Mr Q

Basskicker44 - The link the reel ess posted is an excellent one! For my fishing needs and ponds I go to, I primarily use a "jitterbug" for surface fishing at night mostly along with a generous supply of plastic "jelly worms" (purple, black and red) that are 9" lengths for the size bass I fish for. Shorter ones work well with bass under 3 lbs. I also stock a couple of minnow plugs (jointed bodies) for medium depth fishing and the most productive lure for me is the jelly worm fished along the bottom in slow, intermittent retrieves as well as across the tops of pad beds with the same retrieve and letting the tail dangle into the water. For both cases, I use a large hook with a weeder guard that virtually eliminates any snagging on objects. Of coarse your fishing pond conditions will dictate variations of each lure type listed above - you have to try each to see what works best in your ponds. The above lure selection I use are in ponds with depths of 3-15 feet with lots of pad and bottom weeds - typical for my area.

Whatever you do, don't give up on the pond! It will take lots of fishing tactics and lures to see what works best in the pond. As for the pads, try dragging a weedless lure (frogs/plastic worms work best)over the tops of the pads with slow, intermittent retrieves. If any bass are nearby, you will soon find out. My guess is that the man-made structure you made may take some time for the fish to adjust to.

But learning some important tools on how to locate the majority of fish in any given water is an important tool. Sure, any time you are fishing is a good time even if learning how to in the process. And the skill of learning to "structure" fish can not be laughed at. Since the OPer asked for tips, I gave him one that can be extremely helpful in becoming a successful bass fisherman.

Well, I guess you can never be too old to learn something new! Probably because I never fished for trout in any lake larger than Lake Massapauge in Sharon, I wasn't aware of this info.

Don't even think of doing anything to those lunker bass holding pads! Try fishing them with frogs (live of lures) and "jelly" worms. Let the jelly worm's tail dangle in the water between the pads while very slowly retrieving the lure across the pad tops. Rig the worm "Texas" style or use a weeder hook. Bass love the shade of these pads on hot days and the water being choked with them assures very little or no one fishes the water. You will soon find out if any bass are in the pond in little time - both day and night. When I approach a pad littered pond, my bass lures start jumping in the tackle box just waiting to serve me up a lunker

As a last resort, try fishing the spot at night! There are lots of people out there who don't even know you can catch bass at night on almost any night.

Long ago, I studied bass fishing in general in books/magazines. The most important and useful topic was "structure reading" the water you are fishing. Being familiar with any pond/lake structure will tell you where 90% of the fish are 90% of the time. Each fish species has their own "structure" habitats for both resting and feeding. Its a big subject to cover but reading a pond's bottom, middle, top and surface structure (I think) is one of the most important parts of any fishing success. Once you get the hang of reading structure types, it will become fun "reading" any pond when seeing it for the first time.

I have only used spinning reels with stout action rods for the large bass I go for. When using these reels/rods, slowly reel in almost all of the line slack with the rod tip at about 10 o'clock position in front of you and aimed at the bait. Then, with a quick lifting of the rod tip with the bail closed, the hook should be set properly (in the fish's outer mouth/jaw area. Waiting too long to set the hook risks having the bass swallow it. I find it best to set the hook as soon as possible to keep the hook in the jaw area in case I want to release the fish after being landed. This not only insures a landed fish but reduces the risk of the fish bleeding from a swallowed hook - which will send a blood scent quickly throughout the area, ending any feeding and scattering the fish. Because I routinely catch 6-12 pound bass, I use a "light weight" salt water spinning reel( a Penn) so as not to strain the innards of the reel. Stretch in mono line? Yea, it can be a problem when setting the hook. I moved onto braided tevlar line for positive hook setting and line wear over rocks. The only negative side of it is not as secure knot holding ability, otherwise its great, especially for the diameter/breaking strength (a 20 lb. test with the diameter of 12 lb. momo).

