To All My Memphis Pond Hoppers!

[Mr. Ranger]

I fished International Harvester in Lakeland over the weekend.  Lousy, lousy lousy.  Not a single bite, and the kids couldn't even get the bluegill to bite a worm on a bobber.   The water looks recently dyed blue, so I'm blaming that.

 

Has anyone ever had any luck there?

[MFBAB]

Ranger-I've only fished IH park one time, I caught around 20 in an hour right at daylight on a Buzzer but they were all under 1 lb- this was last summer, I haven't been back but I'd bet there are some better ones in there

Here are a few from the last week or so, these were all caught on a Redeye Shad, it was originally Sexy Shad but there's not a lot of paint left on it now.  These fish were caught at Grove, Johnson Rd, and Appling, 3 of the 4 pictured were b/w 5-6 lbs.  Also, they aren't on the banks yet, at least not where I've been fishing, and I've only hit a couple of good schools, it's mostly scattered bites here and there.  Surface temps are in the mid 50's pretty much everywhere you find stained water right now, but that will change with the warm temps this coming week. 

[roadwarrior]

Great job!

 

[Mr. Ranger]

Man, nice fish MFBAB.  I'll have to give IH another shot- but I'm seriously wondering if the blue water dye had something to do with it. I used a buzzbait, spinner, buzzplug, swam a grub and then tried a Texas rig.  Nearly 2 hours and not a single bite. 

 

Question-

Anybody use a Senko?  I've never fished with one, but keep hearing how good of a bait it is.

I'm a rookie when it comes to stick baits. 

[FishWitWiz]

Mr. Ranger, if I could go back in time about 3 years to when I started bass fishing.  I would ONLY buy Senkos.  Green Pumpkin.  Couple of ewg hooks for Texas rigs and a couple of Wacky hooks.

Roadwarrior's guide to start fishing with Senkos is golden advice.  You learn patience.  He is like a bass fishing Yoda... from Germantown.

 

 

[roadwarrior]

[MFBAB]

19 hours ago, Mr. Ranger said:

I'll have to give IH another shot- but I'm seriously wondering if the blue water dye had something to do with it. I used a buzzbait, spinner, buzzplug, swam a grub and then tried a Texas rig.  Nearly 2 hours and not a single bite. 

Question-

Anybody use a Senko? 

It may be a little early for the Buzzbait, I haven't broken mine out yet but then I've been stuck fishing mostly middle of the day lately too  

I think I remember that pond having really clear water, so the Senko and also the grub you mentioned should fish well there.  I would imagine that the water temp is a little behind the stained ponds I've been fishing too, so they are probably not super active there yet.  Try the Senko on the points with the retrieve as RW describes it, just keep it out off the bank a fair ways right now.  Also, you might consider a finesse topwater approach, something like a Floating Rapala.

That pond was flat loaded with the dinks when I hit it last Summer, I don't know if it was a recent stocking or what, but you should see some action with those finesse baits!

One nice thing about IH is that this is a true retention/farm pond design, meaning they built a dam and just let it hold water.  This is nice because you don't have to guess at where the structure is, if you see a point on the bank, that's what is underwater.  Most of the other park ponds are just holes dug out of the ground, so you are completely guessing about where the structure is, but trust me there is some there in a few of them if you take the time to find it!!

Seriously though, a lot of what I've been catching are fish out off the banks, and they are bleached out and pulling like a wet rag, which is a dead giveaway that they are still living in that deeper water full time. 

Good Luck and keep us updated! 

[BryanBrown]

Does anyone know of any places around the Memphis area to kayak fish other than Herb Parsons Lake? Thanks! 

