To All My Memphis Pond Hoppers!

[WDE]

29 minutes ago, beaver said:

Hahahah, I know the tree, it was about 4 inch diameter and there was another shorter 4 inch diameter tree at its start, both laying across. 

Am I right?

I tried that junk for about two steps holding onto an upright tree and wussied out. 

 

Additional thought, if you've ever seen that pond, when it's dry you know it's a mud flat. 

Ever tried dragging a carolina rig or drop shot across it?

Yep, that’s the one. Put my weight on it, nope not dead, looked recently felled. Made it about half way and the rods gave way as my walking sticks. 

 

I’m a very basic fisherman. I do t rigs and cranks(lipless and squarebill). And I only recently started t rigging again back in the Fall(which is what I started on some 16 or 17 years ago—and then put the rods down and picked them back up about a year and half ago). Every now and then I’ll throw on a spinnerbait or a topwater if I feel the mood is right. I don’t have myriad baits and lures, but I keep what’s reliable. I don’t haul around anything more than I can keep in my sling pack. As a bank ridden pond hopper, I try to keep it as minimal as possible. 

 

I’m self taught. I’ve never had anyone to teach me how to tie leads for Carolina rigs, or how to properly do a ned rig or drop shot. However, I am always willing to learn. 

[Angry John]

11 hours ago, beaver said:

Awesome fish WDE!, yep that looks like the same area. 

Sorry to hear you've been sick.

I've been looking for you at JP when I go.

 

If you walk in from the fountain pond till you hit that creek and take a left, there is a dry crossing 40-50 yards back. 

I caught the fish on the other side of the creek. 

This pond intrigues me. 

As you say, most of what you pull out is around 2lbs, however every once in a while I see some movement out there that is obviously bigger than what I have caught in there. 

 

My 1985 spring scale said the fish in my pic was 1lb so i'm probably going to leave it at the house next time. 

I would have eyeballed her at closer to 4. 

 

I'll try worms, nearly every fish i've caught out of that pond have been off of green pumpkin t rigged crawdads, was using rage craws the other day. 

Hey John, 

 

Thanks for reporting what you were using, I'll try them out!

I was using the 1/4 benski in silver.  I am ordering the gold to see if it's any better.  Never used a lure knocker before but fishing blade bait's please have one.  I got hung up on wood a dozen times.  First time using a knocker but glad I had one in the bag.  The one I have is just a clip-on weight but worked good.

[Angry John]

4lb 7oz on 5" Keitech and 5/0 owner flashy swimmer.  Missed the first bite and she hammered it again.  Lights out

[beaver]

I went to Big Hill Pond state park yesterday and caught nothing. 

Crystal clear water but real shallow where i was. 

 

[Seals]

any of you guys ever fish the large pond in the back of WC Johnson, where the levee broke years back? All I've been catching there is crappie and bowfin

[beaver]

1 hour ago, Seals said:

any of you guys ever fish the large pond in the back of WC Johnson, where the levee broke years back? All I've been catching there is crappie and bowfin

Hey Seals, I've fished back there extensively for bass and tightlining for catfish.

... are we allowed to say 'catfish' on this thread?

 

Anyway, I am by no means a great fisherman but I have caught several of each. Most of the largemouths i've pulled out have been 2lbs or less. Most of the cats I've pulled out are what I grew up calling a mud cat which are no good.

 

And to be honest, I have never considered the fishing to be good from the bank back there. Most bass i've gotten were from the far grassy side off of texas rigged crawdads. Most of the catfish were from the flat sandy area just past where the levee broke. I've walked all the way around it with carolina rigs without a bite. I would love to be able to fish the brush line through the center of the pond with a boat but thats not allowed. 

[Seals]

1 hour ago, beaver said:

Hey Seals, I've fished back there extensively for bass and tightlining for catfish.

... are we allowed to say 'catfish' on this thread?

 

Anyway, I am by no means a great fisherman but I have caught several of each. Most of the largemouths i've pulled out have been 2lbs or less. Most of the cats I've pulled out are what I grew up calling a mud cat which are no good.

