I fish in my neighborhood ponds for about 6 hours every Saturday. It's strange because using crank baits and large top waters, all I catch is big bluegill. Usually the whole time I only catch two bass. They stock it every summer with lots of bass and I dont understand why the bass won't bite. Someone please tell me how to catch more bass.

Thanks for all the responses. I dont know if I can contact the fish and game to be able to remove some bluegill because it is catch and release fishing only.

Id put the ones I catch in a bucket and use them for catfish bait.

I fish alot of ponds myself. If the bass are too small they might not hit those big topwaters try to use a little rooster tail or a small shaky head. If the bass are bigger try a trick worm or just something that only a bass would bite.

These bass are all about 14 inches and maybe a pound and a half. The thing is the ones I do catch are on these larger lures that even big bluegill hit on. I also catch a lot on little spinners. The bass are the only fish that are really small. I also fish for catfish and they are all at least 8 pounds or more and about 30 inches in length. The bluegill are about 14 inches and about a pound.

Wacky rig a senko- Use nightcrawlers weightless- 1/8oz jig & baby craw, are a few way I fish my local pond

Small jigs (1/8-1/4oz) and 6-8" worms t-rigged or shaky should get those bass to bite. If there are too many big bluegill in the pond it might be keeping the bass population down or preventing them from getting bigger (more competition for food). If thats the case the some might need to be harvested. Im no expert...jus my .02. Good luck!

Let's start with something simple:

Buy the original Rapala Floating Minnow, silver and black. Cast the lure parallel to the bank, preferably along a grassline. Let the lure sit for at least thirty seconds, then retrive slowly and steadly. If you fish deep water along a steep bank for example, you can fish a Rat-L-Trap (blue & chrome) with the same casting pattern and retrieve. Both of these lures are proven producers.

If you think you're ready for soft plastics, buy two bags of 5" Senkos (not knock-offs) and one bag of GYCB Fat Ika, all watermelon with black flakes. Rig these baits on a Gamakatsu 4/0 EWG Offset Worm Hook, weightless and weedless. Cast them just as I described with the Rapala. Allow the bait to settle to the bottom and leave it there for a minute. Move the bait 6"-12" with a horizontal sweep, allowing the bait to settle on slack line. Leave the bait motionless for at least fifteen seconds between movements. Focus on presentation and do NOT change baits or use anything else. Fish the entire bag of Senkos, then half the bag of Fat Ika before going back to the Senko.

If you don't catch any bass on these four lures/ baits, find somewhere else to fish.

I've spent the better part of my life working ponds. For me, soft plastics are hugely successful.

If there are a lot of other fisherman there, then the fishing pressure may be high and the bass need to see something they haven't seen before.

I highly recommend a Zoom Shakey Head Worm on an Owner Shakey Head Hook, 1/4 oz.

For daytime, I have success on Watermelon Red, Watermelon Candy and any pumpkin color.

Nighttime fishing can really land you biggin's and highly recommend the Junebug color.

Shakey Head Worms are floating worms and the Shakey Head hook is designed to stand that worm vertically, with that little tail wiggling around. It drives bass crazy.

But, as said before, the easiest way to determine the color of the bait, is actually match the color of the baitfish that are in the pond.

If that doesn't work, try a wacky-rigged Zoom Trick Worm with a 1/8 oz-1/4 oz nail weight buried in the head of the worm. If there is a lot of vegetation in the pond, the Wacky Rig is the way to go. Make sure your hook is a weedless hook and you'll have no probs. Should go about a 3/0 on the hook, I'm guessing.

I work both setups the same way. I cast out, immediately reel in some of the slack and let it hit bottom on a semi-tight line (they hit it while it's falling sometimes). I slowly lift the rod to about the 11 o'clock position, give the rod a little twitch and wait a second. If I don't feel any hits, I lower my rod, reel in my slack, and keep working the same way.

When you do feel a tap/hit on your line, lower your rod to where it's straight out in front of you (parallel to the ground), carefully reel in your slack, and lift up on your rod tip just enough to see if your line feels heavier than it normally does. If it does, drop your rod tip a bit and set the hook hard!!!

