some advice on finding fish in small ponds. Those ponds without any old channels or points at all. Just a round'ish pond, with trees creating a nice overhang here and there, and little pieces of wood sticking out from the bottom every once in a while.  I've read many of the articles here at BR, but many refer to looking for channels and points using a depthfinder, which isn't possible in my situation because 1. There are none 2. No boats allowed (Although I'd love to get in one to try to fish the middle of the pond...)

There are shallows, deep, overhangs, and some submereged trees 'n stumps.  Primary forage seems to be bluegill and crawfish.  I am guessing here there would be no "Transition" from shallow to deep as the temperature gradually cools. Is this right? Would I be able to find fish near the bank even as the water cools?

I wonder if the Bass "school" in little ponds like this chasing prey.  Would I be better off hitting structures near the bank than going for a search of schooling bass offshore (Carolina rigs and Crankbaits)

And 1 last question, submerged trees... dead ones, I've heard they don't hold fish as they eat up the oxygen around it rotting, is this true?  I haven't had any luck hitting the submereged trees... Just lost Crankbaits 'n worms....

[MinnesotaAngler]

I actually just did an informative thread on this subject. It was called "Good Small Pond Fishing Advice." It should only be on page 2 of this forum. If you can't find it, PM and I'll just repost for ya.

[Laggyman]

Oh I just found it... Sorry I should have noticed it

Good info there!  ;D That should get me rolling in the right direction.  Thnx alot.

[roadwarrior]

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1158032683/6#6

[MinnesotaAngler]

It's all good. I would have re-posted right away, but some of the discussion afterwards I feel is important.

Let me know how it goes. Good luck and Happy Fishing!

[edit]By the way, thanks for the link Roadwarrior. I didn't even think about that.  [/edit]

[Keithscatch]

Laggyman and anyone else for that matter,

I have fished a pond or two in my lifetime   and have reached this conclusion as far as baits go. Smaller is better during the day and bigger is better at night.

For instance a 1/4 ounce Road Runner is about as good a bait you or anyone could ever throw in a pond. They will catch huge bass as well as little ones and everything in between. Crappie, Bream etc. I prefer the ones with the curly tail because when I lose em I just break off a curly tail from one of my worms and add it to the bait and I am back in business. Or of course you can buy extra bodies   White is my alltime favorite color with a white curly tail. Second would be chartreuse with a chartreuse curly tail.

My next bait of choice is a Blk/blue Senko type bait. I use the standard 5" ones. I also fish ponds more at night then during the day. Personally I think the fishing is better at night in ponds then during the day. Most ponds are shallow thus the bass are up close so they spook less at night.

3rd bait would be a spinnerbait. If fishing at night I use a black single bladed Colorado spinnerbait with a black or blue trailer on it. Could be a pork chunk, swimming chunk, craw, basically anything with curly appendages that wobble adding to the vibration. If during the day I would start off with a 1/4 ounce spinnerbait in white or white/chartreuse.

I would always bring a tiny torpedo to a pond if I were going to fish in the day like morning bite or evening bite. Just because it is fun to catch fish on top.

I tend to stick to spinnerbaits, and Senko type baits. Honestly, I haven't fished a Road runner lure in a while. But when I was boatless and fished ponds allot that was a go to bait for me. I caught countless bass on that lure. I rely more on spinnerbaits and worms now then ever before.

So stick with any or all of those type baits and I think you will tear them up. If the bite is slow during the day go back at night. Bring bigger baits with you. Like a 1/2 ounce black spinnerbait with a single big Colorado blade. Add the bulky trailer. Fish dark colored Senko's. and even black buzzbaits are effective at night.

Good luck to you.

[roadwarrior]

Keithscratch,

Wow! I couldn't disagree with you more. At least 90% of my largemouth bass fishing is on ponds and that's where all but one of my biggest largemouth bass have been caught. All but two of my 10's have been caught on 6" Senkos in these ponds. Nearly all of my biggest bass have been caught between 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM, I don't fish at night.

I fish big baits for big fish. I never fish small baits, never.

