Very odd new pond

Started by Smalls, July 20, 2018, 04:05:57 AM

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Smalls

Just got done moving out of Detroit to a suburb a little further north last week. I used to live 3 blocks off the river, and a 15 minute drive from St. Clair, so scratching the itch before/after work was easy. Located a few ponds now local to me and I've been fishing em all week. Decided to try a new one today that I was told was "junk". A few others told me there's giants in there, but it's just a tough pond because it's very pressured.

I love breaking down and figuring out how a new pond fishes, so I was excited for the challenge. But man, was today ever a grind. Heavily stained water, and Thick, thick mats cover about 55% of the pond (it's a decent size pond) and it screams "FROGS ALL DAY".

Naturally it's what I tossed first. A brown popper to be exact. Got some hits, but they were all short strikes, even with short tails. Switched over to a Texas rig for a while with zero takers with about 5 different types and color plastics.

Moved to the other side, threw on a small frog in black. Made a crappy cast, so reeled it in quick and got a huuuge blow up. Started to realize they wanted me to scream it from the outside of the mat allll the way to my side, and stop it DEAD no more than 3" past the edge. Any further and they weren't chasing. Nailed a 6lber doing this.

Bite died down, so I started throwing random baits. But every time I switched a presentation, they wanted it at a completely different speed, and completely different color. White popper, black frog, chartreuse swimbait. None of it made sense to me. They wanted swimbaits slow rolled and Texas rigs burned.

I caught some fish, and that's great. But I left knowing less about the pond than before I had ever even heard of it  lo.

SFL BassHunter

You know there are fish in there now, and you know some are good sized fish. You also know what vegetation there is what the water clarity is. You know quite a bit about the pond.

The fact that you couldn't figure out a pattern that made sense is a different issue. See when you go back to that pond tomorrow, the stuff you tried may not work and you'll need to figure out a new pattern. No matter what that piece of the puzzle will always change. So your goal to get to know the pond was a success, especially since you caught fish.
PB: 6lbs 5oz / 24.25 inches.
Rods/Reels Dobyns, 13 Fishing, Cabelas Arachnid, Daiwa Tatula CT, Tatula SVTW, Tatula Tactical, Tatula Type R
Florida Bass Fishing

Lipripper

Thanks for the report and I would love to catch a 6 lb bass the first time I went to a new lake. ~c~ ~c~ Like Rick said and you know what worked today might not work tomorrow and you will havt to figure it all out again. ;D

Kats Rule And Bass Drool.Viet Nam Vet

coldfront

heavily pressured fish learn fast.  be thought-agile.

Smalls

Quote from: Lipripper on July 20, 2018, 08:37:08 AM
Thanks for the report and I would love to catch a 6 lb bass the first time I went to a new lake. ~c~ ~c~ Like Rick said and you know what worked today might not work tomorrow and you will havt to figure it all out again. ;D

I wasn't expecting anything over a pound. I've caught a couple 5er's out of ponds, but 6 is kind of ridiculous for my part of the world. If I didn't see the weight myself, I'd have called myself a liar!

Smalls

Quote from: SFL BassHunter on July 20, 2018, 08:21:22 AM
You know there are fish in there now, and you know some are good sized fish. You also know what vegetation there is what the water clarity is. You know quite a bit about the pond.

The fact that you couldn't figure out a pattern that made sense is a different issue. See when you go back to that pond tomorrow, the stuff you tried may not work and you'll need to figure out a new pattern. No matter what that piece of the puzzle will always change. So your goal to get to know the pond was a success, especially since you caught fish.

I guess you're right. The off the wall patterns just really threw me off. I question if I even really knew what a bass was after I left!

Smalls

So I have pretty much picked this pond apart this whole week. It's still a tough bite, but I've learned a few things. The first is that they hold TIGHT to cover. They don't want to be able to be seen, and to be able to ambush prey. The second is that there is no pattern, they'll bite what they want, when they want, and however they want. I don't get many bites here, but I have gotten some more shockingly large ones for a pond this size.

I've learned 3 things, actually. A main forage of the larger fish (and how they probably got that large) is baby duck. I personally watched 2 ducks go down this week, and caught a fish with what looked like feathers sticking out of his throat

Capt. BassinLou

Quote from: Smalls on July 24, 2018, 10:12:00 PM
So I have pretty much picked this pond apart this whole week. It's still a tough bite, but I've learned a few things. The first is that they hold TIGHT to cover. They don't want to be able to be seen, and to be able to ambush prey. The second is that there is no pattern, they'll bite what they want, when they want, and however they want. I don't get many bites here, but I have gotten some more shockingly large ones for a pond this size.

I've learned 3 things, actually. A main forage of the larger fish (and how they probably got that large) is baby duck. I personally watched 2 ducks go down this week, and caught a fish with what looked like feathers sticking out of his throat

Sounds like its time to get this duck lure:



It's from savage gear.


Lipripper

Like Lou said and from what you said it's time to get one of them lures.

Kats Rule And Bass Drool.Viet Nam Vet

Smalls

I honestly thought about buying one, field and stream has em on clearance for $10.

Then I bought some more frogs  lo

I did try punching the mats at this pond, today. Ended up pulling out 3 good size fish and 2 dinks from deeeep in the jungle. Seems to be where all the hogs are hidden there.

Lipripper

Quote from: Smalls on July 25, 2018, 10:42:41 PM
I honestly thought about buying one, field and stream has em on clearance for $10.

Then I bought some more frogs  lo

I did try punching the mats at this pond, today. Ended up pulling out 3 good size fish and 2 dinks from deeeep in the jungle. Seems to be where all the hogs are hidden there.
Well there ya go punch the heck out of it then. :) What kind of frogs did you get. ;D

Kats Rule And Bass Drool.Viet Nam Vet

Smalls

Quote from: Lipripper on July 26, 2018, 01:10:29 PM
Well there ya go punch the heck out of it then. :) What kind of frogs did you get. ;D

Booyah's. For the price, I can't do better. They usually get beat for half a season before I need to either add a little super glue or replace.

I did buy a Teckel with the paddle tail. Not a fan so far. I don't like how it's weighted. It causes the hole where the hooks come out to sit up too high, and fill with water. And I think a weight on it is just not necessary, it lands in the water like a 747