[MFBAB]

Shelby Forest / Poplar Tree Lake and Piersol

Glenn Springs near Munford

Edmund Orgill in Millington

Navy Lake in Millington near Orgill

if you're in OB, check out Holly Springs Nat. Forest just down the road, there are many good ponds there

The "New" Patriot Lake will be opening soon at Shelby Farms also, but you can use a yak on Pine Lake there in the mean time

[JDJ]

Well, as you can imagine (or see for yourself), many of our local fishing spots are flooded by the historic rainfall received the past few days.  I stopped by Grove this morning, and water from the Wolf River was still flowing INTO the pond at a pretty good clip.  Hopefully, we'll gain more fish there than we'll lose.

[MemphisFF]

@BryanBrown look up Hatchie river refugee near whiteville once this water gets down there's several oxbows that would be excellent in there.. I fish there time to time walking the banks or when I borrow my buddies Jon boat..

[Mr. Ranger]

On 3/7/2016 at 0:23 PM, MFBAB said:

It may be a little early for the Buzzbait, I haven't broken mine out yet but then I've been stuck fishing mostly middle of the day lately too  

I think I remember that pond having really clear water, so the Senko and also the grub you mentioned should fish well there.  I would imagine that the water temp is a little behind the stained ponds I've been fishing too, so they are probably not super active there yet.  Try the Senko on the points with the retrieve as RW describes it, just keep it out off the bank a fair ways right now.  Also, you might consider a finesse topwater approach, something like a Floating Rapala.

That pond was flat loaded with the dinks when I hit it last Summer, I don't know if it was a recent stocking or what, but you should see some action with those finesse baits!

One nice thing about IH is that this is a true retention/farm pond design, meaning they built a dam and just let it hold water.  This is nice because you don't have to guess at where the structure is, if you see a point on the bank, that's what is underwater.  Most of the other park ponds are just holes dug out of the ground, so you are completely guessing about where the structure is, but trust me there is some there in a few of them if you take the time to find it!!

Seriously though, a lot of what I've been catching are fish out off the banks, and they are bleached out and pulling like a wet rag, which is a dead giveaway that they are still living in that deeper water full time. 

Good Luck and keep us updated! 

Great advice, MFBAB.  Like I said previously, I'm a rookie when it comes to stick baits and I'm just as rookie when it comes to finesse stuff.  The lakes in Missouri that I grew up fishing, all you needed was a crankbait and spinner bait.  Down here, the bass make you work for it.  Patience is hard.

I think I'll take a trip back to Missouri and go throw an Alabama rig and catch pigs all day...just for old times sake.

 

The Senko article will be a big help for me.  Thanks RoadWarrior. 

[MFBAB]

Don't get discouraged, there is some good fishing in these ponds.  I keep my trips short, about an hour at any given place...and it's not uncommon for me to have little runs where I might have 3-4 of those trips in a row where I get skunked, or don't catch anything meaningful, but then, I'm gonna hit a little good stretch and start catching a few nice ones, and it all evens out.  KVD just caught 2 or 3 keepers in 2 days in the classic...think about that!  The best tourney fisherman in history just basically got skunked for 16 hours, when some guys were catching 20 lb sacks, Evers caught 30 on the last day.  If you look at the bottom of the leaderboards on the BASS tourneys, there are a few guys getting skunked everywhere they go, it's just part of fishing.  If I look at my 1 hour trips, I'll fish 8 separate places in that typical "tourney day" time period. So what if 4 of them are blanks, as long as I catch a few on the other 4 trips I'd still have a decent "best 5" fish over the 8 hours! 

If you want to throw the Spinnerbaits and Cranks, your best bet is going to be fishing in the ponds with some stained water.  Look at the water color in Grove, that is what you want for those baits.  Nashoba and Halle are going to be clearer, so a lot of times finesse will serve you better in that environment. Just think of that as a starting point, you want to try and work the odds in your favor as much as you can   Always look at the water color first wherever you are fishing, that will put you on the right path. 

