When Do You Guys Switch?

[Missouribassman95]

I don't know if this has been brought up before, but for people who fish ponds from shore, how long do you fish with a lure before you switch up?

[Marty]

This is just my way, not necessarily the right way. Unless the pond has specific good spots known to me, I cover a lot of water without spending much time in a given spot. I'll walk around the pond with one lure, then again with another lure until and if I've found something to make me do otherwise. Usually one trip is with a topwater and the other either a soft plastic or a horizontal lure like a crankbait or spinnerbait. I tend to not stay in one spot and change lures unless I have good reason to believe that the spot has a high probability of holding fish.

[buzzfrog]

the places i camp always has a bass pond. so i take about 6 rods, take 2 and fish all around, if they dont work wall, go back to the camper, take a break lol, and then take somthing differant

[ClackerBuzz]

it takes me 5 min to fan cast a spot...then i move 20 ft up water and repeat. i always start with a noise/vibration bait= chatterbait in white/chartreuse. if noone hits it after 2 spots i change to a darker colors--green pumpkin or black/blue. if no takers i move up water and change to less noise/vibration=spinnerbait or lipless rattletrap ( try color change up's). if no takers i switch to no noise=jig (i swim the jig first to see if a reaction bite is on--if not i change to traditional craw/hop on bottom. if the bite is tuff i slow down to finesse tactics aka soft plastics.

i move hike, move and hunt fish until i find the section of water where they are holding that day. good luck!

[bjmac]

Depends on the depth, vegetation, and size of the pond. If it's your standard "bowl" pond, and you could cast roughly halfway across it, you could overly work a lure in twenty minutes. I break ponds down to cover, and open water (usually the middle). Crank or spin the open water to search for strikes. If none, worm or jig the edge vegetation. Key in on lily pads... Top lure over first, crank the edges, then work your way in with a worm/jig.

Switch the bait when you question whether it wil work or not.

[Mountain Angler]

I don't know if this has been brought up before, but for people who fish ponds from shore, how long do you fish with a lure before you switch up?

Ill cast in any pond for 10-15 mintues, thats for nothing that strikes the bait. Now if I have hits on the lures Ill work around the whole pond and cast for 20-30 minutes if not Ill change bait. Keep mine I use 3 pole with differnet types of baits or lures. Also if there is a bunch of vegetation i go with the floating frog lures or something that wont get hung up or get alge while in the water. I fish in ponds around lilly pands because the bass hang in there and wait to strike so top baits work real well there. Remeber the fish in different ponds will have the perfernce on lures so thats a hellpful hint if you fish multiple ponds.

[tugsandpulls]

ill try one lure depending on time of year all around the pond no strikes ill change lures try that if no strike ill change up ans so on till i find what they want then ill fish that till they stop striking

[POPRG]

One of my favorite bass haunts is a walk in access pond. iv'e fished it long enough to know what lures to present at certain times of year,and at certain structures.

its a small few acre pond that has some nice varied structure..fallen timber/submerged stumps,heavy mats in the summer,a nice deep point..i like to change up whenever i move around from spot to spot.

maybe a t-rig worm in the weeds,a horny toad across the mats,and pitch a jig on the timber/stumps,popper @ dusk..

or you could just do what 99% of the local anglers do and bring one rod and a pack of 5" senkos and fish anywhere and do just fine!!!

[SirSnookalot]

80% of my bass fishing is in my community ponds. Ponds like mine are totally different than rivers, lakes and canals, there is no structure at all. Some years the vegetation is heavy and sometimes it's very sparse like now. IMO this is bass fishing in it's most simplest and easiest form, just about anything and everything will work if the bass are "on". The last thing I do is overthink pond fishing, it doesn't take a great fisherman, it takes a great pond, I know that cause I'm a lousy fisherman and I catch tons of fish, lol.

I catch the majority of my bass in the corners or alcoves, baits are selected just on what I feel like throwing that day and if the vegetation is light or heavy. One rod, 1 lure with a second in my pocket for a backup in case I lose the one I'm fishing with. I mix it up, different lure or technique every day and different pond, not unusual for 1 pond to be hot and another cold. One of my neighbors caught an 11 pounder last week, I saw the pic. Biggest pond bass I ever saw, my biggest is only about 8#.

[Missouribassman95]

Depends on the depth, vegetation, and size of the pond. If it's your standard "bowl" pond, and you could cast roughly halfway across it, you could overly work a lure in twenty minutes. I break ponds down to cover, and open water (usually the middle). Crank or spin the open water to search for strikes. If none, worm or jig the edge vegetation. Key in on lily pads... Top lure over first, crank the edges, then work your way in with a worm/jig.

