Neighborhood Ponds
Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 10:02 pm
It's been a long time since I've posted a report, and a first for Freshwater. I haven’t done much fishing the past couple years, work and kids and all. We moved recently and now we have a few small ponds close by. Before that, you could count the number of times I had been bass fishing on one hand. There's some learning to do.
The first night we moved in, I took the kids to the nearest pond and they each caught nice little bass within minutes. They were stoked. This should be easy I thought. Right?
Wrong.
Winter through spring it was the occasional small bass with a bluegill here and there. We tried different worms, different rigs, frogs, Spooks, jigs and crank baits. As spring turned to summer the action really slowed down. I would go days, a couple weeks at one point, without so much as a bite.
I started theorizing that the easiest places to fish are just that, so everybody fishes there and the fish are wise.
My first decent bass came after I bushwacked my way around the side of the pond. This guy (gal?) hammered my Spook Jr.
A few more weeks rolled by. My son caught bass here and there, but I was having no luck. So this week I finally got off my ass and redneck rigged my bike to haul the canoe to some of the more remote ponds.
Last night was the first bike/canoe trip and we did well. Not huge fish, but multiple bites and we landed three. For as hot as it's been I was surprised to find this much action. I was feeling pretty smart with my remote pond theory.
So tonight I walked to the pond at the end of the road, the one where the neighborhood kids roll up in trucks and four-wheelers to fish everyday. Never caught a thing there myself, but I thought I’d throw a worm for a few minutes anyway. Right away I was getting hits just like last night. Lost one fish from pulling too soon. A couple more hits. Then I got this sucker on the slow take. Pulled like hell for a bass. Note the light color.
There goes my theory.
The first night we moved in, I took the kids to the nearest pond and they each caught nice little bass within minutes. They were stoked. This should be easy I thought. Right?
Wrong.
Winter through spring it was the occasional small bass with a bluegill here and there. We tried different worms, different rigs, frogs, Spooks, jigs and crank baits. As spring turned to summer the action really slowed down. I would go days, a couple weeks at one point, without so much as a bite.
I started theorizing that the easiest places to fish are just that, so everybody fishes there and the fish are wise.
My first decent bass came after I bushwacked my way around the side of the pond. This guy (gal?) hammered my Spook Jr.
A few more weeks rolled by. My son caught bass here and there, but I was having no luck. So this week I finally got off my ass and redneck rigged my bike to haul the canoe to some of the more remote ponds.
Last night was the first bike/canoe trip and we did well. Not huge fish, but multiple bites and we landed three. For as hot as it's been I was surprised to find this much action. I was feeling pretty smart with my remote pond theory.
So tonight I walked to the pond at the end of the road, the one where the neighborhood kids roll up in trucks and four-wheelers to fish everyday. Never caught a thing there myself, but I thought I’d throw a worm for a few minutes anyway. Right away I was getting hits just like last night. Lost one fish from pulling too soon. A couple more hits. Then I got this sucker on the slow take. Pulled like hell for a bass. Note the light color.
There goes my theory.