Now, without going into seasonal patterns or exceptional situations like current or crazy weather, the other big factors that will invite the reaction baits are some wind, and some low light conditions, whether that be from darkness or cloud cover.  In other words, even with the stained water, if you're fishing a bright day with no wind at Grove, you will likely wind up downsizing baits and slowing down.  The trick is in knowing where to soak those baits, which brings us to....

A great way to start learning the ponds is to take a couple of crankbaits that you know the running depth for.  Start with a Squarebill that will run about 4' deep, and maybe a Bandit 200 that will run around 8' deep...then you just make a lap all the way around a pond.  Don't use a lipless or a sinking bait like a Spinnerbait for this, you want a bait with a consistent running depth.  You can take the hooks off of it if you are afraid of losing the bait.  All you are doing here is mapping out the bottom, and this is the fastest way I know how to do it from the bank.  The crankbaits will tell you where the drop-offs are, they will tell you where there is grass, where there are rocks, where the bottom is firm or soft, etc.  If you start at a new pond and run around it like that a time or two, you will be well ahead of the curve and you will learn things that you can use to your advantage in the future there.  You can eliminate some ponds, and you can also find others that suit your strengths once you know something about the contours or the lack thereof! 

Lastly, if you don't keep a fishing journal, I strongly advise you to start.  Especially when you are learning new water.  If you start keeping detailed notes, it gives you something to refer back to periodically so you don't forget what you have already worked hard to learn, and also, maybe even more importantly, keeping a journal will start to make you run down a mental checklist during your trips, and after a while you will be thinking through the current conditions and making faster adjustments in real time.  Take about 5 minutes and make some notes each time you go, and make yourself a little checklist so you are keeping consistent notes.  I use a homemade spreadsheet but there are some pre-made examples you can find with Google.     

Get a thermometer and log the surface temp in your journal each time you go.  This is so simple, but nobody does it while bank fishing.  Think about it, if you know the water temp and what lures worked or didn't, especially in a transitional period like right now-winter to pre-spawn to spawn to post-spawn, you can use that info for the rest of your life!

Start fishing as many ponds as you can find, don't get stuck in a rut at one place.  If you can go fishing 2 days a week for 2-3 hours per trip, you can loop 2 ponds per trip (1 hour each-you will concentrate harder if you keep it short) and you will start increasing your options pretty quickly.  If you start hitting 2-4 new ponds per week you'll have covered most of what is available nearby in a short time, then you can start to fine tune.  You'll find some you like and some you don't, but you should learn something at every new one you go to.  Forcing yourself to deal with a lot of "new water" fishing situations is the fastest way to get good at breaking down "new water" situations, it will keep you thinking about the conditions instead of falling into a rut.

I can go to Grove 10x in a row and fish an hour per trip, and expect to catch something like 4-6 bass over 4 lbs during that period by doing the same things that have worked for me in the past (fishing history),

-or-

I can fish 10 different ponds for an hour each and face different situations each time, and maybe only catch 2-4 over 4 lbs out of the lot, but I'll have found 2-4 new places to fish that I now know have decent bass in them, and I definitely learned something about reading new water and reacting to conditions in the process.  And I probably eliminated a couple of other ponds off of my list too, so I don't have to wonder about them any longer.  

This might sound like a lot, but it really isn't hard to do any of this stuff.  If you do all of this, you'll still get skunked some of the time....but I bet you'll start getting more consistent too. 

I'm handing out some pearls here guys, I hope some of y'all are listening  

 

 

[BrushHog1906]

What's going on everyone! I'm new here to the area and this forum. You guys have posted some valuable info!

 

Yesterday I went and scoped out Chickfila Pond/Neshoba Park. It didn't look bad at all, just didn't see much vegetation to throw near. Any tips for this pond?

Has anyone been out on the water lately? I'm planning to check out some more of the places you all suggested soon.

Any places new? Or recent catches at the old ones?

