131 replies to this topic

[Rolltide09]

What are yalls thoughts on managed private lakes and ponds when it comes to bass fishing? I have been fortunate to have access to multiple professsionally managed lakes and have a hard time going back to the public honey holes. Downsides are that friends dish out a lot of heat that its not fair fishing and is cheating. Would you mount a bass that you caught from a managed lake? What are yalls view on the subject matter?

[outdoorsman110]

What are yalls thoughts on managed private lakes and ponds when it comes to bass fishing? I have been fortunate to have access to multiple professsionally managed lakes and have a hard time going back to the public honey holes. Downsides are that friends dish out a lot of heat that its not fair fishing and is cheating. Would you mount a bass that you caught from a managed lake? What are yalls view on the subject matter?

Bass fishing is bass fishing right? And bass fishing is fun right? I love fishing farm ponds because it's FUN. Who cares what other people think. Unless your at a tournament level I don't see anything wrong with managed/farm ponds. I prefer river fishing but I do love farm pond fishing.

[shimmy]

Not much to brag about catching a big one out of a pond. However, give me a private pond and i will fish it everyday because it is sooooo much fun! Kind of like bobber and minnow fishing. The problem comes from those who brag about their fishing skills sticking big fish in private ponds.

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

Fish'em if you got'em but feel fish from those waters should not count towards records.

[Bluebasser86]

They don't hook themselves for you do they? Sure the fish aren't as pressured and much dumber than they are in public waters but they're still fun to catch.

[Rolltide09]

These private clubs just kind of fell in our laps over the past few years. We had always had private ponds but not ones like these that have a biologist looking over them every month. Its still fishing because if you dont know how to fish you arent going to catch anything. Just getting some insight on some fellow anglers.

[tomustang]

Shooting fish in a barrel comes to mind, I don't care about private property catches just don't brag about catching something special that's in a controlled envorment

[North Ga Hillbilly]

The fish are alot easier to find, and not as smart. But its still fishing and still fun. I wouldnt hesitate to fish them, I always enjoy a farm pond, but I wouldnt go showing pictures like I was the bees knees.

NGaHB

[Lund Explorer]

IGFA doesn't recognize fish from such places. Organizations like Boone & Crocket don't award scores for big game animals taken inside a 10' fence.

Who am I to say they're wrong?

[fowlskies]

Lund, that was the first thing that came to my mind. It's kind of like going on a canned deer hunt or duck hunting a managed marsh with levies, fun to do but bragging rights are left at the pond.

[ww2farmer]

Cheating?.............No, fishing is fishing. But it is much easier. I gave up fishing in all the private farm ponds we have where I work. It got boring. I had different ponds managed for different things, one for size, one for numbers, one for big bluegills, one that had a little of everything. I have not fished any of them in a few years, I plan on hitting them again a little this year to see how they have faired with out me tinkering with them in so long. The public lakes are much more challanging, and I feel I have acomplished something when I have a good day or cash a check in a tournament on a body of water that every one can and has fished.

[Flipzter]

I would fish it AND brag about the pictures of my catch. I could care less where I have my fun, be it pond, lake, river, swamp, etc. But I would admit that the fish were taken from a managed pond.

[Bankbeater]

Its much more fun to catch a hawg at a public lake where no one else is catching anything than to catch one at a pvt. lake where everyone else is catching too.

[shady oaks]

They don't hook themselves for you do they? Sure the fish aren't as pressured and much dumber than they are in public waters but they're still fun to catch.

Exactly as stated above. You still have to hook them, you still have to fight them in AND land them. Feel fine in letting everybody know what you caught, as long as you don't say it came from so and so lake that is public waters.

[Diablos]

I am fortunate enough to have in-laws with a house on a private lake and always enjoy fishing there.

I don't think anyone here would decline a chance to fish a low-pressured hole.