J Francho

Could be a speckled trout, but it looks like a bass to me as well.

HOB, see my post here: http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1238973903. that fish is #5 on the 2009 leader board. No sevens yet this year, though a 5-9 just got knocked off yesterday. Here are a couple of big pond fish. The first comes from a pond that I don't think is very deep - maybe 6', but I can't be sure. The second copmes from a very deep pond, 13 or 14' deep, its basically shaped like "bundt cake pan" if you know what I mean.

HOB, here is the leader board for a NY based forum for 2008 1) 7lb 7oz by Huskybass (Mike) Was caught 9/18/2008 with friend Wally Tied 2-3) 7lb 6oz by DSouth (Dan) Was caught 9/25/2008 with basser TBass (Joe) Tied 2-3) 7lb 6oz by Gregg Was caught 4/1/2008 with basser Pete L Tied 4-5-6) 7lb 4oz by tcbass Was caught 4/26/2008 with friend Mike Tied 4-5-6) 7lb 4oz by Chip13 (Bryan) Was caught 4/13/2008 with basser Jerkbait (John) Tied 4-5-6) 7lb 4oz by Gregg Was caught 4/1/2008 with basser Pete L Tied 7-8) 7lb 3oz by Jighead61 (Ronnie) Was caught 10/23/2008 with basser Chip13 (Bryan) Tied 7-8) 7lb 3oz by Nicole Was caught 816/2008 with basser Buttlesdog (Eric) Tied 9-10) 7lb 1oz by Jighead61 (Ronnie) Was caught 4/3/2008 with basser Tubeking (Dennis) Tied 9-10) 7lb 1oz by Maximus10k (Max) Was caught 10/18/2008 with basser Chin814 (Pete) Its worth noting that #1 was caught in Mass. - from a pond, LOL. The rest in NY.

I actually haven't hit but Sodus this year, and we didn't do too well. Water temps were 38-42° just a couple of weeks ago. H warms up quick. haven't bothered to try P yet, though i suspect the same. P is my "homem water" though, and I'll be on it for the spawn, LOL.

That's a good point. I can see where it could be started as a joke, but on the other side, its a little insulting and diminishing to those that pursue, catch, and post the genuine article. It devalues the information that the trophy hunters are willing to share. What's funnier is doing it the old fashioned way, with a dink ;D Also, being a photographer, I like to be creative with my pictures, using tools like depth of field and perspective to add interest to the fish, and not to simply document the catch. Like this: As opposed to the "straight shot":

Stop talking about places that only hold dinks!

Rain, rain, rain......

I saw this yesterday, and thought the PS job was bush league. Why do people do this crap?

This is a great lake for early action. It warms up so much faster than the other deeper lakes in the area, and much faster than the bays off the big Lake.

The whole day was slow. On this lake, you can usually have a 20+ fish day, though many will be barely keepers. On Friday evening, Kase and Cam had a 50 fish day - and this was after work! Sunday, we fished from 7 until about 2, and between the three of us, we boated about a dozen.

The creek bed has to be key. Is it a productive pond as well? Just one 5 lb. or several larger fish? The pond is here, looks awesome: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Broad+Brook,+CT&daddr=41.91922,-72.544098&hl=en&geocode=Cf0HXGRrnUd8FVeRfwIdBwat-w%3B&gl=us&mra=mi&mrsp=1&sz=16&sll=41.917575,-72.542768&sspn=0.011799,0.019312&ie=UTF8&ll=41.919224,-72.543637&spn=0.00295,0.004828&t=h&z=18 You can clearly see the creek channel.

Anadromous Herring fed bass....?

I saw that one. It looks like there is more to it. Paying attention.....

Good points Raul. I don't think a 4' deep pond would work out too well this far north. I used to deal with ornamental ponds, and I've come across koi trapped in ice. Some made, some didn't. Your point about predator/prey is pretty good too. What about other mix of other species. There is a pond here that is deep, has main points, a large flat, and other structural elements found in reservoir type lakes. There are Northern Pike, gills, black crappie, as well as largemouth. This pond produces many 4 and 5# fish. I wonder what the impact of the crappie is on recruitment. I've always been taught that crappie in a bass pond isn't a good thing.

Keep in mind, I'm in an area (Western NY) where freezing is an issue. In a shallow pond, there would be bass Popsicles. By "big fish" I'm talking about anything over five. I'm personally looking for an eight plus. By "pond" I'm talking something you could cover from shore or in a small "man powered" boat - less than 100 acres. I've been excluding water that isn't at least 12' deep from my list of waters to check out. My thought is that most of my big bass, though may have been caught shallow, were in CLOSE proximity to deeper water. I also think they need this to get really big.

I was throwing the slow sink version just yesterday using an Avid AVC70MHM. Worked great. Works great for Many other trble hooked baits in the 3/4 to 1 oz. range. Any bigger, and you need a REAL swimbait rod.

Close! Sodus, specifically Briscoe Bay. There are no fish there

Let a pro do the super clean and lube.

Sorry Fizzle and Tony for derailing here, but as long as I have Paul on the line... Paul, do you have a minimum depth? I'm green to this pond stuff, but I'm determined to exploit them for some seriously big fish.

LOL, H.

I suspected there was a deeper portion. I didn't mean to say that the fish would be deep - to the contrary, you guys found them where I'd expect them to be in those conditions - just that the deep water is a prerequisite for big fish.

A Pointer 100 is nothing like a X-Rap XR-10. Same goes for Husky Jerks, Flash Minnows, Rogues, Suspending Thundersticks, Long As, Visions, Slender Pointers, etc. You will find after fishing each of them, and observing them in the water that each responds differently. No one retrieve works the same for all. For instance, delicate inputs really make a Flash minnow come to life, whereas with a XR-10, delicate twitches and sweeps "tame" this baits erratic nature. If you have a few options, and understand how to use them, you up your percentages.

Looks like a sweet pond you found. Just curious as to the max depth, if known. In my experience, if it isn't at least 12'+ somewhere, the bass will be dinks. At those temps, I'd be swinging for the fence with a BIG presentation.

Absolutely, it was a beautiful day, bookended by snow days.

I prefer to fish a Sammy, Spook, or broken back Jitterbug, but a slow rolled Col. spinnerbait probably has accounted for the most fish.