Hey guys please help me.  I used to fish alot when I was really little but I didn't for a long time.  And now I am getting back into it.  I live in an area where there are poor fishing spots.  The better areas are about an hours drive away.  I feel that I need more pratice before I go to the place where the guys that know what they are doing so I don't embarass myself.  There is a creek and a few retaining ponds in the close area from my house.  The only thing that I have caught in the creek is brem.  The retaining ponds have bass in them but they are small.  All I have tried in them is live bait like worms and crickets.  Should I try spinnerbaits and jigs?  I don't know if they will work b/c the fish are not big at all.

Plastic worms my friend....

Think Zoom Trick Worms, or Zoom Swamp Crawlers or Culprit Curlytails....

I recomend small 1/0 worm hooks - texas rig. A small bullet weight and light fishing line and you're in business.  Finess fish them right out of the lake.

i used to always say i dont wanna be embarassed but thats the only way to learn

plastic redshad worm, fluke,1/8oz spinnerbait or 1/4oz,tube,rapala

try all the artifical baits...mostly like plastic worms weightless or texasriged

try 4" plastic worms with a 1/0 hook. also small spinnerbaits and small jigs work good too. zoom flukes work great in small ponds too.

small worms and small senko's.

Why not go to the better places and don't worry about embarrassment? Nobody starts out an expert and you may find some fellow fishermen there who will be happy to give you some tips, as long as they have no reason to feel threatened by you, for example, if you keep good fish, you probably won't get much help.

Good luck.

3" grub on a 1/8oz jighead.  Color doesn't matter for those little guys.  When the water is warm, they cream anything that moves.  

I presume the water is clear, since you seem to know your quarry but haven't caught them yet.  This is good - you can watch and see how they react to your presentation.  You learn alot that way - even if they're small.

2" Rapala crankbait....silver or shad colored...retrieve speed slow!...

I agree with Glenn. The curly tail grub is a great small water bait. Also, like others said a small spinner baits can be productive.

A few years back I bought my first baitcast reel and I was fishing a small lake in a local park. It was getting dark so I decided to head back to the car. Well I made it back faster than I thought I would and figured I would practice casting a small spinner in the river coming from the lake. Sure enough I caught a bass behind a large rock in 2 feet of fast moving water that I never thought would hold bass! It blew me away, but I also learned something about bass and rivers.

Good luck and keep at it!

yes what they all said but you and everyone else is overlooking something.   where there is small bass there is larger bass. the small ones came from somewhere. now go get em

The basics:Texas-rigged worms(redshad,purple,black,etc.),an original floating Rapala(silver-black back,gold-black back),some kind of shad colored crankbait ,and acouple of spinnerbaits(white;chartruese).

I know what you mean all I have is small retaining ponds also. But, jigs and spinnerbaits work where i live in Georgia. You should probably try them for a while aand see what the results are.

     Rapala original minnow; Finness worm on a 1/0 hook texas rigged. Wacky rig when not in weads, weightless. Good Luck!!  

i have pretty good luck right at sundown throwing a jointed silver/black back rapala. haven't caught anything huge on it, but its pretty reliable at times for me.