First off, please excuse the newbie questions, but I'm learning SO much!

I've asked a couple questions already about this small farm pond I've been fishing (about 2 acres).  I catch anywhere from 6 to 10 bass everytime I go, but I can't get the big ones (and I know they're out there).  Well tonight was the same.  I caught a bunch of 12-14 inchers.  But a guy was coming along behind me and he apparently caught a 4.5 pound fish.  He also said that a buddy of his caught a 8 pounder out of there a couple weeks ago.  

Tonight we were both fishing plastic worms.  Both rigged weedless, no weight.  Both of us were fishing from the bank.  Both throwing into the same weeds.  The difference as far as I can tell was the color.  I was using a 5" pumpkin/red flake tiki stick.  (In the past I've used a 7" motor oil Berkley power worm with same results.)  He said he was using a blue/black worm (don't know brand or size).  

so my question is can the color of the worm make a difference in the size of the fish?  Does it make sense that the larger fish would hit his blue/black worm but not my lighter colored one?  

I just went to Walmart and bought some black and black/blue worms.  I'm going back tomorrow after work and I'm going to try the experiment, so I guess we'll know the answer then.  

But I've GOT to catch one of the big ones.  It's KILLING me knowing that the bigger ones are out there and I can't land one!!!  

Thanks for sharing all your wisdom.

Your doin better than me, I can't even catch the small ones   > ;D

Pumpkin anything would be my last choice in low light hours. Go with the darkest worms you have, and for bigger bass upsize to 10" or larger in ribbontail or paddletail at night.

Jim

Thanks, ouchitabassangler.  One correction to my original post, though.  The worm I was using was watermelon/red flake (not pumpkin/red flake).  So it's darker than I made it sound, but still not black.

Are you keeping these bass?

I fish dark colors and although I have personal favorites, I am not convinced that a particular color is generally important. Sometimes, however, color can be critical. On Jim's Lake Quachita, I have been told that blue is the magic color, so when I have been there, that's what I mostly fished, and it worked! But that might also be because that is what I fished.

Regarding bait size, I have had my best success with 6" Senkos. I fished the 7" version for a couple of years without catching better numbers of big bass. I quit using the 7's mostly because they were too heavy for the equipment I like to fish soft plastics on. I'm certainly a fan of big lures, just not bigger soft plastics (not bigger than I'm already fishing).

On the otherhand, I'll probably follow Jim's advice and try some 10" worms...

I agree with Jim, go with the black/blue 10" worm.  I prefer powerbait 10" worms

As far as Soft Plastic Colors go, I try and keep it simple. Low light conditions I use dark colors. When the sun comes out I switch to brighter colors. Don't know if this makes a difference in the size of the fish I catch. All I know is that I catch em' every now and then... :

Are you keeping these bass?

Nope.  Catch and release only.  I want to be able to come back in a few years when some of the 14" fish are 20".

I'll be back...

I think the reason Thatcher asked if you were keeping the bass has to do with suspisions of overpopulation. You said the majority of bass you have been catching have been 12-14 inchers. Are these fish looking skinny or are they well proportioned for their size? My grandparents have a couple farm ponds about the same size as yours and I have been keeping EVERYTHING I catch to try to thin the overall fish population. Too many fish in the ponds has caused stunted growth due to lack of forage. I don't know if I can save these ponds, but I will sure try with the help of the Missouri Dept. of Conservation.

I generally have good luck with yamamoto senkos in watermelon...or any watermelon/color speck.

I am not totally convinced color makes that much difference. It sounds like you were both using dark colors. What type/size hooks were both of you using what line were both of you using. The fall rate can make a big difference between fishing and catching and hooks and line and the bait determine the fall rate.