 

And to be honest, I have never considered the fishing to be good from the bank back there. Most bass i've gotten were from the far grassy side off of texas rigged crawdads. Most of the catfish were from the flat sandy area just past where the levee broke. I've walked all the way around it with carolina rigs without a bite. I would love to be able to fish the brush line through the center of the pond with a boat but thats not allowed. 

I've never caught a bass back there, the only ones I've even seen were dead floating on top of the water. I've heard people talking about blue cats being in that pond, but I couldn't ever get them to bite(I'm a crappy catfisherman anyway). I wonder how deep it actually gets? I know where the brush line is it's fairly shallow. I would've liked to have fished it before the levee broke.

 

Edit: I did watch a couple of guys put a canoe in back there early last summer, didn't stick around to see how they did though.

[beaver]

8 hours ago, Seals said:

Edit: I did watch a couple of guys put a canoe in back there early last summer, didn't stick around to see how they did though.

Yeah, I've seen several folks put small craft back there. Unfortunately there's a sign specifically stating no boats via image. 

On a side note, my family bought me a $50 1232 jon boat fixer upper for Christmas. :] I reviewed Collierville's park ordinance and they are fairly strict on skateboarders but there's nothing relating to boats in their write up. I am hesitant to assume that if a body of water or park does not specifically state that boating is not allowed, it might be. Boats are strictly forbidden in Germantown from what I hear. I have a family member that works at Cville's chamber of commerce and i'm going to ask. If there's a doubt, I'm not risking it. I have also heard that you can put boats behind Lowes on Germantown parkway.

 

As far as depth, I would assume it is fairly deep in some points, specifically on the eastern side. That assumption is based on the angle of tightlines when catfishing. West side looks very shallow. NNW is where I've caught most of the little bass. I've seen alot of large stuff move out there though. 

 

[CWest]

Hey everyone, read a few pages on here trying to find somewhere new to fish. Ready to try out some of these spots I’m hearing about. Have any of you fished these ponds behind the high school back in the old dump? 

[beaver]

16 minutes ago, CWest said:

Hey everyone, read a few pages on here trying to find somewhere new to fish. Ready to try out some of these spots I’m hearing about. Have any of you fished these ponds behind the high school back in the old dump? 

Hey CWest, 

 

Welcome to the thread!

I used to fish two ponds on the right before they put up Town of Collierville no trespassing signs all over. 

It's a shame because it's a neat area back there. 

They were shallow snot grass ponds surrounded by thickets but held a lot of small bass. 

Short poles and flipping crawdads and arkies.

 

After reading the entire thread a few months ago I believe the best thing to do is this (and I missed my opportunity):

a. Say you're new to fishing and don't know where to go or what to do. 

b. Try to sound a little sad about that in your post. 

c. Wait for a bit.

d. Then this fishing legend named roadwarrior will step in, show mercy, and take you on a private fishing expedition where you catch gigantic bass for an entire morning and soak up knowledge.

 

What I've heard anyway. I've never seen him, but I believe he exists.  

[CWest]

I see the people from the houses kayaking and fishing in the big pond up in the left. I spray the grass at a couple of them and always see lots of small fish swimming around the banks over there. If only I lived in one of those houses ha

[WDE]

On 1/29/2018 at 8:39 PM, Seals said:

any of you guys ever fish the large pond in the back of WC Johnson, where the levee broke years back? All I've been catching there is crappie and bowfin

I’ve been back there a few times, never gotten a bite. Disappointing because it does look like it’d have potential. 

[CreazyBear]

Hi everyone,

 

It has been a while that i had picked up the ol fishing rod. And I am planning on getting back. I had been looking at the little pond at Shelby View Dr just behind the autobahn indoor speedway. Now the question is, how is the quality of fish there or is it even a great place to fish?

[beaver]

On 2/5/2018 at 5:45 PM, CreazyBear said:

Now the question is, how is the quality of fish there or is it even a great place to fish?

Hey CB!

Welcome to the thread!

