Pondboy46 Posted March 22, 2012 Posted March 22, 2012 So Ive been fishing in two ponds by my house for a few weeks for bass. One pond I fished for eight hours and only got one bass. The other pond I fished for 15 minutes and got two bass right away. Ive fished at the first pond for a few years buy started on the new one today. Also in the second pond there are bass everywhere and in the first one all you see is bluegill. They are both stocked with the same amount of fish at the same time too. I dont know whats going on please help. Quote
jiggerpole Posted March 23, 2012 Posted March 23, 2012 If you want to know more about your pond then you came to the right place. This site has a ton of info in the articles section. I would spend some time reading them and specifically the lake/pond management section. Pond Boss is another great place to get info. Southeastern Pond is just starting to put together a video segment of pond management related items. Youtube links. It should be interesting. These people are good friends of mine and I have learned a great deal from them. Read Read Read. Then go fish!!!!! Then go fish again!!!! Quote
Daniel My Brother Posted March 23, 2012 Posted March 23, 2012 How big are the ponds? I can't imagine fishing a single pond for 8 hours. Last Sunday we fished 9 ponds on two different farms in about 5 hours. The biggest was about 8 acres, the smallest you could cast across the widest point. We always got bit in the first 5 minutes, but when the bite turned off, it was off. On the smaller ponds the window was only a few minutes. Whatever the reason, when the fish wised up, we moved on. Quote
Floridalargemouth Posted March 23, 2012 Posted March 23, 2012 If you didn't even see bass in the second one and caught fish in the first one, I would just stick to the first one. Even though I guide on Florida's large natural lakes, I love fishing smaller bodies of untouched water. Over time, I've learned that some ponds just aren't productive, especially compared to others, and so I usually avoid them. If you were determined to catch fish at the second pond, I would throw anything that mimics a bluegill - if that's all you saw there, the bass in the pond must prey on them to some degree, and that gives you a place to start. Alternatively, catching bluegill is pretty fun in it's own right, and here in Florida, we can even use them as live bait. Best of luck, Capt. Dalton 1 Quote
Pondboy46 Posted March 24, 2012 Author Posted March 24, 2012 How big are the ponds? I can't imagine fishing a single pond for 8 hours. Last Sunday we fished 9 ponds on two different farms in about 5 hours. The biggest was about 8 acres, the smallest you could cast across the widest point. We always got bit in the first 5 minutes, but when the bite turned off, it was off. On the smaller ponds the window was only a few minutes. Whatever the reason, when the fish wised up, we moved on. The ponds are about an acre and yes I did fish the one for 8 hours. I packed a couple of sandwiches and a bottle of water and was there from 10AM to 6PM. Only caught one bass the whole time and I caught too many bluegill. Quote
Pondboy46 Posted March 24, 2012 Author Posted March 24, 2012 If you didn't even see bass in the second one and caught fish in the first one, I would just stick to the first one. Even though I guide on Florida's large natural lakes, I love fishing smaller bodies of untouched water. Over time, I've learned that some ponds just aren't productive, especially compared to others, and so I usually avoid them. If you were determined to catch fish at the second pond, I would throw anything that mimics a bluegill - if that's all you saw there, the bass in the pond must prey on them to some degree, and that gives you a place to start. Alternatively, catching bluegill is pretty fun in it's own right, and here in Florida, we can even use them as live bait. Best of luck, Capt. Dalton Me and a friend tried the neighborhood beach on the lake. We saw some bass swimming through and a monster was with them. We got him on a little jig that I jerked around a bit and he hit it hard. Yes I think we will stick to the lake and the pond with lots of bass. Quote
jessejames11 Posted August 19, 2012 Posted August 19, 2012 Having a problem with my pond....Its about 1 acre and is a tear drop shape. The deepest area is in the wide part of the drop at 12 feet. It gets more shallow as you head for the tip of the tear drop.We treat it for weeds and stock it once every few years. I also have about 5 pieces of structure dropped in at different areas. two aerorators are present as well. one side of the pond has nothing on the shoreline but cut grass while the other side borders a woodline with pine trees and a few others, along with some bushes, all close to the water. Starting this spring, we have stocked 20 lbs. of minnows in spring and fall. We have largemouth, bluegill, channel cats, and a few carp. We had some hybrid striper but I have removed what I have caught lately since their diets can hurt the largemouth. There may still be one left. My problem is that the bass I've been catching are just too small. Yesterday I caught one that had the larger head and mouth yet had a body that appeared to not even match, as it was skinny and smaller. Anyone have any advice? My father treats the pond to the point that there is not vegetation and just the mud bottom. I compensate by putting in pallet and tree structures, but is it enough? Or does the skinny fish even have anything at all to do with the vegetation? Quote
Surveyor Posted August 19, 2012 Posted August 19, 2012 jessejames11 A 1 ac pond is very easy to become unbalanced in bass/bluegill ratios. If you are catching a lot of small bass and a few large but not many small bluegill I would guess the pond is out of balance. As far as stocking every few years you are probably just feeding the larger fish. I would suggest having a biologist take samples of the population and get his advice. If you only practice catch and release I can almost guarantee the pond is overpopulated with bass. The vegetation may or may not be a problem depending on how it is controlled. The money you spend on a biologist wil be well worth it. Quote
jessejames11 Posted August 19, 2012 Posted August 19, 2012 Surveyor I may end up hiring someone. I think I should do a little selective harvesting. Im sure the largemouth population has a lot to do with it. I also feel that our pond is not exactly forage friendly. I think that when we stock the minnows, they have very little structure to hide behind...So the bass have a feast for a few days and eat the entire population of minnows before they can reproduce. Quote
ClackerBuzz Posted August 20, 2012 Posted August 20, 2012 are you 'sitting in a lawn chair' fishing? cast and move cast and move. hunt the fish. every cast on fresh/new water yields the potential for the biggest bass in the area. then why not keep casting and moving. once you've fan cast and area move down water. if you move 3 times and don't catch anything on that lure..change it. i don't care what 3 lures you give me...i could get one to work just by relocating to fresh water. i hike/fish and will catch 3 fish up water...pass a guy sitting in a chair...and catch 3 more below him. he just scratches his head and asks what magic lure i'm using. good luck and give us an update Quote
jessejames11 Posted August 20, 2012 Posted August 20, 2012 Im definitely a hiking fisherman...if anything I move too much. Quote
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