Small Pond Strategies for Bass
Scenario 1
Location
Open Water Shorelines, Points and islands. Minimal weeds or on the outskirts of weed edges
Situation
Fish are actively feeding, but scattered across the open area
Plan
Whether we are talking reservoirs as large as Lake Francis Case or we are talking small ponds, these scenarios are going to present themselves often. This could be a rocky shoreline, it could be a pont or it could be thick weeds that you are casting in towards. The fish are not going to be highly concentrated, but they will be active when you can get the bait in-front of them.
For presentation, I like to go with a shallow crankbait here. There are no obstructions for me to worry about so the ability to run trouble hooks will increase my hookup percentage and also allow me to cover water quickly and contact those active fish.
If the water is clear I favor a balsa bait in more neutral colors, but if the water is dirty, I'll go with either a spinnerbait or something with a little more rattle in it. Regardless, the name of the game here is cover water and contact fish.
Scenario 2
Location
Open water area, but with structures that concentrate fish such as rock piles, shelves or tight points.
Situation
Fish may be neutral to active and are sitting on small areas that they are often congregated
Plan
This is when my walleye skills really show off with my bass fishing. If I found an area that fish are highly concentrated on, I completely ditch the casting equipment and favor a slipbobber. What?! Slipbobbers for bass??? Yep, and here is why.
My favorite lake to bass fish was called Memphis Lake, if you're familiar with the geography of Eastern Nebraska, it's not too far from Ashland. If you aren't, it's basically the midway point between Lincoln and Omaha as the crow flies.
They key characteristics of Memphis is it's a shore anglers paradise. There are rocky shorelines and the edges are dug out so the "deep water" (it's like 8-10ft) habitat si within reach of shore anglers and it actually gets shallower out in the middle of the lake. Awesome place to be a high school kid.
What I found with these trenches close to shore is they were dang near impossible to cast. you'd cast and with a steady retrieve you'd have all of about 2 seconds in the strike zone. The fish were concentrated right in that deep water by the rocks so you would either catch them at the very end of your retrieve or not at all.
Well, why not hang the bait right where the fish are? I found the most effective presentation was a slipbobber hung right next to the rocks where the fish were hanging out. For baits, it would vary by day, but leeches were often a top producer. Minnows could do well and crawlers also had some success too.
The reason this presentation worked so well was instead of having 2 seconds in the strike zone I had 20 minutes. Often, I found the bait the fish were favoring that day, it would be bobbers down all day long. With casting I had to put the bait right in their nose, but the bobber allowed me time for the fish to find it and for it to float into their face.
For my presentation, I would go with the same slipbobber setup I use for panfish, but I would beef it up. Instead of using 4-6lb fluorocarbon leaders, I would use 9-10lb fluorocarbon leaders. Instead of 6lb mainline, I favored 8-10lb Fireline. Instead of using #6-#8 hooks, I would go with #2-1/0 hooks. that didn't discriminate though, being able to run two lines I often had doubles that looked like this.
Scenario 3
Location
Vegetation scattered on bottom, open water above
Situation
Fish are going to be sitting down in the grass or weeds and coming up to find food.
Plan
In situations like this, fish are often sitting down in those weeds and you need to be able to present a bait on top of them. The weeds may be preventing those crankbaits and other lures with trebles, but no fear, we have the right presentation here too.
In these situations, I like to turn to a spinnerbait. Often in early spring we find those emerging weed beds are not so established. We can still fish on top of them, and the spinnerbait is the perfect option for this. The bait has a single hook that sits facing up and is less likely to become fouled by weeds. The bait also can present quickly enough you can reel fast and stay right above the tops of the stalks.
Spinnerbaits also excel when fishing dirty water conditions or when there is some chop on the water. The reason being is the blades produce significant flash and vibration in the water column. The profile also becomes more broken up in those dirty or darker conditions forcing more reaction strikes out of fish that may not locate a quieter, more natural presentation.
Scenario 4
Location
Thick weed beds, often if not exclusively weeds emerging on the surface
Situation
Fish are sitting deep in the slop. It's nearly impossible to get a bait through the weeds without fouling.
Plan
A classic bass situation! The weeds/grasses/lily pads are preventing you from getting your bait in the water. What do you do? Put the bait on the water!
This is a classic frog scenario. OFten what you'll want to do is cast you frogs out and slowly work them back. If you can find a pocket of open water within the weeds this is a perfect situation to stop that frog right on top of it. Often there is a bass ready to crush it!
Heavy braid is critical in these situations. You need to winch those fish out of the slp quickly and if you're using lighter line you'll often find you're unable to move those fish once they get wrapped up.
If the vegetation is sparse enough, I favor a buzzbait, just because you get a louder, more aggressive presentation and often better hook up percentage, but in that thick stuff, it's all about throwing a frog and staying on top.