Spawn Patterns

[WIUbassin]

Last year I caught my biggest fish(largemouth) to date, 6lbs 10ounces. I know that may not sound that big, but for upper Illinois thats pretty decent I think. I reeled here out of a 4acre interstate(I-57) pond. It was on april 13th last year and spawn had just began to kick. I am relativly sure she was sitting on her bed. Anyways, I have fished this pond for 5 years and the biggest largemouth I had pulled out of it was around 2 1/2lbs so naturally I didn't bother to bring a camera(I still curse my decision to this day).
With that in mind I have two questions.
1. Do females return to the same location every year to spawn?
2. If I never see this bass again how would you guys go about catching the biggest bass in the pond? The ponds eco-system is really wacky. It has an extreme overpopulation of 6-8inch bass and apparently only 1(6lb 10ounce) lunker. The pond looks just like a big (fish)bowl with a couple of points where people have dumped huge slabs of torn out concrete. Other than that just cattails. With all that being said, What techniques would you try to have the best chance of pulling the trophy fish?

[ILfishinman]

hmm where is this pond? is it one of the ones that is long and has a downed tree and surrounded by cattails? also wanna talk to the guy that owns the one of of olympian dr. but i duno how to find out who owns it

[BassMoJo]

Just fish agressively w/ spinners and cranks cover pond as much as you can and cast parrall to the shore work that bank hard ...cast about ten to fifteen feet out and bring it in along the bank ! work the crank / spinner by any structure ...and if you see the fish miss have a worm or sumthing teid on another rod and put it right in front of him let it sink to the bottom and jig it !! Good luck

[WIUbassin]

Originally Posted by ILfishinman

hmm where is this pond? is it one of the ones that is long and has a downed tree and surrounded by cattails? also wanna talk to the guy that owns the one of of olympian dr. but i duno how to find out who owns it

The pond is in Danforth, IL bout 40 minutes north on I-57. I think I do know what pond your talking about though because I do alot of shopping in Champaign.

As far as catchin the fish. Thats some good ideas, however I already catch plenty of fish out of the pond, actually average about 20fish per 2-3 hour trip. But they are usually all small so I was wondering if you have any special tips or techniques for pulling out the large ones in a pond like this.

[hackattack]

fish a jig or a big swimbait for the bigguns

[Southern_Angler_#1]

Swimbaits are king on big fish.

[adamchasejones]

BIG BIG baits. 10in worms, would help elim some of the smaller fish.

[WIUbassin]

yeah i have tried that but then I end up with a bunch of plastics with no tails... I suppose thats just something you have to fight through though... Luckily I have some 15inch monster curlytails on the way courtesy of MyMomIsBecky... Hopefully they'll do the trick

[Bob60]

Ditto on the 10" worms and try a 12" culprit with an1/16 or 1/8 oz weight

[Bob60]

Try A 1/2 Oz Trap

[Jolly]

First and foremost, I would take as many of those small fish (6 - 12") out I could (like 500) now and in a few years, you will have some bigger fish because there will be less competition for food.

Second, I think in an eco-system your describing, the more quality females, having limited ideal locations to spawn, might return to the same areas in deeper water on those points to spawn.

As far as catching those bigger fish, especially right now and in the next few months, I would go to that point you were talking about with all the rocks. I would carolina rig a big fluke (6") with differing speeds. Cast it as far out (deep) onto that point as you could. Try different speeds and leader lengths. Also, I would, as others said, try a big swim bait or a 6" weight less senko or fluke. Let em sink to the bottom then dead stick it reel slow across that point. Vary the speeds and depths. I would really try to concentrate on those point being the only reel structure (from the sound of it). Also, I would concentrate on that point because it is likely to be warmer there because the rocks will absorb some heat. Also, fish like to make beds on rocky banks and the bigger fish will likely spawn deeper. With that said, on either side of that point should be deeper water for the big fish to retreat to if they need to. All combined should add up to a bigger fish hang out.

Hope this helps,

Jolly

[Patrick Krueger, Jr.]

I'd use a bass colored jerkbait. I'm just thinking if the pond is so crowded with little guys the big girls probably turn cannibal. Rapala makes a really nice looking one.

[lizardsrule]

Jolly's post was pretty good. I would think that the chance of the female spawning in the same area is pretty high. The bigger bass get the best spots. Do think about keeping some of the littler ones, to allow for bigger bass down the road.

Lizards

[WIUbassin]

Originally Posted by lizardsrule

Jolly's post was pretty good. I would think that the chance of the female spawning in the same area is pretty high. The bigger bass get the best spots. Do think about keeping some of the littler ones, to allow for bigger bass down the road.

Lizards

I really hope that she returns to the spot, it seems to match all of the perfect spawn spot criteria...

I have considered taking them out... Actually I probably pulled 10 or so small guys out last year but its not really my pond only a family friend so I don't really want to be taking bunches and bunches of them out incase for some reason something was to happen to the population... Most likely I will start pulling some more this year though.
Thanks for the advice all

[zooker]

Originally Posted by WIUbassin

1. Do females return to the same location every year to spawn?
2. If I never see this bass again how would you guys go about catching the biggest bass in the pond?

#1 yes i have one marked -zip strip- last year she was 6.3 pounds. her bed is in the same location -within 20 feet -as it has been for 3 years that i know of..

the bigger the bass the deeper the bed.. the above mentioned bass has bedded deeper every year.. i think that a 10+ pounder would bed in these lakes probly in 7-8 feet of water..


as jolly said rid your self of about 500 small bass they are over populating the pond.. i have a 2 acre pond i started with just 6 females and 5 males,3 years ago. i now have schools of 10"-12" bass about 300 all told. i will be getting some out this year..adding a large predatory fish -flat heads- have been a great controling agent for the brim population..

zooker

[keithdog]

Over here in NW Indiana, I've had a lot of success using a 3/8 - 1/2 oz white spinnerbait with a chartrues twister grub in water like your describing. It makes a pretty good sized presentation. You might get a few of the smaller ones, but to be honest, the vast majority of bass I take with this presentation are of the larger variety.