Pond Fishing Question

[Beale_Bass]

Hey guys, just a quick question about pond fishing.

There's a small one on base, and I've been fishing it since the season opened. Off the bank there are about 3 feet of cattails, and then another 10-15 feet of submerged weeds. The water drops off from a foot to about 8 feet right off those cattails. Right off the bank are also some submerged trees and cover.

Every fish I've caught up there has been on a black/red flake Zoom worm (shhh!) that I would cast right up against those cattails. The bass pics in my sig, as well as the rest of the 16"-18" bass I've caught have nailed that worm after sinking maybe 3 feet into those weeds.

I went up there the other day and nearly got skunked, and the fish I did catch were dinks. There are three things that changed between my previous trip and the most recent:

-Temperature has gone up nearly 20 degrees to around 90, and the water line has dropped about 4".

-I've noticed that, since the water has warmed up, the pond has gotten a little clearer. It's still murky, but not as solid as it had been.

-I changed from 6 lb Trilene XL to 10 lb XT.

Now the water line hasn't changed much, so I can't help but blame my recent bass shortage on changing my line to something a good bit heavier. Do you guys think I should pull back and fish the edge of the submerged weeds instead of the cattails? This would mean leaving the trees and other cover, but I'm kind of stumped on where the bass might have moved to. I've used nothing but those Zoom worms, since the weeds are pretty heavy, but if I back off a bit I could probably try out a spinnerbait or rattletrap.

I guess that wasn't so quick, but opinions would be great!

[retiredbosn]

Nothing wrong in the change of line, the weather and water have warmed the bass are now using deeper water during the day.  Bass' eyes are very light sensitive and if they can escape the bright sun they will.  Earlier in the year the fish were shallow due to the shallows being warmer, now that the entire pond is warmer they are free to move around.  Follow the bait and you will find the fish, another possibility is that the fish have spawned and moved off the shallows.  Irregardless the fish are still in the pond just in a different place.  good luck,  btw I would called the base's activities center and see if they have a morale boat or canoe and take it to the pond.  

[Beale_Bass]

They do have a few canoes available, but I forgot to mention that I fish this pond in a float tube (fishing from the bank would be near impossible, with the rattlers coming out).

I'll try deeper water, like right off the edge of those weeds.  One thing I completely forgot to mention is the possibility of using topwaters.  Now, I didn't really think it was an option, since I figured that warmer weather = bass go deeper (that and topwaters are lowest on my "confidence" list), but I might have to give that a shot.  You think a bass would hesitate to hit a frog if he's sitting at the bottom of 8 feet of water?

[bigtimfish]

me and my buddy are reading your problem, i say you should fish either a good ol slug  go or a mag fluke. over the top of the grass, and at the end of the grass just let it sink a little deeper. natural shad colors on clear days, darker colors on cloudy days. and if topwater is not a confidence bait for you a frog wont work. i personally dont like frogs. they are too fast and to many short strikes. if possible go with a mag torpedo,devils horse, or pop r. frog or shad patterns. my buddy says you must be his neighbor ! similar pond, similar situation. As bad  as he hates topwater it works for him early in the morning but in the heat  of the day he switched to a white crankbait, went deep, cranked fast and started snapping photos. Go get em!

[champlain-champ]

i fish lakes mostly but ponds often

everyone that says that the bass have moved deeper are 100% accurate

heres what you need to do

fish deeper water with a jig starting at the weed line and drag it out back to your float tube try using a texas rigged tube they might swallow that right up.

in regards to top water any bass will hit a top water any time of the year theres just a few things to consider. during mid day a top water bite might not be that good try fishing it at the crack of dawn 90% of the fish ive caught on a top water has been when the sun was just peeking out or just setting in late in the afternoon is also usually fairly descent for a top water.

for a top water lure i like to chuck a weightless zoom fluke on a G-lock (skip gap) hook and fish it like a spook the erratic action drives fish crazy

if you want to fish that bank you were talking about try fishing it at a different time during the day. i recommend fishing it at night anyone that has never been bass fishing at night doesnt know what they are missing

the bigger fish move from the deeper water to the shallows for a few hours each night feeding on the bait that isnt in the deep water.

the biggest bass ive caught has been between the hours of 8pm to 6am

its not that the fish has changed their pattern

ITS THAT YOU NEED TO CHANGE YOURS

go after the fish at different hours if you want to keep that zoom worm technique

or switch it up and jig some deeper water and youll find your fish again