Pond Fishing Tips

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Pond Fishing Tips

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What are you fishing for?

fish nascar's pond

Get and use polarized glasses. Fish into the sun as you circle the pond. Walk softly and move quietly. fan cast starting with a long parrallel cast to the bank and then a cast every 15-20 degrees out from there to 90 degrees and then every 30-40 degrees back to 180 and parrallel to the bank. Advance 3/4 the distance of your first cast and repeat the process. Make sure to "finish the cast" working the bait all the way back to your feet.

Use small sized baits. Start with a motion bait (topwater, spinnerbait, jerkbait, softplastic stick bait, or shallow crank) Make the baits hit and dodge structure then pause and fall slightly when possible. Pay special attention to shade on the surface if there is little in water structure.

Remember on ponds, fish are limited to a small food source which includes a much larger portion of terrestial food sources than fish in large impoundments or the ocean. There is less focus on baitfish as a source of food. The bass can not pick up and move in search of food. Things falling into the water that move are always considered food and hits often come on the inital drop.

If after a full pass around the pond if you have had limited intrest in your bait, slow down your presentation. Switch to a soft plastic. Either a carolina, texas rigged, wieghtless, or wacky presentation with a natural colored worm. You can still use the same soft plastic stick bait jsut worked MUCH slower. Repeat the same pattern.

If this fails go to a bottom only bait and work it with short hops and long pauses trying to map the bottom of the pond in your head.

Pay special attention to bait depth, location, and presentation speed and pattern when you do get a bite.

For clear or greenish water I like white, silver, chartruese, yellow, and sometimes blue. Stay away from strong vibrations and loud baits. Single willow spinnerbaits here. Usually straight tail or single curl tail worms only.

For dark tannic stained water (usually in ponds around pine or cypress trees) gold, red, orange, and dark brown seem to be great colors. I like hammered spinner blades here too.

For night time fishing go with dark colors blacks and purples and strong vibrations with double colorado blades, rattle traps, topwaters with props, or frogs, large ringshaft ribbon tailed worms or creature baits.

Favorite pond baits for largemouth:

H&H spinner baits
white single willow silver blade
black and yellow double colorado
orange and brown double hammered colorado

Humdinger spinners
white and yellow with willow/colorado silver
red with double willow gold


Rapala spitting image topwater in silver black

Zara pup for spook in frog or white

Hula pooper in frog with yellow skirt

Scum frog/rat

Torpedo mid size in silver/black

Wave worm tiki sticks rigged texposed in green pumpkin or laminated shad

6-8" ribbon tail worms fire and ice, junebug, or red shad

4-6"curl tail worms in purple, junebug, purple firetail

Trick worms in bubble gum or methyolate wacky rigged

Norman Tiny N shallow and deep divers in white/yellow, rootbeer

Rattle traps in black (nighttime)

Rapala floating minnow 4" in silver black or gold black

Crickets, red and white cork, small hooks and a few split shot weights and you are good to go. Well, get a tub of worms too just in case.