Pond Hunting

[Autiger24]

Well I do not have a boat right now so most of my fishing is being done from the bank and in anything that I can find close to my house. I have been very frustrated with not being able to find good ponds with bass in them that are accessible to the public.  I guess you could consider me a google map junkie. Anyway I went today to a pond and couldn't get a bite. I saw panfish, catfish, and carp, but no bass. There were some kids there fishing I asked them if they every caught bass there. They said no but told me of a place down the road that had bass in it. Sure enough they were correct. I caught two small ones on a horny toad before the storm rolled in. Anyway here is my question. What things do you look for when trying to decide if a pond holds bass or not? I've been places where I've fished for an hour, not caught a thing and then never went back. I was just wondering what some opinions were. Thanks

[BassinBoy]

I fish a lot of ponds on private property.  I get permission to fish them.  Most of the ones I fish are owned by friends of mine so I just ask and they are cool with it.  Sometimes I just see a pond that is in a nieghborhood plan or on an old golfcourse and fish it.  When I go to a new pond I just where my polarized glasses and look for bass swimming away from the shallows.  Otherwise I just dont have a good idea till I fish it for a while.  I am lucky because I do a lot of things that seem to get me hooked up with fishing peoples ponds.  Just scout by driving on some roads, ask permission, be honest nice and sincere and sometimes they will say yes and others no.  

[Marty]

You need to fish for more than an hour before giving up on a body of water. I don't know how to tell if it holds bass without fishing it. There's a pond I fish fairly frequently. It's maddening and frustrating, because more often than not I will not catch something, yet this pond has produced my two largest fish. So you never know what might happen when you toss a lure into the water.

[.dsaavedra.]

You need to fish for more than an hour before giving up on a body of water. I don't know how to tell if it holds bass without fishing it. There's a pond I fish fairly frequently. It's maddening and frustrating, because more often than not I will not catch something, yet this pond has produced my two largest fish. So you never know what might happen when you toss a lure into the water.

i got a place just like that. its a neighboorhood, there are 3 ponds. one of em i caught my biggest bass (7lbs) and my second biggest (6lbs), but other than that i have caught a few dinks. the other has produced some of my dads biggest, but i have only caught a few small bass in there.

it is VERY frustrating knowing there are huge bass in there, but they are sooooo hard to catch.

[HesterIsGod]

If it has bluegill and is a public city pond, then it probably has a few bass in it.

I would go super finesse to catch a couple of dink bass. Try some panfish type crankbaits and finesse worms and grubs. If you catch a few small bass that tells you that there are bass in there, and then you can throw normal lures with more confidence in search of average or larger bass.

[basspimple]

i usually go by word of mouth, and just looking and searching for fish by sight. no forage, no bass.

[SuskyDude]

Small public/high pressure ponds can be tough. A few things that might help:

1. Fish when others don't. If its okay, fish at night. I find public pond bass can be really spooky during "high traffic hours." People doing their thing around the water, dogs swimming, other fisherman, etc, can make them fussy.

2. Do things different than other fisherman on the pond. Throw different lures, fish different shorelines, etc. Fish really early in the spring and late in the winter (ice and regulations permitting) when alot of fisherman stay home.

3. Stalk the shoreline slowly and quietly and always keep your eyes on the water.

4. Give it time. I've been chosing one pond per season to really focus on when I'm not fishing the river or driving to the lake. I pond hop too, but I try to put most of my "pond time" in on one.

5. Ask around and try to dig up some tips on what ponds are good. Don't be discouraged if the recomended pond doesn't pan out on the first trip, or even the second or third. Sometimes these little ponds need practice.

6. Have fun with it being a challenge. Makes it alot more rewarding when you finally start putting it together.

[Paul Roberts]

Contact your state fish and game department.

[catchnm]

I fish ponds a lot. I'm in OKla. so I figure my pond conditions are somewhat similar to yours. As far as what to look for to determine if a pond holds bass......grass. Not the slimy moss, but grass. If it's growing out from the banks some or if there are lily pads, and if there are mats, mats are hard to fish from the bank though. The very most important grass I look for is not around the bank though, bank grass is just an indicator of better grass under the surface. The kind of grass I'm talking about is something I call bass grass, some call it coon grass I think. It is very coarse, has a stem, and small buds, grows under the water at pretty shallow depths, and it smells like a skunk. If that kind of grass is present then there will be bass in that pond.......providing it's been stocked with bass. That's something only the owner can tell you. Good bass ponds have good feed water also. May be a creek, or underground spring. The owner could also tell ya about the underground spring feed. Depth is a plus, but I have caught some of my biggest pond fish from ponds with an average depth of 10 ft. or less. Clear water is always a plus too.

Main forage for pond bass are crawdads, bluegill, lizards, frogs, and worms/snakes.

If I'm on a pond that I've never fished before and have no info about, I'll start with a tandem crappie jig setup or a small ultralight shallow crank. Beetle spins are excellent pond baits also. Small baits are good locators and indicators of what fish are in the pond.

One more tip......if the wind is blowing at all, walk the bank until you're positioned to where the wind is hitting you right in the face and then cast into it.

[roadwarrior]

This might help:

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

Good luck!

8-)

[BUCKEYEone]

I still have not won a bass boat from any of the raffles I have signed up for, so I am one of the many confined to shore fishing.  I try to learn as much from a pond as I can, I just hope that the basic patterns to a small 3 or 4 acre pond will apply to fishing the bigger bodies of water once I do win that bass boat!  A lot of what was mentioned before is good advice, especially trying to do things differently, earlier or later in the day/season, and to try different lures/approaches.  I have one pond that I pulled two solid 3-4 lb LMB out of in early April, but since it has warmed up and more people are fishing, I havent found a fish there in my last 4 outings.  Pressure has a huge impact on catching bass or just fishing for them, but have fun even when you arent getting hits, and try to solve the puzzle!  

[BassinBoy]

i usually go by word of mouth, and just looking and searching for fish by sight. no forage, no bass.

Not always true, normally true, but once in a blue moon its not.