Also, for pond fishing, make sure your fishing line is 10-pound test or less.

Best of luck and don't give up!!!

I "re-learned" how to fish on small ponds, from the bank, with spinning reels with 8-10 lb line max.

Small in-line spinners and t-rigged soft plastics on a 3/0 EWG should result in some tight lines pretty quickly!

These are all good bait/lure suggestions especially the senko/ika. To maximize whatever bait you use study the detail of the pond for spots that will attract and hold bass. The spots will be much like a bigger lake but may be much more subtle. In a pond, a 6" to 1' depth change can be important. All things are relative. Concentrate on the inlet, outlet and dam or dyke. Weedlines and any islands, points or pockets. Drag a heavy jig or C-rig around the pond feeling for brush, rocks, weeds and channels. Make note of where they are concentrate your casts to these targets.

what Road Warrior said is right on... I fish a lot of ponds so I'll tell you a few things that worked for me... lets start with the Senko... before you leave the pond fish it in all these ways... Weightless, or small split shot above worm. (tx rigged).. with the reeling and twitching method.... then same rig and fish it like you would a worm.... next, and I've had some monsters on the line with this technique...

Throw out the senko on a dropshot rig.... just let it sit there for a few minutes ... watch the line... they will bite it in a lot of situations just deadsticking it... then fish it normally on a dropshot rig.... Next, you can fish it wacky rigged on a dropshot.... And also be sure before you leave to fish it on your weightless or split shot rig (wacky style)....

These fish might be pressured and the wacky or dropshot technique may work........

One of the best lures for a pond is the zoom fluke....watermelon green... put a small split shot above the lure...twitch twitch reel method... like you are walking the dog...

A good spinnerbait is a necessity... like the Terminator... or War eagle... and fish topwater early and late... I'd go with a Pop-R... it's smaller and puts out a lot of action...

Be sure to buy some blue fleck powerworms fished tx. rigged... it's my #1 big fish catcher in ponds...

And also a lot of ponds have a lot of crawdads in them... be sure and try these out... my favs are Paca craw, chigger craw, and gene larew salt craw... Fish them Tx. rigged and you should have a lot of success....

Last but not least when the fish are shallow and you have to go thru a lot of weeds.... Use a technique my Dad used to boat a 8 lb. bass.... fish weightless Tx. rigged with a worm....just reel slowly and crawl the lure along the top of the water...... it works great in the summer.....

If I had to choose 3 lures only... no doubt it would be these lures.... powerworm, fluke, senko

I fish a pond of 6 acres in West Central Florida, average depth of 6 -10 feet, submergerd vegetation, and a grass line. It has been my experience that the best set up I have found to work all the time is a zoom 6 inch lizard with a weedless hook, either june bug or ruby red in color and cast parallel to the grass line, let it sink and retrieve slowly letting the lure settle to the bottom and repeat. 3 out of 5 casts always get a hit, and 1 out of those 3 almost always produces a 2.5-4 lb largemouth.

Buy some Storm Wildeye Swimshad. Whenever I have a new pond I use this lure. You can fish it anyway you want; hop it, twitch it or just cast and retrieve. This lure catches fish.

Bigger bass in the pond would help, if you have to much bait and to many bass the same size that's a big problem.

Buy some Storm Wildeye Swimshad. Whenever I have a new pond I use this lure. You can fish it anyway you want; hop it, twitch it or just cast and retrieve. This lure catches fish.

Right on. That, in firetiger always producded for me around dusk. I should find some more of those....

Ive only caught about 30 bass in the 2 years ive been fishing there. They are all I sware the same fish. They are all the same size and weight. I dont know how to get more and bigger ones.

Ive only caught about 30 bass in the 2 years ive been fishing there. They are all I sware the same fish. They are all the same size and weight. I dont know how to get more and bigger ones.

You should talk to the owner(s) about taking fish out of the pond because they are probably too over populated.

Call up your state districts wildlife biologist for advice, they will be glad to help you out.

The bluegill are about 14 inches and about a pound.

Those are some huge bluegill!