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Old 04-01-08, 11:11 AM   #1
DOUGER
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Default Private pond, no cover?

I have been reading here and on other boards about lures and all other forms of artificial baits trying to get a good handle on things before I experiment on my own but I have a question.

Last year my wife and I spent just about our entire year fishing at a private pond with no cover. There are a few areas with some grass, but barely enough to provide cover. We mainly used minnows all year and did well but didn't catch anything of any great size except for the occasional catfish(bro-in-law snagged a 5 pounder). But as far as bass went I caught the largest one using minnows and a bobber(about a 3 pounder, my scale is wacky).

So this year I am diversifying and learning all I can about artificial bait to help me bring in a Hawg for once. I realize that there may not be any "Hawgs" in this pond and I will only fish it when I don't have time to travel elsewhere and only have an hour or so to kill.

So after all that, here is my question. What would you folks recommend for a pond with virtually no cover? The water does get murky and I am not positive how deep it actually gets but outside of that there is no hiding places like stumps or pads or weeds or docks. I did use some spinnerbaits and caught a few small bass but that was it, all my luck came off of minnows. So what do y'all think? What is the best rig for me to try in open water to hunt for a Hawg in this pond?

Thanks for the help!
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Old 04-01-08, 11:33 AM   #2
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I'd try a texas rigged plastic worm, its the lure that most of us in here started out with an learned from. Once you get the hang of feeling the lure an watching your line, you may find some depth changes or other areas to fish in the pond. Theres bound to be some type of vegetation that the bass are holding on to ambush small bait fish, the worm is a great way to find out, esp if you come back with green vegetation on your worm.
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Old 04-01-08, 11:47 AM   #3
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I actually tried that this weekend JB, unfortunately the wind picked up and the wife didn't want to stay because it was quite chilly. I did find some grassy areas around where I usually caught bass last year on minnows.

I am sure the bite I am looking for is different than what I am used to, I felt some bumps but anytime I set the hook I came up empty except for grass. Gonna take some time to get used to "feeling" my bait.
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Old 04-01-08, 01:30 PM   #4
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Quote:
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I'd try a texas rigged plastic worm, its the lure that most of us in here started out with an learned from. Once you get the hang of feeling the lure an watching your line, you may find some depth changes or other areas to fish in the pond. Theres bound to be some type of vegetation that the bass are holding on to ambush small bait fish, the worm is a great way to find out, esp if you come back with green vegetation on your worm.
i totally agree!!!
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Old 04-01-08, 02:29 PM   #5
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Douger, once you've got an idea of the submerged cover/structure, you might slap them upside the head with a fluke or a weightless, texas-rigged finesse worm since the minnows have done so well. Good luck, man! Pond fishing is a whole lot of fun...
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Old 04-01-08, 03:20 PM   #6
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I have worms so I am set there, all shapes and sizes and I'll have to give it a try this weekend.

I hit Fishermans warehouse today and picked up some pork frogs and jigs to try out the ole jig-n-pig I have heard so much about.

Should be a good season once I get up to speed on artificial bait
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Old 04-01-08, 03:26 PM   #7
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Hey Douger, glad you decided to join. This really is a great site.

Your pond sounds a lot like mine. in the summer, topwaters are great in open water: Buzzbaits, poppers, and such. My favorite lure in my pond is a crankbait. I'd look at the Bandit Crankbaits. Our best producer last year was a Bandit 100 series in Bluegill color. Also, one the water warms pu, lipless crankbaits are killer for coving water fast with no cover.

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Old 04-01-08, 03:39 PM   #8
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Bassin, you guys are gonna get me in trouble with the wife. Y'all tell me a good bait and I go buy it...HAHA! The good news is she goes fishing with me so at least I don't catch much heck for buying fishing gear.

I plan on opening up my lure collection as the season goes. If it was up to me I would go rack up some credit card debt and buy a lot but she will be ready to kill me. =-)~

I did go by Fishermans Warehouse today and picked up some Uncle Josh's pork frogs and some Booyah bucktail jigs and Strike King Bitsy bugs. From what I have read the good starter colors were black/chartreuse, Brown, Black/blue glitter. So that's what I got, we'll see how they go this weekend.

