New pond...need some ideas

[Jeff R.]

Hi guys. My neighbor got permission for us to fish a private pond that hardly ever gets fished. It is completely surrounded by trees and reeds and is impossible to fish from the bank. It's about 3 acres, gets to around 30 feet deep, and the water is as gin clear as you can get...when the sun is high you can see your lure down to about 20 feet and actually watch the fish take it! There is some sort of long thin stringy vegetation growing up from the bottom pretty much everywhere on the bottom of the pond that doesn't really seem to hang you up or pull up with your lure (unless you are crankbaiting).



We have caught a lot of bass but nothing of any size. Crappie on the other hand are the biggest I have ever seen or caught. I would like to know what you all think I could use to maybe find some of the bigger bass in there and since I know very little about crappie fishing, what is the go to method for catching a nice stringer of them. This ultra clear water is new to me so I'm not quite sure how to go about finding the bigger bass and I'm not familiar enough with crappie fishing to really know what I'm doing!



The crappie we have caught so far have been from verticle jigging about 15 to 20 feet down and I've been using a 1/16 ounce jighead with a curly tailed grub (chartreuse and also one that is red and chartreuse).



Thanks for any advice you can give!

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Senko, senko, senko:lol: 5 inch color 297 (green pumpkin/black fleck) on no more thatn 8lb mono or fluro if you are comfortable throwing it. Look for any structure, ledges, or dropoffs if the bottom is barren. Don't forget to pitch up in the cat tails, that's where the bigguns will be.



TOXIC

 

[Dan McCloskey]

Don't be real surprised if you do not pull any bass of significant size. In small bodies of water like this, Crappie can over take a pond a really stunt the growth of bass. I had an acre pond on my property near the John-Kerr reservoir and made sure I kept the Crappie out for this exact reason. For this ultra clear water, I'd use some 6lb fluorocarbon line and some natural colored finesse type baits (GRNPMKN) (Worms, Flukes) on a drop shot setup.

 

[Berry Lindley]

Well, there are a few things about this pond that are not ideal. First is the clarity. For this pond to be more productive, it needs to be fertilized. Gin clear water means a low level of plankton/phytoplankton that is the first stage of the food chain. This moves through the food chain to the top which is the fish. Fertilizing is is only useful in the warmer months. If there is running water, it is a waste of time though. The second thing is the crappie. I know that they are fun to catch, but in a pond they screw up the balance dynamics that are important for a healthy pond. The bass need to be the primary predator, and bluegill should be the prey in a pond, and the numbers of each are very important. Introducing crappie messes this balance up. I'd talk to the owner and let him/her know. I suggest that all of these that are caught be kept (and the bluegill too), regardless of size. I'm suspecting a crowded bass situation that can turn into a crowded bluegill situation in a hurry, and that is about irreversible. A crowded bluegill means the bass cannot reproduce as they cannot guard the nests, and then the bass are gone. The owner should be keeeping tabs on how many pounds per year of bass that comes out of that pond, and as clear as it is, I would not take out more than 10 lbs of bass per acre per year. I'd say more than 10 lbs per acre per year will be removing too many and start moving the population more towards a crowded bluegill. When this happens the bass left behind do get bigger.....but you don't want to go there. As far as catching them, Beetle Spins and plastic worms with light line are usualy good in ponds for bass.

I just noticed you also wanted some crappie help. If the grubs or tubes aren't working, pick up 3 or 4 dozen of crappie minnows and put them down where the crappie are. A small float and a small split shot with a #2 aberdeen hook is all you need with them. Good Luck

 

[Mini]

Too many crappie? Need to think the population? I think I should do a road trip

 

[William H. (Bill) Barham]

I was just thinking the same thing Mini!:lol::lol:



Uncle Billy