scfisher1

Looks like a great project. I used to put my canoe on top of my SUV. My wife was never much help getting it up there or back down. There were many times I would have liked to have had my canoe on a trailer.

It sounds like it's a smaller body of water and likely heavily pressured. My first thought is live bait. This is especially a good idea when I hear kids are involved. Might be able to catch some minnows or small sunfish in a minnow trap. Check your fishing regulations though before using sunfish for bait. This might just result in catching catfish however. My other thought is fishing it night. I'd bet not many people fish at night so the fish might be less tight lipped.

You mentioned you're fishing ponds, is it safe to assume you're fishing from shore? It could be, like another member mentioned, the bites you're feeling are from sunfish and the reason you're not getting hits from bass is because they're farther from shore in deeper water where you just can't reach. This is summer after all and smaller ponds will heat up considerably. I would suggest fishing very early or very late. The advantage of a smaller body of water is that the temperature will drop quicker when the sun drops making the fish more active which most likely will bring them in closer to shore. By the way, a shorter rod won't make it more likely to pull a bait away from a fish before it can get the hook in its mouth, it should make it less likely. A longer rod will take up more line per degree you angle it during an attempted hook set. However, a shorter rod will limit how far you can cast which limits your ability to reach deeper water. If you've got the means to purchase a new rod, I'll throw out my recommendation. I purchased a Berkley Cherrywood a few weeks ago from Walmart and so far I like it. I wanted a 7' spinning rod that was 2 piece to leave in the truck. It has a great feel to it for the price. How I'd approach a smaller pond in the summer is, if you can get there early, I'd suggest topwaters first, then switch to weightless plastics and then weighted plastics. In the evening I'd do the reverse as the sun is setting. Any shade will be your friend also; docks, overhanging trees. Good luck.

Long shot but is it possible the property owner feeds fish off the dock? That might keep the bluegill there even if there isn't much structure.