Big bass, little pond.

[N80]

I have a shallow muddy pond that is actually pretty good sized at 8 acres or so. It has had no care, gets full of pond weed and kind of stagnates in the the summer.

But, I have a jon boat and have been doing some fishing lately. I used to pond fish a lot as a kid but haven't done any in years. All my tackle is cheap, small and some of the rod/reels are 'micro'. Of course that's all I need for catching bream and 1 1/2 pound bass which is mostly what we have. A 1 1/2 pound largemouth is a lot of fun to catch on a micro rod and reel with 2 or 4 pound test line.

Anyway, Friday I was geeting hits from some bigger stuff and the line on these little rigs was breaking instantly. So I called my Dad to come fishing and I went off to Walmart and got a bigger, but still cheap and small bait casting reel and some spinner bait bigger than the tiny beetle spins we use.

We'd been fishing an hour when I hook a big fish. As soon as he took off I told Dad we were not going to get him in the boat. Sure enough he jumped and spit the lure back at me. We were both stunned. Biggest largemouth I've ever hooked. I've seen bigger ones that other people have caught but never when or where I was fishing.

So, after the excitement died down we went back to fishing and about 30 minutes later I hooked another big one. I reared back to set the hook good and it came loose. As soon as it did, he hit it again! I reeled in a bit, drag flying and he surfaced and came off again. So I'm just reeling in the lure and he hits it again! This time he's hooked and I'm trying to keep the line from breaking but also trying to keep him out of the weeds and stuff. After quite a fit Dad pins him against the side of the boat with the net and we both haul him in.

I have no idea how much he (she) weighed. But it was big and fat like a female and was 24 inches long. We had a tape but no scales....and no camera. We marvelled over the fish a few minutes and put it back. (We already had some small bass and bream in the cooler and we prefer the smaller ones to eat.)

So there's a fish story for you. Probably no big deal for you serious bass fishermen but for me it was tons of fun, extremely exciting and the biggest bass I ever caught. And I had NO idea there were fish that big in that muddy shallow pond. For me, that was as good as an 8 point buck or a 20 pound gobbler.

Went back Sunday and caught a few small bass, a few nice bream and one 3 pound bass. But no lunkers. Put them all back.

In any case, even the small bass are fun to catch and just knowing there is a chance to catch a big one makes this low rent fishing a lot of fun. Inspires me to take some steps toward some better pond management as well.

 

[SkyPup]

LOL, very nice story!

One time we were camping at a State Park, Gold Head Branch in Keystone Heights, Florida, adjacent to the US Military Camp Blanding. There are a series of small ponds and lakes there with lots of bass. The clear lakes have bright green and silver colored largemouth bass, just like you'd see in a taxonomy textbook.

Anyhow, one morning I go over to the neighbors camp (retired Greyhound bus driver with a Bus RV) and am talking to him about the bass fishing and notice a huge Coleman ice chest making a "humming" noise. Come to discover he caught a 12 pound largemouth bass and put it in the cooler with an aerator to keep it healthy. He has caught this same bass four times over a series of two years now as he keeps releasing it back into the same small lake and then catches it again! It sure is a beautiful way to have fun!

 

[texasjohn]

Good story! Keep fishing there... and putting the big ones back!!

You'll find that bass bite better in small ponds better than lakes/rivers...

My wife calls our pond the H*** hole" because I catch and release there... she thinks it must be H*** for the bass since they can't get away and keep being caught.

 

[HickoryNut]

A 24" bass is going to weight 8-10 lbs depending on girth. Having a couple of them kinda sows in your pond is the best management strategy you can achieve.

Buy a grass carp or two if the vegetation is getting out of hand.

 

[N80]

A 24" bass is going to weight 8-10 lbs depending on girth. Having a couple of them kinda sows in your pond is the best management strategy you can achieve.

Buy a grass carp or two if the vegetation is getting out of hand.

Dad and I guessed that it weighed 7-8 pounds so we may have been close, and it was pretty fat so maybe even closer to ten!

I'd wondered about the grass carp. I might give that a try. Is there a downside? Is there any chance they'll overproduce or anything like that?

 

[TNhobbyfarmer]

Please, next time you go fishing take a digital camera and a scale with you. I want to see a picture and know the weight. And yes, continue to release the big ones. I think they have earned the right to fight again and when the time comes, die a dignified death.

 

[TNhobbyfarmer]

Please, next time you go fishing take a digital camera and a scale with you. I want to see a picture and know the weight. And yes, continue to release the big ones. I think they have earned the right to fight again and when the time comes, die a dignified death.