[Mr. Ranger]

On 3/16/2016 at 4:43 PM, MFBAB said:

Don't get discouraged, there is some good fishing in these ponds.  I keep my trips short, about an hour at any given place...and it's not uncommon for me to have little runs where I might have 3-4 of those trips in a row where I get skunked, or don't catch anything meaningful, but then, I'm gonna hit a little good stretch and start catching a few nice ones, and it all evens out.  KVD just caught 2 or 3 keepers in 2 days in the classic...think about that!  The best tourney fisherman in history just basically got skunked for 16 hours, when some guys were catching 20 lb sacks, Evers caught 30 on the last day.  If you look at the bottom of the leaderboards on the BASS tourneys, there are a few guys getting skunked everywhere they go, it's just part of fishing.  If I look at my 1 hour trips, I'll fish 8 separate places in that typical "tourney day" time period. So what if 4 of them are blanks, as long as I catch a few on the other 4 trips I'd still have a decent "best 5" fish over the 8 hours! 

If you want to throw the Spinnerbaits and Cranks, your best bet is going to be fishing in the ponds with some stained water.  Look at the water color in Grove, that is what you want for those baits.  Nashoba and Halle are going to be clearer, so a lot of times finesse will serve you better in that environment. Just think of that as a starting point, you want to try and work the odds in your favor as much as you can   Always look at the water color first wherever you are fishing, that will put you on the right path. 

Now, without going into seasonal patterns or exceptional situations like current or crazy weather, the other big factors that will invite the reaction baits are some wind, and some low light conditions, whether that be from darkness or cloud cover.  In other words, even with the stained water, if you're fishing a bright day with no wind at Grove, you will likely wind up downsizing baits and slowing down.  The trick is in knowing where to soak those baits, which brings us to....

A great way to start learning the ponds is to take a couple of crankbaits that you know the running depth for.  Start with a Squarebill that will run about 4' deep, and maybe a Bandit 200 that will run around 8' deep...then you just make a lap all the way around a pond.  Don't use a lipless or a sinking bait like a Spinnerbait for this, you want a bait with a consistent running depth.  You can take the hooks off of it if you are afraid of losing the bait.  All you are doing here is mapping out the bottom, and this is the fastest way I know how to do it from the bank.  The crankbaits will tell you where the drop-offs are, they will tell you where there is grass, where there are rocks, where the bottom is firm or soft, etc.  If you start at a new pond and run around it like that a time or two, you will be well ahead of the curve and you will learn things that you can use to your advantage in the future there.  You can eliminate some ponds, and you can also find others that suit your strengths once you know something about the contours or the lack thereof! 

Lastly, if you don't keep a fishing journal, I strongly advise you to start.  Especially when you are learning new water.  If you start keeping detailed notes, it gives you something to refer back to periodically so you don't forget what you have already worked hard to learn, and also, maybe even more importantly, keeping a journal will start to make you run down a mental checklist during your trips, and after a while you will be thinking through the current conditions and making faster adjustments in real time.  Take about 5 minutes and make some notes each time you go, and make yourself a little checklist so you are keeping consistent notes.  I use a homemade spreadsheet but there are some pre-made examples you can find with Google.     

Get a thermometer and log the surface temp in your journal each time you go.  This is so simple, but nobody does it while bank fishing.  Think about it, if you know the water temp and what lures worked or didn't, especially in a transitional period like right now-winter to pre-spawn to spawn to post-spawn, you can use that info for the rest of your life!

Start fishing as many ponds as you can find, don't get stuck in a rut at one place.  If you can go fishing 2 days a week for 2-3 hours per trip, you can loop 2 ponds per trip (1 hour each-you will concentrate harder if you keep it short) and you will start increasing your options pretty quickly.  If you start hitting 2-4 new ponds per week you'll have covered most of what is available nearby in a short time, then you can start to fine tune.  You'll find some you like and some you don't, but you should learn something at every new one you go to.  Forcing yourself to deal with a lot of "new water" fishing situations is the fastest way to get good at breaking down "new water" situations, it will keep you thinking about the conditions instead of falling into a rut.

