Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Small Pond; Big Fish: Keys to catching Bass In Residential Ponds


Nearly Everyone living here in the Tampa bay area has access to some type of small pond or lake. Many fisherman go right past them saying to themselves " oh no that pond is too small" or "It doesn't look fishy". Well I got news for you, the best bass I've caught have all been from ponds less than 3 acres. I caught a 6 lber in the 50000 gallon fountain pond in the front of my apartment complex. The fish was bedding with about a dozen others. The fish in the picture at the bottom was 10.5 lbs and came from a very skinny pond  running through my old apartment complex near USF that was about 3 acres total. The point is many small ponds don't see a lot of fishing pressure and if they do it is often by inexperienced anglers. This makes for great catching opportunities when you know what you are doing. It comes down to learning how the seasons, weather,water and solunar conditions play a role in the behavior of largemouth bass in small bodies of water. Here is the skinny on how to get on some bass in your neighborhood pond.

   First and foremost is selecting a pond. Unfortunately, all ponds are not created equal. Sometimes it is obvious that a pond is a good fishing spot and sometimes its not at all. Naturally formed ponds are almost always going to be the best areas and should be top on your list. This is mostly because of age. However, just because a pond is old and natural doesn't necessarily mean it will hold lots of fish. Still, established bodies of water that are more that 5 years old are usually the best places. What you are looking for is established populations of bluegill and or shiners/shad. If there are wild shiners you can almost guarantee there are good bass.

   The best tool for locating good ponds is Google Maps. A natural pond will have a natural shape and often good vegetation. Another good practice is to look through older apartment complexes/neighborhoods. These often have ponds that are 20+ years old that have established populations of fish. In the Tampa area there are lots of good ponds in the Tampa Palms area. Any retention areas that are along the edges of flooded swamp area are going to be good bets. Look for cypress stands next to the water, they are distinctly lighter in color than other typical scrub vegetation and makes them easily noticeable on a satellite image. USE GOOGLE MAPS TO YOUR ADVANTAGE!!! Go scout out ponds in your area. One of the most important things I have learned pond fishing is don't waste too much time on a single pond. The best technique is too have mutiple ponds you can hop around to. Don't get me worng, there are some times when you have to work for a bite. What I mean is that if you show up at a pond and you dont see any small fish or any activity at all dont sit there and cast and cast. Good ponds pretty much always show good signs of life upon close examination.

   These small ponds do not usually have huge populations of fish and more importantly the ideal feeding grounds for the fish are limited in area. Certain areas of the pond are going to be far better for feeding activity in terms of bottom structure/cover and deep water ambush/escape routes. However, these places are not always where the fish feel comfortable in terms water temperature and safety. Look for feeding areas off of points and in the back of coves. On top of that, look for hydrilla and eelgrass beds that are close to the points or back inside the coves. Grassy areas that are spotted with sandy holes are going to be prime areas to look for fish especially during the spring spawn. Predators like bass focus a lot on edges. This can mean the edge from deep to shallow water, edges of weedlines and grassbeds, or even something as simple as the edge of shadow being cast over the water. These edges create good places to ambush and camouflage. Perhaps the most ideal locations I regularly come across are hydrilla and eelgrass beds that are spotted with small sand holes and open passages through the weed cover. Bait fish like shiners and bluegill will often congregate in the small sandy holes and the bass will materialize seemingly out of nowhere and ambush. You need to look hard for these areas because they are UNDER the water and sometimes not easy to find. Next to your rod and reel THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECE OF TACKLE YOU CAN OWN IS A PAIR OF POLARIZED SUNGLASSES. This is something I cannot stress enough. If you don't have them you are walking right past most of the fish without seeing them and also walking past the best spots. If you are trying to catch fish in the spring you are completely wasting your time without glasses. Once you have got yourself some glasses and have located some promising spots within the pond, you need to know when is the best time to fish those spots. In my experience there really isn't such a thing as "ideal" conditions however some are better than others for catching.

     Timing depends alot on the seasons. However more important factors of timing happen on shorter time scales. One important thing that every angler should know about is the Solunar Phases. You can look up Solunar phases and get a detailed explanation. It boils down to this, every day there is a time when the moon and the sun are on opposite side of the earth or the same side, these are called "Major" periods and last for roughly 3 hours. When the sun and moon are at right angles to one another you have a "Minor" periods which occur during moon rise and moon set and last for about 2 hours. These times coincide with the times of the greatest tidal movements in Saltwater but they have an equally large effect on freshwater species as well. No matter what time of year Major periods are the best times to fish (all other conditions constant) and minor phase are a close second. The strongest major and minor phases happen on new and full moons.You can look up solunar calendars for your area on Google. These sun and moon phases are a type of clock for the fish to help them organize their behavior to be more successful as a species. Solunar effect is stronger as you work your way down the food chain. For example bluegills will all spawn right on the new and full moons that way they are all together at once making it hard for predators to take advantage of them. In my experience shiners seem to congregate on these days and then move into the shallow coves and spawn 2-3 days after the new or full moon. Big schools will be seen running about and can easily be caught with even a small cast net.

  Spawning activity in bass is perhaps the behavior most closely linked with these solunar phases. In the Tampa area the first major moon phase of February usually signals the start of bedding season if the winter is relatively mild. Almost always on the new and full moons of spring for about 3-4 days surrounding each major moon phase, there will be a huge rush to bedding areas. This movement is sudden and dramatic. Often you might not see any beds 3 days before the new or full moon, then the next day the bedding areas are LOADED with fish. Then a week or later they thin out again and fry are left behind with a male to guard them. This process repeats on every full and new moon from February until May, with a peak in late March. However, remember that the bass are at the top of food chain so it is not always so important to be on a new or full moon to find the bedding/feeding fish but it is a good habit to make.

