Any tips for Bethesda Park FMA Jacksonville, FL?

[iTsSsMaAm]

I live off of Dunn Ave so Bethesda Park is a very short drive for me. I started fishing in November 2022 and have made it out there about 20 times over the last year and a half. In total, I've caught 6 ~1lb bass and lost 2 while pulling them over the railing. I took long breaks between trips with my last catch being February of this year and as of yesterday have gotten back into fishing. I spent 5 hours yesterday and another 5 today throwing frogs, props, flukes, minnows, swimbaits, as well as ned, texas, shaky head, wacky rigs with no bites. I've seen about 6 or 7 big bass swimming around, but nothing seems to be interested. I've used watermelon senkos with black flakes, blue senkos, pb&j neds, blue ribbon tails, black ribbon tails, green flukes, white flukes, blue minnows, green minnows, orange minnows, black minnows, and gray minnows. I fish exclusively with plastics and lures. I've tried fast retrieve, slow retrieve, popping, flipping, no movement, start stop, basically any kind of movement I can think of at every spot I can physically get to around the outside of the pond and still nothing. I do not have a boat so I only bank fish. I'm starting to believe that the pond is pressured or I'm just not cut out to fish. Has anyone fished this pond with success or know any tips that may help including colors, sizes or specific plastics or lures to try out? I thought about using live baits for my next attempt, but another fisherman there today was using live baits and he was skunked as well. I spoke with 2 other guys there today about what they were using and spinnerbait and jigs were also not working for them. I am at a loss here and after scouring the internet for tips on pond fishing and best lures/presentations, I am left with more questions than answers. Just looking for someone experienced in fishing that has run into this problem before to give some insight on what I'm doing wrong or what my options are to catch fish out of this pond. I would even be open to trying another pond in the northwest area of Jax *that isn't private property* if anyone has a good spot to try (not trying to get the secret spots, just something that produces as I am not enjoying being skunked so often). Any help is greatly appreciated!

[Don51]

What time of day are you out there? Early morning/evening is best right now. We are in the dog days with the record heat and lack of rain that we are having. The bite has been tough just about everywhere if there is no moving water. Slow moving baits work better under these conditions. Just keep at it or try a different pond and see what happens. 

[iTsSsMaAm]

The last few days have been just after sunrise to about 1pm. I'm pretty sure the park's website says they open at sunrise so I haven't tried going before. Also, I had seen someone post a youtube video about "dog days" some time ago but wasn't sure if that was a real thing or them just having terrible luck. Glad to know it's real and I will definitely keep it in mind while trying out some new spots around here. Is there a set timeframe for dog days in this area or is it solely based on weather? 

[Don51]

It is just a term that has been around for years referring to the weather being hot and dry for an extended period. The fish become lethargic making for a tough bite. If rainy season will kick in and get the water stirred up some, things should improve, hopefully.

[N Florida Mike]

We always considered dog days to be August primarily because of the heat and humidity.

Ive only fished there once , for a little while. You would think the Jax urban ponds would be great, but I haven’t found that to be the case. They are stocked by FWC. , especially for catfish,but that doesn’t seem to help much with the bass.  But there are some huge old bass in them. A 14 pounder was caught years ago in the ocean way pond, and I believe a 13 in the Hannah park pond. Some of them have poor water clarity , which is hard to fish for those of us who fish clearer waters more often. Black and blue is a good color if the water is murky there. 
It would be best to get a kayak out there and fish vegetation, the bass really relate to it in this area.. I remember that lake being kind of void of vegetation when I was there . This time of year early morning to around 10 is best.

Id free line little bream or shiners while you fish with the artificials. Using a small hook and light line with little to no weight is best. 
Im sure the pressure doesn’t help either. Try something different in plastics.IMHO it would be difficult to catch much this time of year on anything but plastics fished very slow , or live bait…

 

You might try the ponds off new Berlin at Sheffield park. I lost a nice fish there once when it got up into some cattails.

 

[iTsSsMaAm]

Sheffield park actually looks like a pretty good spot. I'll be heading out there this weekend. Thanks for the tips!

[DeathByGnatSwarm]

I've also been fishing in Bethesda park recently with zero luck. I've used all of the rigs I've been tearing them up with in other ponds. I used every color combo I could think of and walked the entire pond perimeter. Think about kayaking it for better luck. I'll let you know if I catch anything