Fishing Local Ponds
I live in the midwest and I have fished plenty of ponds and largemouth bass are very adaptable gamefish, they can be found in lakes, rivers, and ponds all across the United States. Largemouth bass doesn't need big water areas to grow to hawg size. Just about any body of water a few years old can produce some nice bass. While cover along the banks isn't necessary, cover in the water with plenty of forage is a must for bass. Even if there is alot of fishing pressure I have 3 techniques that I use to catch some big bass.
1. Early Morning Buzzin - Over the last 36yrs I've learned how speed can often trigger a strike, especially when the water warms up. Buzzbaits have always been great producers of big bass in ponds during hot weather, start throwing buzzbaits right at the crack of dawn up until the sunlight starts to penatrate the water, during this time throw the buzzbait past cover and along edges, the bass are often active and looking for thier breakfast. If the water is clear I will retrieve the buzzbait at a faster retrieve than dirty water, if it's dirty water with plenty of cover I'll slow down and put a plastic trailer to help the lure stay on top at slower speeds. I use a 3/8 to 1/2 ounce buzzbait.
2. Spinnerbaits along edges - In most of the ponds that I've fished over the years the bass are holding in a narrow band of weeds or algae running parallel to the bank. Cast your lure along this vegitation by casting from turns (points). Bass hide in this weed edge even if it's floating cover like lillypads, bass usually will not come up and strike a topwater lure during sunny days so I use a willowleaf blade spinnerbait because the flash of the willowleaf blade attracts bass and I can retrieve it slow enough to allow them to react, when I come to an opening in the vegitation I use short pauses to let the spinerbait flutter down into the openings. The willowleaf blade sheds weeds better than round style blades.
3. Frogs - When you have to get a lure in a 6 to 12 inch opening in thick cover surrounded by lure fouling weeds and vegitation my lure of choice is the frog, a weedless, hollow-bodied frog is great for working heavy vegitated surface cover to get the bass to strike. I've tried many lures over the years such as jig and pig, weedless soft baits but my favorite is the frog because it works best getting through the weeds. Cast the frog out and reel it back across the surface of the vegitation to an opening then stop and let it sit there for a few seconds and then give it a few twitches to try and get a surface strike, this really gets bass stirred up. If you don't get a bite there got to the next hole and repeat the same procedure. I use a natural looking frog because my belief is that a frog is a natural food of bass and if it looks like something they naturally eat than I'll have a better chance of a strike.
1. Early Morning Buzzin - Over the last 36yrs I've learned how speed can often trigger a strike, especially when the water warms up. Buzzbaits have always been great producers of big bass in ponds during hot weather, start throwing buzzbaits right at the crack of dawn up until the sunlight starts to penatrate the water, during this time throw the buzzbait past cover and along edges, the bass are often active and looking for thier breakfast. If the water is clear I will retrieve the buzzbait at a faster retrieve than dirty water, if it's dirty water with plenty of cover I'll slow down and put a plastic trailer to help the lure stay on top at slower speeds. I use a 3/8 to 1/2 ounce buzzbait.
2. Spinnerbaits along edges - In most of the ponds that I've fished over the years the bass are holding in a narrow band of weeds or algae running parallel to the bank. Cast your lure along this vegitation by casting from turns (points). Bass hide in this weed edge even if it's floating cover like lillypads, bass usually will not come up and strike a topwater lure during sunny days so I use a willowleaf blade spinnerbait because the flash of the willowleaf blade attracts bass and I can retrieve it slow enough to allow them to react, when I come to an opening in the vegitation I use short pauses to let the spinerbait flutter down into the openings. The willowleaf blade sheds weeds better than round style blades.
3. Frogs - When you have to get a lure in a 6 to 12 inch opening in thick cover surrounded by lure fouling weeds and vegitation my lure of choice is the frog, a weedless, hollow-bodied frog is great for working heavy vegitated surface cover to get the bass to strike. I've tried many lures over the years such as jig and pig, weedless soft baits but my favorite is the frog because it works best getting through the weeds. Cast the frog out and reel it back across the surface of the vegitation to an opening then stop and let it sit there for a few seconds and then give it a few twitches to try and get a surface strike, this really gets bass stirred up. If you don't get a bite there got to the next hole and repeat the same procedure. I use a natural looking frog because my belief is that a frog is a natural food of bass and if it looks like something they naturally eat than I'll have a better chance of a strike.
I got the biggest bass of my life from a farm pond in Pennsylvania on a buzzbait at dusk. As I was pulling the fish up on the bank my line broke but I was able to quickly reach down and grab the buzzbait before she slipped all the way back into the water.
ReplyDeleteI was probably around 11 or 12 years old at the time and I have since forgot how much it weighed. It was either 6 something or 7 something pounds. I don't remember if we threw it back or ate it.