Pond Boss

Yeah...they're OK.

I'm going back to George's original statement of his pond being a mess but his fishing is great. Well my fishing has been the best ever also until last week. The fish just shut down. The number of fish at the feeders has decreased and the amount of feed each fish eats has gone down. So why the change? Well it's hotter now and we aren't getting two inches of rain a week. The creeks that feed my pond have slowed down to just a trickle. Are these the factors that have changed the fishing or is it the huge schools of bait fish that swim around all the time now? I don't think its the last one because I don't see anything feeding on the bait fish. So is anyone else experiencing this in their ponds also?

James, it is very normal for the fishing to slow down this time of the year. YOY and invertabrate numbers should be their highest point during the year right now. "Catching" at our pond typically slows down right around mid July every year, sometimes it's a week or two sooner, sometimes a week or two later.

Fishing this time of year becomes almost impossible in my ponds as well. I have atributed this to what Shorty says, which is that forage, vertebrate and invertebrate availability is extremely high.

[/QUOTE]James, it is very normal for the fishing to slow down this time of the year. YOY and invertabrate numbers should be their highest point during the year right now. "Catching" at our pond typically slows down right around mid July every year, sometimes it's a week or two sooner, sometimes a week or two later. [/QB][/QUOTE]

Hmm, I guess my pond is backwards, I have caught more in the last few weeks then I have all spring. I caught a nice 4 lb CC the other night and a 3 lb last night.
Sorry no pics.

OK, george, here's a fishin' story for you.

I managed to drown some worms for a couple hours this afternoon. Caught 2 nice RES (one tagged Redear, which has grown 3/4" in the last 4 months), a nice eater CC, three LMB, and 15 BG. One of these was the biggest male BG I have caught in my pond yet - 9" long and really built (shoulders, helmet, breastplate, CCW license).

Two casts later I hooked another big BG AND DARNED IF HE DIDN"T BREAK MY LINE! First time that's happened to me with a BG - I'm gonna have to start handling them like BIG fish.

theo, i'm guessin after catching all those fish, you needed to retie the knot seriously, its a rush to catch quality fish on yer own property, in yer own pond...i enjoyed yer fish story.....where's the pics??

Forgive me, DIED, I was all photo'd out after shooting about 50 references pics at the new pond. I just wanted to sit and fish and relax.

Love the fish stories � keep them coming...
Too much engineering and philosophizing on the forum lately for me...
I wanna fish!!!!

I must correct the first sentence above. It wasn't a BG.

When I went out to the pond to feed the fish tonight, I saw the bobber I lost last night floating about 10' offshore. So I grabbed a spinning rod with a double-treble hook lure on it and snagged the bobber on the second cast.

There was a very tired RES, about 9.5" or 10" long, still hooked to the bobber. He was extremely happy to be released of his burden and has sworn off worms for a while.

Still a first, a Redear breaking my line.

I went to Arkansas for the weekend and visited with some friends, they have 2 nice ponds on their place. We went fishing and caught 18 lbs of CC in about 2 1/2 hours. We had a blast. I brought some prepared CC bait called Premo Blood Catfish Bait. They had never tried it but the CC loved it. We had a great CC dinner that night.

Landed a new pond record CC today! 27 Inches, 8 lbs 12 oz, caught on a trimmed brown tube jig/Game Fish Chow pellet bait (I hate to try to qualify it as a "fly" when it was below a bobber and a sinker). I had a knot break above the hook just as I got her to the edge of the pond and managed to grab a hold of her before she thought about wriggling back in to the water.

P.S. Thanks to NEDOC for the bait idea!

Had to get the license plate in, didn't you?

Freak.

Nice fish Theo. I need to learn to fly fish someday. I bet it was fun to catch that.

Nice fish Theo!!!

Me, too. I pulled her in with a Zebco 33 Legacy on a 24 year old 6 foot, medium-heavy Fenglass rod.

that's all I needed to hear. My first rod/reel combo is gonna be ol' reliable....Z33.

Another good reason to use tube baits - you can easily stuff them full of (pellets , forage parts , scent , minnows etc.).

Guys, just do it�. you�re missing out on a lot of action.
If you missed the last issue if PB magazine article �Design Your Own Fly-Fishing Pond�, go back and read it�. good info about fly-fishing

Fly fishing is easier for a youngster to learn than an experienced fisherman because conventional habits are hard to un-learn�..
You are casting a weighted fly line and not the fly, as accustomed to casting a heavy lure/jig that carries the line.

Many fly-fishermen are self-taught, myself included.
Many excellent instructional CD�s available.

Just one word of caution � don/t start with a cheapie WallyWorld combo � you wouldn�t start fishing with a Snoopy combo rig would you?

I�ll help anyone that wants to learn to fly fish and select equipment � just shoot me PM ...

I bought the fly fishing gear this year, george, but somehow in bulding a new pond I lost the time to start playing with it. Forgive me.

OK good excuse this time, but I'm bringing my 5 wt to the PB conference next summer and we are going to have a pass/fail test....

Theo, just watch this video once and you'll know how to cast fly line.

FLY FISHING MADE (to look) EASY

Damn GW:

Looking at that makes me want to give up before I even try.

I have thought about it for years but never broke down and bought one. I saw some combo's on sale last week on Cabela's and they had a pretty good guide that helped narrow down what one would need for certain fish. But I decided to think about it some more and wait until spring if I ever do buy one.

But I do love to catch fish on top of the water, nothing is more fun to me.

Try this one...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2SgcCw6I8M

Bill, it took me about 37 seconds to learn, after watching a video that George sent, but I still don't do it well. I need to practice before I have to see George again. Theo, better get moving. George is tough.