Shiners for trout? Around here we use salmon eggs(red)with a kernel of corn (canned) or just a nightcrawler. To be honest, I don't know if trout will go for a live bait such as a shiner. When I use shiners, I make sure they are already in the pond/lake since introducing such a prolific species can cause damaging effects on other species in the water. When we use the above bait, we put a slider weight (1-2 oz.) before the (small) hook. This allows the "stingy" strike and lets the trout swim away with the bait. When this happens, the rod tip dips and if a rod tip bell is used, it sounds the alarm of a strike. Then we pick up the rod (the spinning reel bail is left open), close the bail and when there is some movement away from shore, we set the hook. This bait/hook setting works some 90% of the time on medium to large trout (1-3 pounds) and for lake trout (over 4 lbs.) we use night crawler worms. Yes, there are sizable lake trout in SE MA - at least in one very deep (60 feet)"small" pond in Plymoutf, which I hate to name since enough people fish it already. Many years ago a local university did some trout habitat experiments in this small pond and several kinds of trout were (rainbow, Brown, etc) stocked with "no fishing" regulation in effect. After a few years the study was done and the state allowed "catch and release" only for a couple of years, then open to take home with the only (very important)regulation of "No live bait of any kind permitted". I have taken several Brown trout of up to several pounds (largest was 11 pounds) from this pond with salmon eggs and corn. I always wondered if this was the only pond with such large and numerous trout in the eastern part of the state. Other ponds/lakes that are/were stocked by the state usually produce small (1-3 lbs.) trout due to the heavy fishing.

Ever try these contests that local bait shops sometimes run? Years ago I did for the first time and at a local bait/tackle shop in my town. You picked a species (I picked largemouth) and entered the contest with one dollar. This was in the spring when I visited the shop to stock up on tackle like usual. A couple months later I remembered the contest and figured I would take home a 5 pounder to enter in the contest just for general principals. Then forgot the contest till late fall when I visited the shop and the owner told me that I won the contest! "How could that be? I only entered a 5 pound fish!" He said that the next biggest fish was only 3 pounds. I ended up with a $98 prize (in store merchandise from the 98 people entered in the species) and got a medium duty Penn spinning reel pluss a handfull of tackle. So you never know about these contests - try one and let us know the results!

The reference to structure reading the parts of the water you are fishing is an important part of your answer. If you are not familiar with structure reading a water, I would try using a surface,then shallow, then deep, and finally a bottom lure. If that area does contain bass, you will find out where. If no strikes are had, then move on and repeat the procedure untill some bass are located.

One summer I visited a local small pond for some time outdoors in the summer heat. I tried fishing with a 9" "grape jellyworm" in/ontop of the weed and pad beds choking the pond. After an hour, I didn't have one strike as I slowly moved around the shoreline (on foot). About 30 feet from a culvert pipe that went under the road along the pond, 4 boys arrived (ages 9-12) for some fishing fun. They were having a ball fishing with worms under floats but not catching anything. I felt sorry for them and offered a jellyworm to the oldest boy but made the big mistake of not explaining how to use it. After going back to my fishing, I soon noticed the boy was not using the worm I gave him and went back to ask why. He said, "Yea, wer'e all using it!". Puzzled, I asked how can that be and the boy reeled in his line and, you might guess, there on his hook was a small section of the jellyworm! The boy had cut it up to share with the others!! After showing how to use the worm correctly, I gave each boy a worm and a weeder hook to try their luck. I never saw kids so excited about a new way to fish. And to my suprise, after a few casts and proper retreives, one boy's worm was hit and somehow he successfully managed to reel in a 2 pound largemouth. I never felt so good seeing that, especially after my experience failure. Yea, kids showing up at your favorite bass water can be a drag but also some fun with a little help. Oh, and the boy who caught the bass? He asked me how much the worm would cost him. I just grinned and said, "Nothing...just have some fun with them". Then I left them to their fun day and left the pond. It turned out to be a successful day after all. How about you? Any funny stories you can share about your favorite bassing waters?