[Deuceu72]

I tend to agree with both of the previous posts..............We have a private farm pond in eastern Colorado that we have fished for years. Sometimes the bass want small, sometimes the bass want big..I always let the fish tell me what they want..........For me personally, I have found that its the LOCATION of the bait and not the size(although it can matter).....throw to all those overhangs, hit as many of the submerged tress and humps as possible from the shore. Experiment with bait size, color, location, retrieve speed, etc till the fish tell you what they want.

Good Luck!

[Laggyman]

Hmm... Big baits...

Biggest thing I've ever used is a 4in Senko!!!!!  And I thought those were HUGE. Probably a difference between fishing in Japan and the States. From my observations, the bass here in Japan seem to shy away from big baits, probably due to the insanely high pressure on the fish.

I've had great success with (tiny?) 3in and 4in grubs by GYCB.  In fact, the stores over here in Japan are mainly stocked with 3, 4 in worms and I seldom see anything above 5in.  I fished a nice fat one last time I went fishing with a red 4in Senko rigged weedless that seemed to ignore all my smaller ones so I brought up all my courage to buy a 4.5in GYCB Cuttail  (What are these called in the U.S?)

My PR was fished on a tiny orange 1in Crankbait for Trout  ;D I got bored of the slow bite and was fishing for Trout just for fun and then WHAM! My Ultralight Spinning gear started to scream... Thought I had one of those huge Donaldson Rainbows on the line but it turned out to be a FAT bass  8-)  I caught a 48cm (Inches??) one that was pretty fat on a 4lb nylon line. That was pure magic.

Does higher pressure mean smaller baits?? Or would the occasinal big bait score something good??

Thanks for the tips Keithscatch. But what is a roadrunner?? I don't think I've seen any of those over here. I was surprised to see "Chatterbaits" for the first time reading the forums just yesterday  ;D Never seen any of them here in Japan.

A black spinnerbait would mean black blades as well?? Or just the skirt? I have 0 success with spinnerbaits so far...

[roadwarrior]

GYCB Kut-Tail and the ones I fish are 6 1/2" long.

If "everyone" is fishing small baits then that is all the more reason for you to go big! Give it a try, there is nothing to lose.

Good luck!

[Pond Hopper]

Keithscratch,

Wow! I couldn't disagree with you more. At least 90% of my largemouth bass fishing is on ponds and that's where all but one of my biggest largemouth bass have been caught. All but two of my 10's have been caught on 6" Senkos in these ponds. Nearly all of my biggest bass have been caught between 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM, I don't fish at night.

I fish big baits for big fish. I never fish small baits, never.

Couldnt agree more with RW.  I fish 99.9% ponds, and I use to fish 4 inch twister tails and mepps exclusively.  Then I started "fishing" with things such as 10 inch worms, 1/2 oz spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, husky jerks, etc.  Granted I caught some big fish on small baits but my numbers of big fish 4lbs + have gone up exponentially.  I also never fish at night so I dont know how it produces but most of my Hawgz have come in the middle of the day.  

AS far as fishing the ponds just fish it thoroughly and try some different techniques, the fish are there somewhere just look for something different that could attract the fish or differentiates itself from other areas of the pond.  

Corey

[MinnesotaAngler]

I'm going to have to agree with Roadwarrior on this one. When I'm fishing a pond I fish it exactly the same way as I would fish a lake. I don't do anything different. When I catch my bigger fish I'm usually catching them on a 7" PowerWorm. The thing I don't like about smaller baits is the fact that you catch just about everything else in the pond.

For spinnerbaits- I don't use these at all. I've never had any success using a spinnerbait so I just don't use them. I'm big on crankbaits and soft plastics. I've had more success catching bass with the 7" PowerWorms than anything else I've ever used. (I wanna try the 10" ones  ).

Those are my two cents.

[nboucher]

Don't forget jigs. I've recently found they can produce good fish in small ponds. As for time of day, the 6 1/2 pounder in my avatar was caught in a pond at 11:30 a.m., and on a Horny Toad no less, a bait that many people use only in the early morning and the evening.