I can go to Grove 10x in a row and fish an hour per trip, and expect to catch something like 4-6 bass over 4 lbs during that period by doing the same things that have worked for me in the past (fishing history),

-or-

I can fish 10 different ponds for an hour each and face different situations each time, and maybe only catch 2-4 over 4 lbs out of the lot, but I'll have found 2-4 new places to fish that I now know have decent bass in them, and I definitely learned something about reading new water and reacting to conditions in the process.  And I probably eliminated a couple of other ponds off of my list too, so I don't have to wonder about them any longer.  

This might sound like a lot, but it really isn't hard to do any of this stuff.  If you do all of this, you'll still get skunked some of the time....but I bet you'll start getting more consistent too. 

I'm handing out some pearls here guys, I hope some of y'all are listening  

MFBAB- Truly helpful stuff here.  I wish I could get out as often as that to do some scouting.  The journal is a good idea- I'll start that on my next trip.  I'm also shopping for a decent spinning reel to use with a Senko- I've got an ultralite that I use for Trout and then a bunch of baitcasters.  Again, thanks to RoadWarrior for that article. 

There's a wealth of knowledge on this message board.  I appreciate all the help.

 

[EllisJuan]

I am new to the area, is the Chick Fil-A pond the one behind the the CFA next to the Germantown Rehab Hospital?  If so, I stopped by there earlier this week and the water was so light and silty there was about 8 inches of visibility.  Is that normal?

[JDJ]

No. There was record rainfall in the area recently and the Wolf River flooded the pond - and most other ponds near the river.

[UFpwrLifter]

Hey all, I just spent hours reading this thread from pg1. Moved to Bartlett from south Florida (born/raised) in July 2014. Spent most of my days fishing offshore, but when it was storming, I'd fish inshore (very similar to bass fishing) and if too windy, freshwater. Fishing is a part of my DNA (and I remain the southeast moderator for the Florida sportsman forum to keep current on reports and Intel for when I visit 2-3 times a year). I've fished both fresh and saltwater tournaments and very much want to get back to where it all started, freshwater.

Such a great thread, thank you all for contributing. All I needed to know was that there ARE LMB in the area, now I can try without losing hope that there are none. I will be contributing here soon, just ordered a lot of new gear.

Looking forward to more reports and contributing myself. Even if you guys are out and get skunked, it's good for the rest of us to know as it could increase our chances of actually "catching" (vs "fishing" and getting skunked).

Long

[Mr. Ranger]

Just thought I'd pass along a good deal-

 

Academy Sports is offering a free spinning rod and reel combo (H2O brand, retails for $69.99) if you buy any line for $14.99 or more. 

I bought mine yesterday, and the reel is decent but the rod is pretty nice.  Definitely worth it, and I got it all for the price of the line to spool it.

 

 

 

[00 mod]

46 minutes ago, Mr. Ranger said:

Just thought I'd pass along a good deal-

 

Academy Sports is offering a free spinning rod and reel combo (H2O brand, retails for $69.99) if you buy any line for $14.99 or more. 

I bought mine yesterday, and the reel is decent but the rod is pretty nice.  Definitely worth it, and I got it all for the price of the line to spool it.

 

 

 

Do you get to choose the rod action?  Like you can specify a panfish rod?

Jeff

[00 mod]

Posting here from the store now. Sold out.....

Jeff

[Mr. Ranger]

12 hours ago, 00 mod said:

Posting here from the store now. Sold out.....

Jeff

Oh man, I'm sorry. 

In futility, i'll answer your first question; you don't get to choose anything about the rod- it was a grab and go type of deal. 

[BrushHog1906]

Was this at the Academy Sports in Cordova or Collierville??

Sweet deal!

 

 

[00 mod]

I went to the one in Collierville.

Jeff

[Mr. Ranger]

I got mine at the Cordova location.  I'd call up there and ask if they still have any though.