You don’t have to face the open sea or load up your boat to get in a good day of fishing. Most anglers can get a fun day of fishing in their own backyard. Most small ponds have a wide variety of fish to choose from. Sunfish, Bass, Catfish and even crappie can be caught in even a small backyard pond.
Bass Fishing in Small Ponds
Most fisherman start off bank fishing and move into boats as they get more experience. It’s no surprise that men seem to forget their roots when they need to move back onto the bank. It really isn’t all that hard to fish small ponds with a few minor adjustments.
How Do You Fish Small Ponds?
Take Your Initial Assessment of The Pond
Before you actually get in and start fishing you’ll need to figure out where you want to fish. Smaller ponds typically don’t have a lot going on so it’s pretty easy to find the best fishing points. Keep an eye out for overhanging trees, tall grass, fallen trees, Lilypads, stumps etc.. Bass love to congregate around isolated points that offer a little bit of cover.
Keep an eye out for all the little things that make a pond attractive for fish. Make sure you take notice of the water clarity, any unusual grades or slopes(bass love steep banks), creeks and inlets, and signs of forage or shade.
What if you don’t know where to start? You’re going to have to start somewhere, so try breaking the pond up into smaller subsections. After a couple times fishing the same pond you should start to see exactly what the fish like. Make sure you keep track of biting patterns and where you’re frequently finding bass.
Consider The Water Color
When you first get to a small pond you need to take a good hard look at the water color. The ponds color and clarity is largely going to depend on the time of year and how well it’s maintained. Green and brown water is going to be pretty obvious, but the clarity often lands somewhere in the middle ground.
When the water is clear and the sky’s bright you’re going to want to stick to natural color schemes. Your green pumpkins, bream and shad colors are going to work in any lake. In muddy water you’ll want a little bit more pizzaz. Bright colors and big flashy lures will draw a lot of attention in dirty water.
Work The Water Fast To See What’s Biting
Most of the time I’m going to start off by casting towards whatever type of debris I can find in the water. I’ll typically start off fishing a fast moving bait canvasing the water for fish. For example I’d probably throw my Strike King Finesse Spinnerbait quickly canvasing the area. Learn how to slow roll your lure for big bass.
When The Bass Aren’t Cooperating Change Things Up
I’ll see how active the fish are with my spinnerbait. If they aren’t cooperating with me after 20-30 minutes I’ll switch over to a slower moving bait. Switch over to your soft plastics, craws or worms on a basic Carolina Rig. You can’t go wrong with a basic Dark Colored Senko Worm(I like the Green Pumpkin With Chartreuse Tail).
On super hot days you probably shouldn’t even bother using a faster lure. Bass move slowly during the heat and don’t want to waste the energy on a fast moving lure.
Where Do Bass Find Cover in Ponds?
On small ponds you can almost guarantee there’s going to be large bass hanging out around cover. That branch that’s sticking a foot out of the water is prime real estate on a small backyard pond. There’s probably a 90% chance you’ll have luck fishing around cover.
Most smaller ponds don’t have a lot of cover where fish can hide. At first look they often appear completely featureless and uniform. As you study them you’ll start to find areas that offer a little bit more cover and shade than the rest of the pond.
Edge of the Shoreline: Always start right on the edge of the shoreline because that’s where bass love to hold. The bank provides a lot of cover and food from land. I love working the shoreline with a Booyah Pad Crasher hollow bodied frog.
Trees and Brush: Look for overhanging tree branches and brush that provides a little bit of shade over the water. Especially look for brush that actually dips down into the water. Baitfish love congregating around this little bit of cover in otherwise featureless ponds.
Rocks and Logs: Just like riprap attracts bass in large lakes rocks and logs will attract the same type of bass in small ponds. Rocks and logs are going to hold a ton of easy grub for bass to chow down on. They attract baitfish, crayfish, insects and little grubs.
Weeds: Look for any type of vegatation and overgrowth that you can find and toss in a Hollow Bodied Frog like the Pad Crasher or maybe even a Arbogast Hula Popper. Lily Pads and Cattails are surefire signs of hiding bass.
Dropoffs: Most small ponds aren’t going to have big drop-offs, but that doesn’t matter. Even a drop of a couple feet will attract holding bass.
Natural Damns: Most of the time a damn is going to be the deepest spot in any small pond. This obviously attracts the biggest fish battling oxygen deprivation during the summer. As an added bonus a lot of damns have drain pipes and culverts that attract a ton of minnows.
Fan Cast The Bank
The banks is going to provide both shade and most likely grass cover for hiding bass. Slowly work the bank fan casting a Zoom Speed Craw on a Texas Rig. I might also through a hollow bodied frog like the Booyah PadCrasher along the bank.
Cover a lot of water fast making sure you work both near the shore and out towards deeper water. It doesn’t matter what time of year it is, bass seem to love soft plastic craw lures.
Look For Natural and Artificial Current
Keep an eye out for natural and artificial current in smaller ponds. With stagnant water large bass are drawn towards even the smallest amount of current. Small creeks that feed the pond and fountains are really going to draw in bass.
Other Small Pond Fishing Tips
1. Figure Out Which Small Ponds You Should Fish
I learned a long time ago that not all small ponds are good for fishing. You should only fish small ponds that don’t get a lot of fishing pressure. A pond without a lot of fisherman will bring a lot more strikes and more mature fish.
Try and seek out small ponds near farms that have well fed fish. Most farmers are pretty friendly and willing to let you fish, as long as you keep your fishing spot to yourself(I know it’s easier said than done). You can also get permission to fish a lot of golf courses outside of the normal tee times.
2. Choose The Right Gear For Your Pond
Unless you’re outside the United States most small ponds are going to have the same basic fish(bass, bluegill, crappie and catfish). Unless you plan on targeting a single breed of fish you’re going to want to use universal rod and bait styles. Stick to your basic medium action spinning rod and reel with a 10-12lb line.(targeting catfish requires heavier line)
Live baits like nightcrawlers and grubs are always going to work on small ponds, but don’t be afraid to use artificial lures. You might seem intimidated by artificial lures, but most of them are pretty easy to figure out. Classic topwater like the Arbogast Jitterbug and Rebel PopR will really draw in a ton of strikes.
3. Be Sneaky
Small ponds seem to have notoriously finicky fish. Without much outside fishing pressure fish just aren’t used to all the noise fisherman inevitably make. In clear and shallow water that trophy bass might just get spooked back into deeper water when they see your shadow rolling up on the bank.
To avoid spooking fish make swooping casts across the pond working the water efficiently. Quietly walk alongside the pond focusing on anywhere that casts a little bit of cover.