Where are the bigger fish?

[PondBoss]

Just got back from fishing a couple of ponds with a buddy.  We caught a few fish (20), but nothing big.  What is the trick to finding the bigger fish early in the year?  The biggest fish we caught were only about 1-1 1/2 lbs. Lots of dinks and a couple of crappie.  My guess is we weren't fishing deep enough?  All of our fish were caught in 5 ft of water or less.  Any ideas would be helpful, thanks.

Matt

[BassShephard]

I'm in another state so I can't say for sure were you live, but here the small ones come up during the warm days. Nights are still near freezing temps, so the larger fish are staying in deeper waters.  Imo the best thing to catch now is Crappie, pike and probably smallies, live bait would be best as well.  Also look for vegetation and rocks they heat up faster and maintain heat longer then other structure

[PondBoss]

The last 3-4 days have been highs in the high 60's - low 80's over night lows in the 40's-50's.  There was vegetation and most of my fish were either in it or just above it.  Maybe the bigger fish are just waiting for the water temps to get up just a bit more.

[Gangley]

The waters I have been fishing lately are generally shallower than most (max depth approx 25 feet) with a majority of the water being in 10-12 feet, so my experiences so far this year will probably differ from yours. 

The larger bass here are on the inside weed edges already and some are cruising the bank for brief periods throughout the day.  I have seen several 2-3 lbr's(not large, but very fun) just "passing by" but its always during a very brief time span and then you can see them head back out to the deeper water and the weed lines.  I like to think the bass are doing some reconnaissance.  The bass are doing brief runs to the shallows looking for a quick meal and future spawing areas, but I could be WAY off on that. 

I have had decent luck with spinnerbaits, lipless, 10" worms, and jigs.  Particularly in areas where a laydown stretches far enough out into the water to meet with the weedline.  I drop the jig or worm near the convergence of those two structures and I can generally come up with something.  I will also cast the spinner and lipless along side the laydown and bring it back along the length of the laydown.  The bites generally come close to where the laydown converges with the weeds.  If no luck with the laydowns, i start to cast parallel to the weedline and bring the spinner and lipless along the edges.  If no luck, then I try to bring the lipless across the top of the weeds, drop it like its hot, then rip it out.

I have had decent luck over the past two weeks with this approach, but again, my waters probably vary significantly with yours.  Best of luck and hope you catch a bunch!

[Jigfishn10]

Without know what your water temps are, but, IMHO, I would look for structure adjacent to deep water - points and channels come immediately to mind. Look for sun soaked rocky/sandy shores and like Gangley mnetion, the inside weed edges.

I wouldn't overlook the fact the surface temps to about a foot deep could be a lot warmer than the rest of the water column, especially later in the day.  I would try a tandem spinnerbait or a shallow running crank just below the surface.

Good luck.

[Triple D]

I wish i had a helpful suggestion, unfortunately I haven't seen open water in a few months. I'm glad to hear you guys are out already. Good luck getting the big boys and hopefully i'll have some better news in about 2 months!