All good points for sure. From where I am fishing, almost all pomds (very small lakes) most likely have small populations and due to the ponds' size. Since the "spawn" (what we locals here call the egg laying season) season is fairly short, we think it best to preserve our game fish by not taking these females, though some people do and, at least around here, are usually frowned upon. I'm sure my views and practices on the subject of taking females full of eggs are reflected by the number and size of our local ponds and maybe wrongly think that other parts of the country do the same. This was the reason for the OP question. Of coarse, when a fish of any kind is taken legally, all bets are off. Here in MA there are many people who don't play by the rules for both salt and fresh water game fishing and that's not right. Licenses are growing more expensive eact couple of years and with a growing need to build houses everywhere, I'm afraid those awesome lunker catching days will soon be over in this neck of the woods

Strange as it was, I smoked many cigars in my raft for many years and never dropped a hot ash or lit cigar on the floor. As for those spiny dorsal fins on many "crapie" ("calico"," specklrd bass") again I never punctured the raft. Either I was lucky or the plastic more durable than I thought! But the best thing I loved was the sitting in one with legs straight out to the front, which was a blessing with a chronic bad back. Most days I spent 8-12 hrs in it without any pain. For such a fragile looking "toy" raft, they were almost indestuctable. With a one gallon car antifreeze plastic jug filled with sand as an anchor, which held the raft in 30 mph winds and two foot waves without any drifting, the raft was excellent in all kinds of water/wind conditions. One day while fishing with a freind in his raft on a breezy day, he looked in disbeleif as my raft was moving against the wind near him while my arms were behind my head. After a short time I told him that a snapping turtle had took my jelly worm and was crawling along the bottom pulling my raft. I ended up cutting the line after my fun wore off.

Seeing that I'm a release basser, I occasionally do take home a large bass for cooking but never one full of spawn. I know this question may bother a few members who do take Bass full of spawn without any internal injuries. Perhaps their waters are abundant with Bass and can easily take the loss of spawning bass. Around where I live, good bass ponds are few and far between and I not only keep them secret but never take a spawning bass unless it swallows the hook (a rare case when the hook is set quickly) because with these small ponds, the bass population is small and does not need any more population compitition from us fishermen. So how do you feel about taking bass full of spawn and why?

Lilly pad beds or bottle brush weed beds

Ome of my not-so-fond memerories when I first bought one was the effort of blowing the boat up by mouth, which took too lomg for me. Looking at my car, I got the brainstorm of stuffing a vacum cleaner hose into the tailpipe and holding the other end over the fill valves with the motor idling. It worked so nice - inflated the raft in less than a couple of minuets BUT this tactic came with a price -. In a couple of weeks the acids in the exhaust ate at the vynal plastic and ruptured some seams The raft was ruined and don't anyone ever try thios inflation! trick! I won't go into some others since they will show my intelligence being low and not the fault of the raft

Around where I live, no one goes night bassing. That's a shame since its an excellent time for shore fishing. Where I live, all the local "dead" ponds (in the daytime) become alive with large bass at night. All the ponds I fished were heavily covered with pond lilies so I picked a shore spot during the day and made many casts into the openings till I could place the surface lure into the openings with my eyes closed. Then I tried the exact same spot at night when the water was calm. The first (and only) bass I caught made such a racket fighting me that the pond area was "turned off" from all the noise. In these cases, get one bass then leave for the night. Strangely, lightning flashes don't seem to spook them at night but any loud noises from shore or lights will. The most productive shore night lure for me is a spotted or black jitterbug in top water vegitation ponds and in open waters, a spinnerbait retreived close to the surface. The jitterbug drives the bass crazy with its slow gurgling noise and like other say, the strike can be so dramatic that once experienced, you will then never quit night fishing for bass! And the "dead" ponds mentioned above - they only produce small "trash" fish during the day but once dark, the bigger bass come close to shore feeding on frogs and the jitterbug resembles a wounded frog swimming - an easy meal for a large hungry bass. People don't beleive I catch 6-10 pounders in these dead ponds but I don't care - the thrill of the strikes are so nice to experience

