Small pond fishing

[NinjaFish]

I've been recently fishing about a 4-5 acre, man-made pond no more than 15 feet deep in the middle.  There are no boats allowed, so you can only fish from the shore.  With that in mind I've been catching most of the fish on a T-rigged plastics along the shoreline, and sometimes on a topwater popper.  Most of the fish I catch are very small and aggressive, averaging about a pound (if that with some).  I've also thrown shallow cranks with hardly a nibble, and i can't figure out a way to catch fish in the deeper water towards the middle.  Many people have caught huge fish all on texas rig thrown from the shore, but i have a feeling that those are rare occasions and that those mature fish dwell deeper for the majority of their time.

**Usually always windy, and hot temperatures here in Louisiana.

Also, there is NO STRUCTURE WHAT SO EVER, but one obvious dropoff with which the t-rig has failed to produce.

Any help or suggestions on lures & techniques would be more than welcomed

**Feel free to share your favorite pond lures & experiences too

            Thanks, Alex

[PondHunter]

Try casting parallel to the dropoff with a crankbait, jigworm, or spinnerbait. Early in the day or in the evening would be best. There may be some deep water holes or brush that the fish are holding near during midday that you cant cast far enough to get to. A tube would work also, maybe even be the best. The trick may be in figuring out which lures the fish have been conditioned to and use something else. A smoke colored grub on a jighead works almost anywhere. I know this sounds like alot of lures, but whichever you choose, cast along the dropoff and any of them will work. GOOD LUCK!

[roadwarrior]

Welcome aboard!

We have a thread currently running at the bottom of this

page, "Who here fishes from the bank", that addresses pond fishing:

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1206988208

8-)

[Grey Wolf]

WELCOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Try throwing a wacky-rigged senko at that drop off.

[dman]

  Quote

WELCOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Try throwing a wacky-rigged senko at that drop off.

X2  

[ba7ss3in]

Welcome aboard and good luck

[fishizzle]

C-rig with fluke, craw or worm

[Bassnbrett101]

  Quote

  Quote

WELCOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Try throwing a wacky-rigged senko at that drop off.

X2

I prefer a zoom trick worm instead of a senko but its the same technique, and it produces very well for me in ponds

[BassinBoy]

Allright I fish ponds like this too.  If there is no cover then find even rocks or the smallest peices of rubble.  They will probobly hold fish.  Use bottom bouncing baits to locate these things.  Good Luck, let me know how you do

[Shakes]

I would bet those fish are not deep in that warm Louisiana water in Spring. I bet those fish are aggressive and very active. My first choice would be a buzzbait. Not just any buzzbait, but a Booyah Buzz, black in 3/8 oz. Long casts, and long runs. If it didn't work, I'd break out the cranks, starting with a lipless crank like an Xcalibur Xr50 or a Strike King Red Eye Shad. If all failed, I'd try a Green Pumpkin w/ Red Flake Sweet Beaver, T-Rig with a 1/8 oz. bullet weight so it falls slow. Anothing good soft plastic that gets the attention of these fish would be a LONG ribbon tailed worm with a light weigh. If you still haven't caught anything after all of these attempts, move on to a new body of water - it's been fished! :-/

[bigbill]

Early mornings and late evenings with a BPS topnocker #25 the bigger one.

The small places are the best....no boats is even better...but watch out who you tell about it when you find a new spot.  Keep it a secret...

[NinjaFish]

Wow, i appreciate all the quick replies.

I'll be sure to try all of the above, and come back with a report

Thanks again

[Paul Roberts]

No structure/cover can be a challenge. If there was no fishing pressure it can be a blessing. But one problem, from the presentation end of things, is that lures retrieved away from cover/structure can simply look stupid to educated fish. The trick is to obscure lures, and make them look vulnerable and catchable.

A few options to think about (and try):

-Obscure lures with speed and/or erratic retreive (a la KVD).

-Ambush Points. Bass are not effective ambush hunters, but this concept simply refers to exisitng micro-structural elements that obscure lures and/or make them look vulnerable. The surface film: Try topwaters, realizing this is usually a low light method. The bottom: No structure, bang bottom anyway. This'll obscure lures fakeness and trigger fish due to errratic action.

Take advantage of attraction, versus triggering: Straight rythmic retireves attract fish, but rarely trigger them to strike (thus the erratic part is needed). But attraction is an important part of presentation -to be taken advantage of. Try this: Walk trolling. Use an appropriate crankbait, cast it out and troll it wihle you walk around the pond. Just the long period of rhythmic action can trigger fish -maybe because a trolled bait is more apt to pass an active bass, maybe it mesmerizes, maybe because it starts to leave a given bass' beat and it's the "now or never" motivation factor, I dunno, but that duration of rhythmic action catches bass (likely it's all of these). Then, add some triggering on top of that (especially after you've already presented to the fish -made a few circuits around the pond): Direction changes (you'll probably notice that you'll catch more fish at the pond corners), accelerations, erratic twitches, bump bottom, waking plugs (surface film), etc... Try a deeper lipped plug to bump things you missed with a shallower one. I think sometimes the bottom (and ambush point) finds us, rather than us choosing the appropriate lure! "Guess they wanted the deep firetiger with the red hook" No, silly, they wanted to eat! Something vulnerable and catchable (in their face), but not "a lure".

After you've caught some fish, and catch rate falls, switch lures, (subtle at first -maybe color , then full lure type change later on).

Lures don't catch fish, anglers do.

[Sam]

Ninja Fish,

First you make a roux.

Opps.  Sorry.  Thinking about food.

Throwing a wacky rigged finesse or Senko is a great suggestion.  I nail them like fish in a barrel at one of my client's ponds using that technique and it seems to work great all over the place: ponds, rivers and lakes.

In fact, any finesse worm or Senko fished Texas, shaky or wacky should work.

Use those weedless hooks from Eagle Claw and Gamakatsu to help prevente snags.

As for moving baits, have you gone out in the early AM and thrown a black buzzbait? Give it a try, too.

Sometimes moving baits work well, but I have found over the years that a finesse worm or Senko fished Texas, wacky or shaky produces the best results.

Now, after you have your roux the right color put in your trinity and sautee until it is soft and then add your fish stock and okra.  Bring to a boil.

Remember to add at leat one pound of shrimp and crabmeat along with seven to eight bay leaves.

Cook up some Lousiana long grain white rice.

Add some nice French bread and you are set for the day.

Stay home and enjoy watching some LSU football videos in place of fishing!!!!

Just a suggestion.

[Sam]

P.S.  Welcome to the forum!

[hawgchaser]

My alltime best producing pond bait is a texas rigged gitzit. Find the fattest tubes around in black and redfleck. You can fish this bait shallow and parallel to the bank or drag it up the dropoff.

I would be willing to bet it outproduces any other bait you try.