Dogmatic

No worries. I catch myself all the time, it's just natural I guess. I think its a bigger deal with Largemouth. Those are some killer Smallies though. But for everyone, an FYI...

Those are some beautiful fish! The first four shots are great looking pics.(just be careful bending a fish's jaw like that.)

It would be very tough. Usually the minimum depth of a pond to sustain a population of warm water species is 10', with roughly 25%-50% being that depth. It's necessary for proper water temp and oxygen levels. Not saying it isn't possible, it's just not "ideal".

I've had this burn me more then once. I had an excellent private pond, was told it was OK to let a friend fish there, as long as he respected the rules, and the first thing he does is park in the wrong place, and gets himself, and me booted.

LOL, I was just giving you a "hard time", I live in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Hehehe. I just Google Earth'ed your location and favorite river and went from there. Other than just passing through on my way to somewhere else, I have never fished OH/IN.

Flutter spoon?

Ibuprofen before I go.

Ya HAVE to get a Hinkle Shad, if not a Hinkle, then a Mattlures Glide, and if not a glide, then a HPH Glide, if not a HPH, then a Deps 250...otherwise ya just ain't fishing, or catching any real fish. ; )

Hey, I know those holes, right off 28 right? ; )

Like RedEarth says you'll need forage first, and that takes time. So several "buckets" of bluegills, minnows(set out some traps), ect...but if you catch a legal bass, keep it, throw it in your pond. Make sure you check your state regs though. If you want a number, 25 or so, you have to account for losses. Good Luck, and did you try live bait yet?

Just so you know, I'm new to this also...but yeah, 20# fluoro is fine, I happen to use 25# CXX(but that's because that's what was on the reel)

That's a custom Ando(Japanese custom builder). He builds some "wild" baits.Some of his other baits... Google "Yoshihiko Ando"

I have a new guess, Kalin's(Uncle Josh Bait Co.) Sizmic toad, they made a big "Magnum" 8.5" version(Like Bigfish guessed)...?

Looking at it, from your pics, and Google Earth, it's not deep, but could sustain a bass population. If there are or were fish, they were definitely "stocked", bc they wouldn't have come in on little Cobb Brook. You have plenty of water around you, time to start stocking your pond.(If I am even correct on location, but I took an educated guess)

I did this once for waterfowl hunting...so as it turns out, it's the most expensive meat we eat...suffice to say, I don't perform this mental exercise any longer, because, like the commercial says, price of shotgun shells, $1 a piece, time in the field hunting, or on the water fishing...priceless.

Like Basshole,an old swimbait set up, Mattlures(Reaction Strike) 7'7"(7'11") rated btwn 2oz-5oz w/Lexa 301, but the Okuma GS is a fine alternative.

As a 6" no, you would have to bump up to the 8" to find the ROF 0.

And this is in Jersey?!

90% of the time I'm using either a 4/0 or 5/0 ewg.

Hudd rof 0, castaic catch22/platinum. there's a lot of others.

MB vision 110.

I have eagles and osprey watch my swimbaits all the time, only once did I have to burn a bait back to keep it from a hungry eagle that just couldn't tell the difference.

Do you have a boat?

How deep? With our winter, very possible it's too shallow to sustain a population. Try live bait, I'm not a big live bait fisherman, but if you throw a live shiner(or worm), and don't get bit, there might not be anything in your pond. Good luck, keep us posted, and Welcome.

This^^^^CONFIDENCE...If you're not confident in your gear, just like your favorite baits, you're not going to be successful.