  Solunar phases are usually very important to get big bass. However in the pond I caught the 10.5 lber there is a fish that is easily 12-13lbs and likely is the biggest fish in the pond. I have seen the fish dozens of times and she seems to be bedding whenever the heck she feels like it. The point is that although I am giving rules that should be followed to maximize your chance of success, some fish don't care about our stupid ideas about how they "should" behave so by all means do your own experimentation. I guarantee you will find somethings in your ponds that will contradict the "traditional" bass wisdom.

  Now solunar majors and minors are usually going to be your best times, however especially in the summer, one of two daily major periods falls in the middle of the raging hot day. In these conditions I would not count on big bass biting in these small ponds unless you have some heavy cover near deep water. When temperatures rise make it an early/late game. Solunar major phases as well as minor phases occur about 12.5 hours apart. Thus, if you have a Major periods from 11am to 2 pm you will have one again thatb same night from about 11:30pm to 3am. So when the thermometer is up fish when water temeperatures are going to be the coolest and if you fall on a major or minor phase, even better.

  Winter time can be a good time to get on pond bass. Look for days with pressure lower than 30 millibars just prior to frontal systems for some great action. The key to winter bass is to fish VERY SLOWLY with a dark colored worm. Sometimes lighter colors can be good too due to increased water clarity in the winter but if the bottom is dark I would fish with a dark colored bait.

  Now that we have discussed a little about when to fish, lets talk about these baits. Small pond bassin is not like big lake fishing. In my experience, leave the crankbaits at home, unless you know there is good submerged structure. In most residential ponds fish are going to be within 15 ft of the shoreline on the dropoff, so shoreline structure and small bottom features near the shore are what you are going to want to fish effectively. Another very important aspect of bait selection for small ponds is subtlety. Loud rattling and splashing baits are not usually going to be the best producers. The fish are not used to noisy environment and are usually easier to spook with loud sound. The best go to bait, hands down, is going to be a SENKO type worm texas or wacky rigged to be weedless in a dark color. This type of bait can still give good casting distance but yet still be subtle. If you have lots of lilly pads, frog and lizard baits can be deadly also. 80% of all the fish I have caught have been on a Texas rigged worm or jerkbait with a small 1/16oz or 1/8oz weight. Colors are pretty simple, junebug or dark purple are usually the biggest producers, however in the spring when fish are bedding more natural or highly visible bright colors can be more effective since the water is often at its clearest this time of year.

   However, if you are hardcore like me and you want the BIGGEST bass in the pond there is only one bait, GOLDEN SHINERS. Cast netting live bait is something I do often in my local ponds. When I walk up to the pond with my net other fisherman look at me like I am crazy. However, when they see the fat wild shiners that I pull in the ridicule turns immediately to envy. Shiners are found readily in many ponds from February to late November. Look for small ripples hitting the surface almost like raindrops to locate them. In the spring, late summer and fall they spawn and often you can just spot schools underwater with a pair of polarized glasses from the shore and get plenty. Live bait is a lot of work, I know, but trust me if you put in the effort it will pay off. I have a good pond near my apartment that I will net them in. If i don't catch anything there I will take about 2 dozen and put them in my cooler in the car and take them to some other ponds that are devoid of shiners and they get ATE UP!! If you throw a shiner into a bass bed you will 99.9% of the time get that fish to bite even if they turn their nose to everything else. Watching a 6lb bass inhale your shiner is truly amazing to watch and it is like clockwork. Another great thing about live bait is that it gives you an advantage over pretty much every other fisherman that hits the pond. In the ponds that are fished regularly by other anglers, this can be the key to really slaying the fish and have a 20+ fish day or getting that elusive 10+ lber.
 
To sum it up here is small break down for each season.

Spring- This is spawning season, if there is one time of year to hit the pond it is spring. Fish around new and full moons during major and minor solunar phases. Don't be afraid to fish in the middle of the day since the water temps are still down this time of year. Get a pair of polarized glasses and look for fish sitting on beds. This is the time of year you can sight fish bass effectively. Fish with a small creature bait or worms and throw it in the nest and just wiggle it or give it small twitches. Look for the fish to flare it's fins and point nose down to pick up the bait and be ready to set the hook fast when you see the bite. If you can get live shiners you will catch or hook pretty much every bedding bass you will find. If you are willing to work it will pay dividends and it is probably the most fun thing to do in bass fishing.

Summer- Fish early and late here. Best bite is usually at sunrise or during major solunar phases in the dead of night. Look for baitfish schooling and bass blowing them up. Summer and fall is when the fish will eat the most and be at their heaviest and are going to be keyed in on shad and shiners. A small weighted jerk bait can be deadly on schooling bass. Swim baits like the sebile stick shad soft and magic swimmer soft are my top baits for these schooling bass.
Fall- Fall is the peak of the baitfish season and is when you will see the most baitfish and the most aggressive schooling activity. In small ponds look for migratory birds like comarants/annhingas. Often they will make some of these ponds staging point for their migrations and if there are lots of fisheaters you know they are lots of small fish (probably shad and shiners). These fisheaters tend to congregate the bass and out compete them for food. Look for ponds with lots of fish eaters in the fall to produce bass. In general water temps are up in the fall so early and late is still a good way to go but DON'T FORGET THE SOLUNAR PHASES!
Winter- Winter is a hit and miss time for small pond bass. When temps drop the fish congregate in the deepest water in the pond usually. The most important thing in winter is to fish slow right on the bottom. Winter fishing is when the classic Texas rig worm succeeds the most or a shaky head rig. Definitely don't waste time in the winter. Winter days are boom or bust in small ponds, really nothing in-between. Warm days just prior to frontal systems are going to be the best days.

I hope this article will help you locate and pick apart some of your local ponds. Good luck out there guys!