Switch the bait when you question whether it wil work or not.

Well the pond I fish is roughly 5 acres with three arms, and is surrounded by a forest. So it's difficult to get all around the pond, so I mainly end up fishing one cove at a time, and since there's alot of fallen trees in the coves I end up going for a jig, but if I'm not getting bit by 10 or 15 minuets I'm confused if I should swith maybe to a reaction bait or just fish keep fishing the jig till I've fished the cove completely.

[buzzfrog]

One of my favorite bass haunts is a walk in access pond. iv'e fished it long enough to know what lures to present at certain times of year,and at certain structures.

its a small few acre pond that has some nice varied structure..fallen timber/submerged stumps,heavy mats in the summer,a nice deep point..i like to change up whenever i move around from spot to spot.

maybe a t-rig worm in the weeds,a horny toad across the mats,and pitch a jig on the timber/stumps,popper @ dusk..

or you could just do what 99% of the local anglers do and bring one rod and a pack of 5" senkos and fish anywhere and do just fine!!!

the last statment is so true, if i can get nothing, i get a green pumpkin/pumkin/june bug senko or dinger, never fails

[Fish Chris]

Probably a lot longer than most. I believe that most people put waaay too much emphasis on the lure they are throwing, instead of the time, place, and presentation < all usually far more important than the exact lure... and especially more important than the color of said lure.

I can, and often do fish all freaking day with one lure, never get a touch, and not once do I start to worry I'm throwing the wrong lure. I know what works when the fish are on. If they are not on, the lure choice most likely won't make a difference anyway.

I think some guys spend 4 hours, of 8 hours on the water, changing lures.... and sometimes, they would have had twice the chance by just using the same lure for 8 straight hours.

Fish

or you could just do what 99% of the local anglers do and bring one rod and a pack of 5" senkos and fish anywhere and do just fine!!!

Ehhh..... If you fish like 99% of the people out there, you will likely catch the kind of fish that 99% of the anglers catch. If that's enough for you, then by all means.....

Personally speaking, if 99% of the anglers are doing it one way, that is the best reason in the entire fishing world, for me to do it differently.

[tholmes]

Probably a lot longer than most. I believe that most people put waaay too much emphasis on the lure they are throwing, instead of the time, place, and presentation < all usually far more important than the exact lure... and especially more important than the color of said lure.

I can, and often do fish all freaking day with one lure, never get a touch, and not once do I start to worry I'm throwing the wrong lure. I know what works when the fish are on. If they are not on, the lure choice most likely won't make a difference anyway.

I think some guys spend 4 hours, of 8 hours on the water, changing lures.... and sometimes, they would have had twice the chance by just using the same lure for 8 straight hours.

Fish

....

.

^ 1000% agree.

Tom

[Nitrofreak]

Probably a lot longer than most. I believe that most people put waaay too much emphasis on the lure they are throwing, instead of the time, place, and presentation < all usually far more important than the exact lure... and especially more important than the color of said lure.

I can, and often do fish all freaking day with one lure, never get a touch, and not once do I start to worry I'm throwing the wrong lure. I know what works when the fish are on. If they are not on, the lure choice most likely won't make a difference anyway.

I think some guys spend 4 hours, of 8 hours on the water, changing lures.... and sometimes, they would have had twice the chance by just using the same lure for 8 straight hours.

Nice !!!

I generally do not fish one lure for an eight hour period of time, nor would I fish 4 hours and change baits for the next 4 hrs either lol.

There is a lot of truth to this post, what I normally do when going to a pond, especially one I am not familure with, is I take 3 rods, one with a Rage Craw jig, one with a Carolina rigged lizard, and one with a Texas rigged worm, all rigged with natural colors, find the best spot I think will yeild a fish and fish each one for about an hour, then move to the next best spot and try again.

If I don't catch anything, I go back to the camper and have a Budweiser or two or three...

[JustinRichter]

I fish ponds a lot. I usually stick with a bait for most of the day. but if i am feeling antsy or i just dont have a good feeling i throw it out a few more times and switch up. I always try to switch up my retrieve before i switch up baits.

[Geomendo]

My tackle box still has some empty spots so my options are limited but I change up about every 30 min of no action. I've read this is a good amount of time but I think once I get more lures to try out i might go with 15 min or less.

[Fish Chris]

One more thing I should add.....

If I do switch baits, it's not likely to be some tiny little change, like from blue to purple, or from 3" to 4".....

But the most common switch for me, would be to pull up to a spot, fan cast it with an 8" swimbait on heavy gear, and 50# braid.... then, to turn around, pick up my micro-light, and live line a crawler Now this is different enough, that it stands a pretty good chance of making something good happen

Peace,

Fish