bass44

I fish a very similar pond here in West Virginia. I have been able to consistently catch bass all winter on crank baits. The first thing to look for are brush piles. There are beavers in the pond so there is no lack of it. I start out in shallow water (6 feet or less) with a Rick Clunn Lucky Craft .5 in copper green shad or white. Crank it down to the bottom and work it almost like a jerkait only pulling is along gently until you contact brush then pausing. These baits suspend and really stay in the strike zone well. If that doesn't work, I fish a Fat Free Shad in 8 or 10 feet of water. Again, look for brush and fish it the same way...SLOW. Good luck.

It does look as if they have been digging around in something for food. That worried me because I thought maybe it meant they were having a tough time finding it. Seems to be plenty of bluegill, though. Glad to hear its nothing of concern. Thanks for the quick responses. Yes, it is good to be here. Most forums you just get flamed for posting. People just call you a noob and assume you have no idea what your saying because you don't live your life on the internet and your post count isn't six digits. To tell the truth, that was what I expected to get. Glad to see that isn't the case here.

I sometimes fish a small pond (couple of acres) and the past few months have notices that all of the bass I catch have something strange in common...they all have red places along the edges of their lips. It almost looks like they have worn them raw somehow. Otherwise, they seem healthy but I am still a little worried. I've never seen anything like it. What on Earth would be causing this.