Thanks for all the help guys!
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Old 04-01-08, 03:44 PM   #9
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Sorry to whoever I stole this from, but I had to.

Tell me about Douger. I just spend mor emoney than I had a BPS during their sale. and I've got these guys here to thank.

Those bandits are great and really wont break the bank at $4.50-5.00 a piece, it's not bad. I've yet to break one too, so they'll last a long time.

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Old 04-01-08, 03:48 PM   #10
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I already did a price check on em Bassin'. Right after I posted!
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Old 04-01-08, 03:56 PM   #11
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I do that too. then go: "wow, I wanna get one of these" and write it down. I've got like 7 pages now.

As for you jig colors, good choices. Black and Blue jigs are my favorite color. I've also started using some green pumpkin ones to match the crayfish in the reservoirs up here.


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Old 04-01-08, 04:48 PM   #12
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You want bigger fish..use bigger baits...7-9" worms or jigs with larger trailers.
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Old 04-01-08, 07:01 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BigBassin144 View Post


Sorry to whoever I stole this from, but I had to.

Tell me about Douger. I just spend mor emoney than I had a BPS during their sale. and I've got these guys here to thank.


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don't blame us for your bankruptcy..

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Old 04-01-08, 08:40 PM   #14
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Zooker, I don't fully blame you. But I never had a problem with the dang baitmonkey till I met you guys!

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Old 04-01-08, 09:02 PM   #15
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Along with what JB was saying about finding depth changes and maybe wood or rocks somewhere, the Texas rig is excellent. However, if you don't have the right rod and line size it might be more difficult (depending on your experience).

May I suggest a medium-light action rod with a spinning reel with 6 - 8 lb. line?

Just set your drag using your scale at half the weight of the line test (tie your line around the scale hook and tug until line comes out at 3 lbs. if you're using 6 lb. test).

A shakey head worm will also teach you the structure of your pond.
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Old 04-01-08, 10:01 PM   #16
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you may also try to use a pinjig out from the dam. or a white spinner bait from there also. spinners are good standing facing the dam and casting towards it and retreiving alongside the bank. when spring comes use a top water pop-r or anything top water. i love using a roostertail spinner ( in shalow water, about 2 foot). fairly inexpsnsive too.
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Old 04-01-08, 10:03 PM   #17
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oh soo sorry, bad manners here. WELCOME TO THE HOUSE OF NUTS AND BATMONKEY FANATICS!!! hahaha, welcome fellow basser.
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Old 04-01-08, 10:29 PM   #18
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You mentioned you do well with live minnows, so I was thinking a good lure to try would be a suspending stick bait like a Rapala X Rap or the Smithwick Rattlin Rouge. Cast it out and give it a few turns of the handle to get it down. Then twitch and pause the retrieve after that. You could also do well with a floating stick bait especially early in the spring fished near shore. Use the same twitch and pause retrieve, or jerk it under the surface and then let it flutter back to the surface like a struggling minnow.
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Old 04-02-08, 08:11 AM   #19
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I can't force myself to throw worms and jigs on a featureless bank. If your pond doesn't have any cover in it then I would use crankbaits, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits... stuff like that to cover water. Once it warms up topwaters like a buzzbait or Pop-R should be real good. If you get a good wind blowing to one side of the pond I would fish that side with a spinnerbait. You might slay them like that one day! Good luck!!
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Old 04-02-08, 10:17 AM   #20
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More great ideas guys, thanks!

I am heading to a pond with a lot of hiding places this weekend with the kids. So I get to try out the new lures and rigs I bought. The no cover pond will have to wait a few more days.

I gotta get a few more tackle boxes, the two I have plus a bag is full!
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Old 04-02-08, 01:04 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DOUGER View Post
I have been reading here and on other boards about lures and all other forms of artificial baits trying to get a good handle on things before I experiment on my own but I have a question.