The ones I used have 3 air chambers that make it fairly safe and still floats if one goes down when I tested my first one. I thought the same about running up on the shoreline or hitting submerged stumps but after hitting many over the years, those boats just slide over them with ease. Once I ran onto one at full rowing speed and the stump snagged along the floor section but never did any damage. It was a pain to get off that stumpn though. I found that the most valuable asset of these small boats was their quietness when approaching a nice bass holding structure silently without spooking them. Once I was out in the middle of a large lake on a sunny day and when I dipped a lure into the water to test its retreive motion, I saw two medium sized bass under the boat's shadow as they followed my drifting. In this case, not only was the boat stealthy but was attracting some fish! The first time in one took a few minuets to learn how to move/steer but once I got the hang of it, I never went back to a freind's aluminum 12 footer and now could go bassing whenever I wanted to.

Does anyone use these boats for freshwter bass fishing? These "rafts" are made of a flexable plastic material and can be inflated by mouth or foot pump in a few minuets. I have used these boats for a couple of decades with great success and the best thing is that they can be stored in a car trunk! They are cheap to buy (under $50 for a "large" 6 foot boat} and last for several years or more with almost daily use. When I use mine, I tow a small one with all my "necissities" in it (tackle box, cooler, radio, etc.) when spending the day out on a prime bass pond. These boats are so safe that on a very hot day in the 90s, I fill mine up with pond water and relax in the water while fishing without the boat being in no danger of sinking - they are that rugged. In several decades of using one, I have never seen another one being used! Maybe the fear of a puncture? These rafts are not only very comfortable to fish from, they can be fixed (leaks which rarely occur) with underwater patch kits (swimming pool kits) without going to shore. I am often looked at weirdly by others in boats untill I pull up my stringer with a lunker or two on it - then their faces drop in embarassment! I have taken a couple of my friends fishing in them (I keep extra boats in my trunk} and they loved it. Though some can be powered by electric trolling motors. I never used one since rowing is so effortless. So am I the only fisherman using these type of boats

Thanks Darren for the quick reply and you also Whitewolh

Have you considered inflatable rafts? They are cheap, easy to store (deflated) in a trunk, can be inflated in a few minuets and they are a very stealthy means for approaching those "honey structures" where the lunkers frequent. Price? under $75 for a roomy 5-6 foot raft. And they are VERY safe in water with waves up to a couple of feet. I have used them for several decades and while other people in canoes and aluminum boats jeer at me in mine, at the end of the day I'm the only one with several lunkers under my belt!

Though I have curtailed my bass fishing for some years, my intrest still remains. Decades ago I studied up on bass fishing tactics and as a result, I was pulling out large bass from local "dead" ponds as well as some prime bass ponds with ease and frequency - just as many from shore as when in an inflatable raft. For many years, while fishing in SE MA ponds, I was catching large mouth bass in the 6-15 pound range with ease - fishing both days and nights. 99% of my catches were released uninjured using "jelly" worms, surface plugs and an occasional "swimming" lure,. My biggest bass was 14 pounds, caught from shore during the day at a Carver pomd (Edaville Reservoir) using a grape jelly worm lure. Sorry, several years ago this pond was closed to the public by a local fish & game club and remains so. The second best pond in the area was Sampson's pond in Carver, where, a couple decades ago, the MA/NE record largemouth caught there was just over 15 Lbs. So there are still some great ponds to fish in the area - if you are "bass savy" in regards to fishing tactics, utilizing weather, structure and feeding habits, etc. Willing to share some tips/tactics I amassed over the last several decades if anyone is interested - just ask.