I didn't know that body of water was there until your post.

Maybe someone else here has checked it out?

 

[Angry John]

Took a half day from work and headed out to orgil pond at the golf course north of the navy base.  Seems like a lot of other people had the same idea as i did.  I got two bites landed one on a keitech/owner flashy swimmer and got a second bite on a f5 rapala shadrap.  The fish came off the crank but felt like a two poundish fish and it left the water and spit my lure in my general direction about 15 feet from the yak.  No one on the bank or in the boats was catching anything for most of my trip and one bream guy got dialed in for an hour and landed like 6.  Hoping the storm front would activate them but still to cool i guess.

[CWest]

Hey I think I saw you out there on your yak. I was playing disc golf around the lake today. Went fishing this morning at the big pond in front of the autobahn raceway. Not sure if I’m suppose to or not but had a fish pulling out my fully set drag on my lews baitcaster and then it popped my 15lb line. Buddy told me he used to catch 5+ pounders out of there. He said it was like 90ft deep out in middle.

[wwood]

On 2/9/2018 at 10:16 PM, CWest said:

Hey I think I saw you out there on your yak. I was playing disc golf around the lake today. Went fishing this morning at the big pond in front of the autobahn raceway. Not sure if I’m suppose to or not but had a fish pulling out my fully set drag on my lews baitcaster and then it popped my 15lb line. Buddy told me he used to catch 5+ pounders out of there. He said it was like 90ft deep out in middle.

What were you throwing & what part of the pond? I might have to try that place sometime since it’s only about 15min from my house but I’ve never thought to look there. ?

 

Same story this past week for me, i spent some time fishing before the weather moved in, hoping it would get the fish moving some, but didnt catch anything but leaves. Really hoping for some consistent warmer temps sometime soon

[CWest]

I was fishing along the wall there closer to the road. Almost in the corner when you pull in the parking lot. I had on a lipless crank/blade bait type. Whatever it was hit that thing hard.

[WDE]

2.9lbs at Johnson-fountains. 

 

[beaver]

2 hours ago, WDE said:

2.9lbs at Johnson-fountains. 

Nice! i've been replacing floors and walls due to pinhole leak. 

Will be a few weeks before I can get back out. :[

[WDE]

14 minutes ago, beaver said:

Nice! i've been replacing floors and walls due to pinhole leak. 

Will be a few weeks before I can get back out. :[

Oof. However, the temps are trending upwards. Might be looking at prespawn by the time you get back out. I think we were in prespawn this time last year. 

[Angry John]

Has anyone ever fished the pond south of shelby farms next to the recycling center.  Lots of open casting spots and signs that say fish at your own risk.  Been twice this winter, no bites.

[CWest]

Iv still never been fishing out at wc Johnson before. Might need to try it out.

On 2/9/2018 at 7:14 PM, Angry John said:

Took a half day from work and headed out to orgil pond at the golf course north of the navy base.  Seems like a lot of other people had the same idea as i did.  I got two bites landed one on a keitech/owner flashy swimmer and got a second bite on a f5 rapala shadrap.  The fish came off the crank but felt like a two poundish fish and it left the water and spit my lure in my general direction about 15 feet from the yak.  No one on the bank or in the boats was catching anything for most of my trip and one bream guy got dialed in for an hour and landed like 6.  Hoping the storm front would activate them but still to cool i guess.

Where all do you fish in your yak? I have a yak that’s not really a fishing one but could manage on it.

[Angry John]

16 minutes ago, CWest said:

Iv still never been fishing out at wc Johnson before. Might need to try it out.

Where all do you fish in your yak? I have a yak that’s not really a fishing one but could manage on it.

If there is a spot of water I am putting a liNE in it.  Get some funny looks yakING around the dog park ponds at Shelby farms.  Try not to go to far but exit 52 ish there are several ponds in the state park I have wet a line in.  Off the next 4 days and planned on going at least twice.  Monday is looking good

[CWest]

Plan on taking on going to check out Glenn springs when it warms up a little bit. Might yak out there or rent one of the little boats they have.