Last year my wife and I spent just about our entire year fishing at a private pond with no cover. There are a few areas with some grass, but barely enough to provide cover. We mainly used minnows all year and did well but didn't catch anything of any great size except for the occasional catfish(bro-in-law snagged a 5 pounder). But as far as bass went I caught the largest one using minnows and a bobber(about a 3 pounder, my scale is wacky).

So this year I am diversifying and learning all I can about artificial bait to help me bring in a Hawg for once. I realize that there may not be any "Hawgs" in this pond and I will only fish it when I don't have time to travel elsewhere and only have an hour or so to kill.

So after all that, here is my question. What would you folks recommend for a pond with virtually no cover? The water does get murky and I am not positive how deep it actually gets but outside of that there is no hiding places like stumps or pads or weeds or docks. I did use some spinnerbaits and caught a few small bass but that was it, all my luck came off of minnows. So what do y'all think? What is the best rig for me to try in open water to hunt for a Hawg in this pond?

Thanks for the help!
My suggestion is talk to the owner about letting you put some old x-mas Trees in the pond. I would sink them in the middle. This would provide some structure. Wally world or bps has some mini spinner baits. No structure & allot light could work miracles with silver or gold bladed spinnerbait. Try Yum's new paddle tail worm on a shakey head. Also hit the pond with a rapala shad rap. My suggestion is the fire tiger perch patten
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Old 04-02-08, 03:37 PM   #22
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I've had the flu this week, had a nice doctors note through today. Been feeling a lot better today and the wife talked me into(like she had to twist my arm) into going to the pond.

I got her some minnows and I commenced trying a bunch of different things. I started with a couple of suspended jerk baits, no love there. Went on to try a few rattle traps to no avail. Even tried different types of worms and retrieves but couldn't get a whiff.

Finally I thought to myself the sun is shining fairly good, might as well throw on a chartreuse rooster tail and see what happens. First cast thought I felt a bump but wasn't sure, second cast he inhaled it!

OK, so it wasn't a hawg. Was barely worth mentioning I guess, about 12 inches long and prolly went for a pound or so. But it felt good to catch my first bass of the year none the less.

Kept trying it for awhile with no other hits. Dunno if it was a fluke or if I hit him in the nose with it but there was no more love for me today.

Still happy though just to catch a fish again. It's been a loooooong winter!
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Old 04-02-08, 03:43 PM   #23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lilmoosecountry View Post
My suggestion is talk to the owner about letting you put some old x-mas Trees in the pond. I would sink them in the middle. This would provide some structure. Wally world or bps has some mini spinner baits. No structure & allot light could work miracles with silver or gold bladed spinnerbait. Try Yum's new paddle tail worm on a shakey head. Also hit the pond with a rapala shad rap. My suggestion is the fire tiger perch patten
When I say 'private pond' I mean it is on private property owned by a company. It is tucked back in an industrial park and we asked if it was OK to fish and they were fine with it. It isn't overly fished and has been around plenty long enough to have grown some good fish. Unfortunately I don't think they would take kindly to me tossing things in the water, I might be pushing it to even ask.

That is why I want to venture out and hit some other places this season. I never fail to catch fish there but I want some bigger more challenging fish.
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Old 04-02-08, 06:26 PM   #24
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Doug, my best bait so far this year has been a Zoom Super Fluke in Watermelon Candy. Rig it on a 4/0 offset worm hook, cast it out, let a sink a few seconds, then twitch it or pull, then wait a second. vary with how hard you twitch, how often, or number of twitches between pauses and eventually you'll find something they like. I've also caught a few on the fluke in Albino colored, including a 24" catfish.

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Old 04-02-08, 08:58 PM   #25
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it was no fluke!! i love the rooster tail!! it was a reaction strike. 12" bass ain't bad for the first of the year. 3 more inches and you have a nice fish!! now try a spinner bait in the same spot. or a worm. the best retreive for a worm TO ME is to let it sink and ssssssllllllooooowwwwwwlllllyyyyyy bring it back in. or bump it along slowly. bet a manns grape 8 inch worm will get a bite like crazy. or a pumkin seed with a chartruse tail. great job.
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