Wow, basslover! Every picture I've seen you post has made me envious of your pond/fishery!
I can only hope that I can one day pull the quality of LMB out of my pond that you pull out of yours!
So my questions:
What are you catching them on?
How often do you change your bait/lure (do you think they'll get hook-shy?)?
What have you had the most success with (or your go-to bait/lure)?
What do you have for structure/cover and is this where they're hanging out?
Thanks and congrats on the success with your pond.
PS - HOLY CATS! I just saw the huge Channel Cat! Great story and congrats on landing it!
Keith
Hi Keith -
Thanks. I'm fishing two ponds and posting pics from both. I'm landing bass on nightcrawlers and shiners the overwhelming majority of the time. I have some success with artificial lures, including; worms, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, jerkbaits, and poppers/plugs/jitterbugs. Hard to beat the real thing though.
I really look to see what is in the water and then use it, or find something that resembles it. I vary the speed and technique of my retrieval as well. I'm not the type that repeats the same cast to the same spot with same retrieval and technique. Slow, super slow, medium, fast. Steady, stop-n-go, jerk, pull. Etc. Aside from live bait topwater lures are my go to and that usually produces.
I haven't a problem yet with hook shy. My bass in my pond that is very clear water are hesitant at times. They can see the hook, sometimes they nudge the worm around and if they identify the hook no dice. If they see you it becomes much more difficult to induce a strike. So you become excellent at long casts, hiding, and patience. I also sometimes chum the water - I toss in worms or shiners and since they eat without consequence I then can entice a strike by tossing one in with a hook. I also chum the water at times for the bluegills. I find the feeding frenzy of the bluegills gets the bass active and they want in. So in the middle of this I will then target a bass and usually land one.
