Early Summer Pond Fishing

Sometimes when the spawn is over, the best place to be is on a small body of water such as a pond to catch numbers and if the ponds properly managed, some quality sized bass as well.  I have recently been without a way to get our kayaks to the river, so we've done our share of wade and pond fishing.  I tell you nothing beats a good farm pond bite and when they get to feeding, sometimes you can catch fish on any lure you want to throw.  My personal favorites for early summer pond fishing are topwaters such as pop r's, spooks, and prop baits in low light conditions and if the sun is up I go to a soft plastic or spinnerbait fished just below the surface.   A zoom trick worm is ideal for catching big pond bass in the summer time.  Even some crickets and a bobber can yield some great results.

Just recently here in May, I was able to fish a small body of water loaded with 1-3lb bass and a lot of small to okay sized bream.  The bream were all over the banks and the occasional ball of bass fry was left roaming the pond.  Just before dark I took to the pond with a pop r on the end of my line and within minutes was battling a nice largemouth that just absolutely inhaled the lure.  All the fish inhaled the pop r with great ease so setting the hook and landing these bass wasn't difficult at all.  I moved on and after fishing around the pond I ended up with four nice bass in twenty minutes.  The next morning I awoke and stepped out with the pop r again, caught one right behind my Dad as he was bream fishing off the dock.  He was so mad he wouldn't turn around and even look.  LOL.  So if your stuck with no float partner or rivers are way to high, give pond fishing a try, it can pleasantly surprise you.

When Your Stuck to the Bank

       About the middle of October, our lives changed drastically when I was hit head on by a small compact car and it totaled out my Nissan Xterra which we had used for carrying our Kayaks to fish for the past four years.  As most of you know, it's not  only a lifestyle for us, it's in our blood now; we are addicted.  So without a truck, what is a fella to do?  Hit up some smaller rivers and travel the banks, rocks, and even wade the shallow waters for some surprisingly large bass in such small waters.

      We fish a small unnamed river that flows into a lake, that at places, is barely as wide as a two lane road.  It's about waist deep on average and there are a few holes and pockets inside the shoals we wade that are a little deeper.  But we find most of the year, the big spots, shoal bass, and occasional largemouth are in the shallowest, fastest water we can find inside those shoals.  

    The gear I recommend for small flows like this would be one versatile rod, that had a medium action with some give to the tip and at least a length of 6.5-7ft.  That sounds long for wade fishing, but when a 4lb spotted bass grabs your swim bait on the end of a 50 yard cast, you need a long rod to drive the hook home.  I use a Dobyns 765 CB GLASS for this type of fishing.  It lets me throw anything from jerk baits, which are my all time favorite shallow water lure, small swim baits, spinnerbaits, top waters and more.  

      Now as for lures, the one's mentioned above are my main aressenal and I almost never slow down to plastics because in small flows, there are just less baitfish for the bass and usually less pressure so that makes for some extra aggressive, big spotted bass and shoal bass.  I caught a shoal bass from the one lane wide, creek/river you see above that weighed 4lbs 1oz and was only 18.5" long.  She was fat and pregnant, and wanted my Suspending Rogue like it was crack for an addict.  

4lb 1oz Shoal Bass

    I usually use those oh so stylish, "fanny packs" that have double water bottles on them.  You can get them at Walmart for really cheap and it comes with the two 24oz water bottles that fit on your sides like two six shooters.  This works great for a drink in one and an extra spool of line in the other.  Then you can fit your assortment of jerk baits, spinnerbaits and occasional soft plastics (just in case ;) etc.  I find the suspending jerk bait to be the deadliest of all the tactics I have tried for these small water bass but have caught some pigs using my 5" Bullshad also.  Sometimes they just swipe at it though, because it's a little large to represent the forage in this river but at least that shows me where they are and I can come back and get them to eat that jerk bait when it suspends in their face.   

     So try some small water wading when you find yourself stuck without a vehicle, you might just be surprised at the size of bass that can live in 2-3ft of water annually.  These fish are trapped in this area and live here year round.  So they are accustomed to the fast water and feeding even in cooler temperatures.  Don't be afraid to give that small flow a shot that's down the road from your house.  You may just catch a few of these weirdo's, like this spot and shoal bass hybrid.

By the Grace of God, My Seat Belt, and Air Bags, I am Alive!

I was on my way home Wednesday evening around 5:00, heading south on Hwy 42 towards Jackson when a lady decided to pull out in front of my truck right as I was passing.  As you guys know, the laws of physics don't allow for two objects to occupy the same space at the same time, well to say the least we collided with such force that all I remember is seeing her black car, then the air bag exploded and I slammed on brakes.  I ended up going straight off to the left side of the highway and I guess she spun around and ended up in the middle of the road.  It happened so fast I never even had a chance to hit my brakes before hitting her so I was full on going 55-60mph when I hit her.  The speed limit is 55 on that stretch.  I couldn't get the driver door opened, so I rolled out the passenger side and got away from the truck in case of fire or anything like that.  All I knew was my face hurt, I was dizzy as heck, and the cabin of my truck was full of the smoke from the air bag going off.  I thank God, I came out of the wreck with only sore muscles and a sore neck. One little tiny nick on my right knee and a little split on my nose, That was it.  I swear all my vehicles will be a Nissan from this day forward!

Well, the lady admitted to the cops that it was all her fault. She was okay also, except she had a banged up wrist.  Red nose like me but she was more worried I was going to sue her than anything I think. But it was her fault, So hopefully there won't be any problems from here on out getting a new vehicle.  I am just glad I can see another sun rise and that both parties involved were okay. We both walked away from what could have easily killed both of us.  Thank GOD.  That's for sure!