Been fishing a pond for about a year but I feel like I'm still figuring it out. I'll catch maybe 3 on a good day but I feel like I could be more productive. It's got reeds surrounding a good portion of it and a fountain in the middle. It also has a rocky shore on one side of it.

What works/what doesn't work? What's your standard procedure when working the pond on a given day? 

You need to drag, hop and swim a jig around the whole pond. Pitch them to suspecting spots and cast it out far to figure out the cover and contour of the pond. 

 

Rage chunk and 1/8oz bitsy bug is hot for me all summer long. 

1 hour ago, Bass XL said:

What works/what doesn't work? What's your standard procedure when working the pond on a given day? 

Only thing I have found that works so far is 4 and 5 inch green pumpkin senkos wacky rigged. I have casted all over the pond and worked all of the spots thoroughly. I've found they are usually in deep water towards the fountain or next to the rocky part on one side. Also there are bluegill and minnows I think they are feeding on.

Sometimes there is only so much you can do. Once you've tried all the areas and all the likely lures, it may be time to try a different pond. Remember also that every time you set the hook you are educating a fish what not to eat, and by frequenting a small pond you will eventually teach the whole class. 

22 hours ago, hawgenvy said:

Sometimes there is only so much you can do. Once you've tried all the areas and all the likely lures, it may be time to try a different pond. Remember also that every time you set the hook you are educating a fish what not to eat, and by frequenting a small pond you will eventually teach the whole class. 

HOGWASH........

22 hours ago, hawgenvy said:

Every time you set the hook you are educating a fish what not to eat, and by frequenting a small pond you will eventually teach the whole class. 

 

3 minutes ago, Big Daddy Hoff said:

HOGWASH........

 

I'll subscribe to this theory to a certain extent. I have a few local small ponds that I know I'm about the only fishermen on them and I have noticed this pattern happen in the past. Whether they got smarter or they just weren't hungry I'll never truly know, but I do know what I have seen work and not work historically in certain bodies of water. 

2 hours ago, Big Daddy Hoff said:

HOGWASH........

 

The more people fish a body of water the harder it is to catch fish there.  It's called fishing pressure. Heavily fished lakes may have tons of fish, but they can be very hard to catch. It is a simple fact that bass learn.  It is proven that even microscopic creatures can learn.  I can tell you that I have just about single handedly pressured some ponds. For this reason I try to rotate the small bodies of water I fish and the lures that I use.

Yea definitely not hogwash. I could type out a whole page explaining why I think so but I don't feel the need. So we can just see who agrees. Or maybe ask @A-Jay , @Catt(whom I've seen say the only lure they don't remember in scientific studies Is a plastic worm ) @Team9nine if they think bass remembering lures is hogwash. And also maybe a couple suggestions for the OPs pond productivity

There's a difference between becoming "conditioned" and "learning" 

I  have an acre pond on my place, I catch bass in it all the time. I have caught the same bass 2 times in one week. I have found when you catch a 5 or 6 pound one and it cuts up a lot the bit stops for a few hours

Not being familiar with the waters the OP is fishing, especially the size, I'll add this.

I fish several small bodies of water a year with a canoe.  Though most offer a decent population of bass, however there are really only so many resident fish in each one.  And if I were to fish the same lakes, the same way and especially in the same exact spots, ALL THE TIME - eventually, I would expect some tough sledding.  Particularly on the smaller bodies of water.  I'll even add that on many of these lakes, I am one of, if not the only knuckle head bass fishing, as many are walleye or trout targeted waters, so the bass often go unmolested.  (until I get there)

 So why would or do bites get hard to come by, you can make your own assessment.  My thought revolves around the fact that I end up sore lipping the better fish that live in & around the structure & cover I like to target, so they may not be very willing to feel the steel again the next day, or three times a week . or 8 times a month . . .I think you get my point.  

  Either way, my standard routine when fishing these smaller waters involves me hitting each one a few times a season.  I'll whack a few from each spot I can and after a couple of trips I move to the next one (lake). 

Love to let them 'rest' and come back in a couple of weeks or a month and reintroduce myself to them.  I am fortunate in that there is a ton of water to fish here. 

Very little of this applies to the Larger lakes I fish from the Pro-V bass Bat as I believe the spots I get on most are reloaded constantly. 

YMMV

A-Jay

There are plenty of studies on bass in this regard, and it is quite apparent that many can learn (become conditioned) over time in certain situations. As for terminology, at least in most psych classes, conditioning is considered a type (or subform) of learning. Back on the bass, studies both in the lab and field tend to bear out that;

 

- bass are most susceptible to a presentation the first time they are exposed to it

- if continually exposed day after day, catch rates will quickly plummet

- bass, at least in the lab can learn and remember, for very long periods of time, certain artificial lures, and can't be fooled into hitting them again even months later

- in every population, some bass are more susceptible and some bass less susceptible to being caught. Some will be caught many times, while others may never be caught. It's a typical bell curve.

- Some bass are more prone to hit certain presentations than others, almost appearing to have 'favorites'

 

I've spent a lot of time fishing small subdivision ponds over the years, and have seen firsthand how easy it is to overpressure fish with repeated, specific presentations. It's much better to rotate ponds, or rotate presentations within a pond over a period of days or weeks. It's one of the big reasons I think anglers who bring everything with them and expose a majority of the bass to a majority of the presentations, trip after trip, are likely only hurting their overall success and catch rates in the long run. It's much better (IMO) to fish a single presentation on any given day, and change that presentation the next time you go, eventually cycling back to the original.

Classical conditioning (also known as Pavlovian or respondent conditioning) refers to a learning procedure in which a biologically potent stimulus (e.g. food) is paired with a previously neutral stimulus (e.g. a bell)

 

Instead of getting hung up on semantics, lets lay that baby to rest.  As Team9nine stated, conditioning is a type of learning, by definition.  And even simple-minded creatures become conditioned.