Catching Bass in a Small Pond

[Ben W]

Hey BR. I fish a small pond that has mostly bluegill and perch. This morning I caught an 18 inch Largemouth Bass using a jitterbug(Avatar). I had no idea there were bass in there and that big. Any idea on how to target more bass? A lot of the pond has weeds, but I fish a spot where it's about 5 feet where you can use a topwater or shallow diver without getting hooked on weeds. I'd like to make this pond my bass hot spot:)

[HesterIsGod]

Welcome!

The question is a little to general for me, so I can't really give you a good answer, other than to check out all the great articles on this site. You will learn a lot.

[Marty]

I fish a lot of small ponds. My best advice is to fish that place a lot, use a variety of lures that fit the cover and other conditions, and be there at higher percentage times, like lower light. You should learn a lot about that water after fishing it frequently.

[nralover]

Alot of farm ponds receive very little pressure- I'd get there before first light if possible and try a Pop-R or something similar, and maybe switch to a unweighted Senko type plastic as the morning progresses. You might be surprised at all the bass you land:)

[roadwarrior]

Welcome aboard!

This might help:

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1158577137

8-)

[BirdNestBen]

try a weightless texas rigged zoom fluke in watermelon....

that one nails em' most of the time....

I guess they think it is a perch... who knows?????????

[Sam]

Do what Roadwarrior suggests.  Always!

As for your pond, try some topwaters like a Scum Frog or pink trick worm over the weeds and grass.

A buzzbait in the early AM or late evening can catch nice bass, too.

Stroke a Rat-L-Trap to see if you pull up grass and debris. If so, go to a plastic, like a Zoom finese worm or a Senko.  If not, then throw the Rat.

Bass love Senkos so try your luck throwing them wacky style.

If you can throw a Mann's Minus One you may get some strikes.

And don't forget the spinnerbaits, too.

Remember to scale down the bait sizes in a pond unless you know there are lunkers out there.

Have fun and let us know how you do.

[PondBoss]

The money bait for me on almost all of the small ponds I fish is a Zoom lizard T-rigged and weightless.  Cast that bad boy on top of the muck and make it dance all the way back.  I can almost garauntee results.  When you get to a hole in the scum let it fall down into the water column, it's hard for the fish to resist.  The colors I use mainly are Cherry Seed, Watermelon Seed w/red fleck, and Blue with silver fleck.  As far as size goes it's been my experience that size doesn't matter to much.  Prime example, I caught one yesterday that was smaller than the 6' lizard.  Good luck!

[Ben W]

Wow! Thanks guys. I have tried spinnerbaits, but they always end up catching weeds, hence the pond has a good amount of weeds. I haven't tried any plastics yet, and generally I have been using topwater lures such as jitterbugs and scum frogs. I'll go fishing maybe tomorrow or thursday, but definately on the weekend! I'll let you know what happens.

Ben

[fishfordollars]

Sunday our church had a function on our new property and it has a small lake of about two acres or a little less. A bunch of children were fishing and caught several small bass on trap like plugs. I rigged up a trick worm and fished about an hour(1:30-2:30) and caught seven nothing of any size but fun. Morale to story youy will be supprised what is living in the smaller, rarely fished waters around the country.

We also have a bayou that runs through our neighborhood that in most spots is no wider that 20 ft. I started fishing it last year and have caught bass up to 4lbs. Now most of the kids fish the heck out of it. They to had no idea that fish like that were in that small stream. Surprised the homeowners assoc. also. It's a two minute walk from my front door and I spend lots of late evenings down there. Lots of fun on small SB, and 1/4 oz. traps

[Jeff Farrow]

yeah man I have a nice size pond in my apt complex, crazy kinds of fish in there. Very clear water, two water fountains entry and drainage for the water its constantly flowing, might make it a lake o.O lol dunno. Anywhooo I couldnt catch a d**n thing trying everything I had, finally found something that works its a zoom fluke black with blue sparkles 1/32 bullet weight texas rigged.. Ive caught about 10 past 3 days, ranging from lil under 1 to what about today was my biggest one about 3 pounder.. just fishing the pond ive found in the clear water dark softbaits just jiggin- an once the suns going down they just give up.. but like the guy said before me somewhere.. fish the water and you'll learn when to fish an what to use! 8-) Goodluck, Catch another monster...