[bamabass]

i have a small farm pond that i know has big bass in it.ive caught 3+4 pound bass all the time but cant find the big ones.there is alot of vegetation in the summer and has cattails on thhe backside.there are bass,bluegill,catfish,and small amounts of crayfish at all time.what is your suggestion to find and ctch those lunkers??
thanks

[gtlegs]

Big lures, and fish as often as you can, the bigger ones are usually wiser so it is harder to fool them.
-Trey

[doomdart]

In my experience, which is not necessarily great (no 10 plus on my wall), I find that the big ones (7-8 lbs.) in small ponds will often haunt the same small area almost all year long. I know of a place where I can catch a very nice fish almost every trip by casting to an area the size of a kitchen table. The joker goes back every time she's released.

Keep searching, try different lures and retrieves, fish at night on a full moon, throw a frog, fish in the rain, just keep trying. If you hook a big one, try there again and again on different days.

I saw a guy hook a huge fish that everyone else threw to first. He stayed on that fish for near 20 minutes, trying every lure. It finally inhaled a crawbait. Nearly broke his rod in half, and finally the split rings gave out. He got the lure back with no hooks.

Don't know for sure, but I saw the fish with my two eyes from a VERY short distance, and saw the rod doubled back. I do not think it would be a stretch to say it was 15 lbs. That is simply huge for LM around here.

When searching for big bass, you have to accept that you will probably get skunked. But the payoff is great when you land a large fish.

[MicroSalm]

Not having much to go on about the farm pond as to the depth, size, geometry, and clarity of the water but I suspect the big ones would hold up in key locations.
· Bass will winter in the deepest, most vertical break areas in a lake.
· When water temperatures start warming up in early spring, bass will start migrating toward potential spawning areas, stopping first on main lake points, then on secondary points.
· During the spawn phase, the bass will seek out flats and coves with the correct bottom composition to spawn on.
· After the spawn, the fish will start heading back out toward deeper water, staging on the same points they stopped at during pre-spawn.
· Bass will hold adjacent to structure
· Summer time heat, finds most of the bass in deeper water main lake areas or in heavy cover areas. Current can also be very key during the summer.
· The fall transition, finds the bass following bait to feed up before the winter. Fall areas include the same flats and coves the bass used to spawn.
Since you said it’s your pond you should be able to catch a few during the spawn when the females go on the beds. However, like most large bass they adjust their eating habits until after dusk. Biologists are right about bass preferring optimum water temp to eat but, big fish feed more between dusk and dawn. I believe big bass are the exceptions to the rule. Big bass get big because they don’t do what the majority of the bass do the same goes for big bucks (deer) also. Maybe the larger bass are more aware of their surroundings who knows, but ask around to other fishermen who night fish and ask them if the fish are larger when caught at night. I have a chain of lakes near where I live and the fishing is brutal on the weekends, it gets better on the week days, but the night fishing is fantastic. I equate that to boat traffic and fishing pressure the big ones know the “noise means trouble”. Yes, bass can be conditioned. So, I suggest to you to go night fishing using a 5/8 oz. or large jitterbug, black spinner bait, devils horse, or a chug bug. Night fishing also improves your “feel” at the rod which improves your day fishing and it is rush when they hit top water at night. Give night fishing a chance you’ll see what I mean. That’s my two cents worth.

[bamabass]

As to microsal it is not a vwer big pond.it goes to about 15 feet max.there is a few fish that you can visually see during spawning but i think there are others in deeper water so i would have a hard time catching big spawners.
any other tips???
thanks

[alsworms]

If it's only 15 feet deep, I'd try buzzbaits at night. There are inlets and small ponds on our river that rarely exceed 10 to 12 feet deep. I haven't broken the 10 lb. barrier yet, but my best fish (8.5) and many other big ones have mainly come on black buzzbaits in pitch dark. I HATE fishing at night, but it will usually produce bigger fish.

[MicroSalm]

I know someone who was stocking their own pond and also had a problem catching the big fish. Until one day a river otter was seen coming out of the pond with a nice bass in its mouth. I did a quick Google search and found out Maryland also has them. Could it be possible you have a theif stealing your fish?

www.dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/riverotter.html

[bamabass]

no microsalm i havent ever seen any of those in my neck of the woods.Mayybe im not fishind enough at the right time with the right baits.As soon as the ice melts of the pond and the water starts warmin up ill try the buzzbait.untill then ill keep tryin.
thanks

[Hoodaddy]

Try a musky jitterbug at nite. Big fish have fallen for a nice slow retreive for yrs. . The hooks are'nt much but its no problem changing them out. I have a freind that is always catching lunkers in the dark at numerous farm ponds around here. I believe the count is up to about 65 over 6 with several 8's in there. He has told of big fish that have jumped and just ripped the hooks right out.
He's either throwing that bait spray painted flat black or the largest floating jointed rapala w/ same paint worked slowly on the surface. He crushes them.

[MicroSalm]

Hoodaddy's friend has it figured out! We do the same thing up here with great success. Do you consider yourself a jig fisherman? Otherwise, if you prefer worm fishing move up to the 9-12 inch long worms and give them a try. Either way I think the information in this post will help you.

Dynamite or draining the pond would be my last resorts.