Sounds like you ar going to experiment some more. Tell us how you make out. ;D

Years and years ago, I bought one of those Color C Lector's, tried it about 10 times over several weeks, everytime I went past about eight feet, it always showed to use black. Still got that thing somwhere around here and be willing to bet if I put a battery in it, dropped the probe in the lake today, it would still show to use back when it gets to about 10 feet. I very seldom use solid black and still catch bunches of fish and my share of large bass. I do have my favorite colors I use at different depths but have caught bass on just about every color at every depth.

Last weekend end my dad caught a four pound bass on a 10.5" plum Zoom worm in about 12' of water. After releasing him, about 10 minutes later I saw it fluttering belly up about 75' away. I TM'd over tried to revive it to no avail so we threw it in the livewell. When I cleaned the fish it had a light chartreuse 10.5 inch zoom worm in it's belly.

By the way, over about a 40 minute period we caught seven bass on that same point between 3.5 and 4.5 pounds, this was the only one that went belly up after releasing it, so was wondering if there was something about that worm in it's belly had affected it because the fish was only lipped hooked and immediately released. You could tell the worm had been there for a while. I was fishing a June bug jumbo size lizard and both of us caught about the equal number of bass that day, about 20 total. I was also fishing T-Rig, he was fishing C-Rig and the surface temps were running 90 - 92 degrees.

I think the reason Thatcher asked if you were keeping the bass has to do with suspisions of overpopulation. You said the majority of bass you have been catching have been 12-14 inchers. Are these fish looking skinny or are they well proportioned for their size? My grandparents have a couple farm ponds about the same size as yours and I have been keeping EVERYTHING I catch to try to thin the overall fish population. Too many fish in the ponds has caused stunted growth due to lack of forage. I don't know if I can save these ponds, but I will sure try with the help of the Missouri Dept. of Conservation.

Man, I'd be afraid to try any kind of pond management myself.  I see what you're saying.  I just don't enough about what I'm doing.  

vtbassin, I don't know what line/hook he was using.  Good point about the fall rate, though.  I was using 10# mono and a 4/0 Gammy offset hook.  

I did go back tonight as promised and tried out both the watermelon/red flake and black/blue flake worms.  Unfortunately, though, the bite was really slow.  It's been really windy all day and a bit warmer out than the past week or so.  I think that had something to do with it.  Anyway, I only caught one fish on each of the worms and they were both the typical size, about 12 inches.  That's clearly not a big enough sample size to draw any conclusions.  I'll keep experimenting...

On another note, I did catch a 6 lb catfish on the watermelon tiki stick (by accident).  I didn't know catfish would hit a plastic worm.  But he put up a great fight!

lol i bet you were like YES A BIG BA.....oooooohhh....lol the same thing happend to me today. except mine was a log. lol i'm sure the big bass will come. i've never caught anything over 2.8 pounds and i fish from the bank like you. try the bigger worms....but make sure you actually fish it. you have to gain confidence in it. don't just give up. its really hard. in my opinon its the hardest thing in bassin' but when you get that first fish it feels so good lol.

lol i bet you were like YES A BIG BA.....oooooohhh.....

That was pretty much how it went.  To make it worse, I called out to my buddy that I had a big one.  He hurried over to watch the fight and then had a good laugh.  My question now is does this count as my PB?  ;D

Well, its certainly a PB for catfish

I think worm color does play a part in catching, but it is relative to the particular pond you're in.  When I fish the pond next to my house, I was having great luck with a pumpkin and green ringed worm, but that bait is useless in the lake on the other side of my house.  Chartruese works great in the lake, but is not too good in the pond.  I think it has to do with the type of forage.  Some guys will disagree with this, but I am a firm believer in matching the hatch.

Generally, bigger bait gets bigger fish, but sometimes smaller bass strike the bigger baits.  I haven't seen too many large bass bite smaller baits though.  My go to worms are the watermelon/red flake senko and the Berkeley Power Worm in black with a chartruese curly tail.  Use the 7 or 10 inch worms.  Get some Pautzke's gel krill and rub it onto the senko and fish it slow.