I reread my previous post after I submitted it, and it almost sounded PETA like. Believe me, I'm not one of those nut cases. I love to hunt and fish. Over the years I have just developed a soft spot in my heart for the big buck or largemouth that bucks the odds and reaches maturity.

You might want to go Pond Boss Magazine Home Page!. That is a forum that is devoted entirely to ponds. There are some very knowledgable folks there that can give good advice on maintaining a pond.

 

[dooleysm]

I can't think of a more dignified way for a fish to go than to be fried up and eaten alongside an ice cold beer.

Certainly better than being speared by a heron.

Also, I think 8 acres is stretching out of the pond category, smack dab into lake territory.

 

[N80]

Over the years I have just developed a soft spot in my heart for the big buck or largemouth that bucks the odds and reaches maturity.

Yep, me too. I think it has a lot to do with the maturity of the hunter and the fisherman too. Sometimes the trophy isn't the most important thing. I just got a little fish scale to go in the tackle box and will keep the camera on hand.

You guys may be get to see a lot of pictures of 1.5 pound bass!

You might want to go Pond Boss Magazine Home Page!. That is a forum that is devoted entirely to ponds. There are some very knowledgable folks there that can give good advice on maintaining a pond.

I've been doing some lurking there lately.

 

[MarkV]

Dad and I guessed that it weighed 7-8 pounds so we may have been close, and it was pretty fat so maybe even closer to ten!

I'd wondered about the grass carp. I might give that a try. Is there a downside? Is there any chance they'll overproduce or anything like that?

George,

The Grass Carp that dealers are allowed to sell are sterile so they will not take over a pond. They well get big though. About the only down side is they will clear all vegetation is some ponds and there are certain undesirable pond weed they will not eat. They are a good way to control vegetation without using chemicals though.

Good fishing story.

MarkV

 

[EddieWalker]

George,

Great story, and congrats on a fine catch!!! I bet you're rethinking your plans on "fixing" your pond. hahahha With fish of that caliber in there, I'd say it's about as good as it will ever get. Anything you do to it will either mess it up, or set it back ten years.

The grass carp will probably cause more harm then good. I woldn't mess with them, or do anything else to the pond. Leave it alone, it's in perfect condition right now.

I'm not much of a fisherman myself, but I do have one story that everyone might enjoy. I got to watching those bass shows on TV and thought it might be fun to try, so I mentioned it to a buddy of mine. He said he was going to go fishing at a Lake Chabot that weekend and I should come along. The bass were spawning and it was a good time to fish. This is a public lake in a park that borders Oakland California. Lots of people there and I never thought it would be any good for fishing.

We walked along the paved trail for about half a mile when he spotted some bass along the shoreline. To me, they looked like they were about six inches long, so I wasn't very interested. He said they were big and maybe a few were HUGE. I shruged my shoulders and went along with him, but didn't believe him.

I put on a black, plastic worm like I'd seen on TV and cast it out, then realed it in past the fish. I think it was my fourth or fifth cast when the fish took the bait. My real started spinning and my pole was half bent over. The fish just took off with it!!!! I tried to real, but couldn't get it in. Then it jumped for the first time and my buddy just about passed out. It was HUGE!!!

She came in and I'd take up the slack,then she'd take off and the real would spin out. This went on for half an hour to 45 minutes. Finally she was close enough to the shore that I draged her out while by buddy grabbed her.

With a cheap scale, we weighed her at 12 pounds. This was my very first large mouth bass. He took a whole roll of film worth of pictures of me and that fish, and not one of them turned out. I kept a few pics, but they are fuzzy and out of alignment. He's a good friend, but the worlds worst photographer.

Eddie

 

[ToadHill]

My grandson at 10 is the fisherman in our family. We have 2 ponds , a small one of abour 1 acre and a larger one of about 2.5 acres. He fishes them all the time. His best catch this summer was a largemouth that was 23". Thats quite a battle for a 10 year old.

Two years ago he talked me into fishing with him. I'm of the same mindset as my dad was; " I had a great day fishing until they started to bite." I just soaked a worm and let it lay on the bottom, darned if I didn't hook one of the grass carp, when I got him in we took him down to the house and put the bucket (big bucket) on the bathroom scale, The thing weighed 32 lbs. Thats eating a lot of grass in the last 5 years since I put them in to control alge.

 

[dooleysm]

I was jigging for crappie one time in a pond near where I went to college. I thought I snagged a log until a big grass carp came up to the top and took off across the pond with my drag screaming. I fought that sucker for a loong time and got it pretty close to me when all of a sudden the jig came flying back at me. He had completely straightened the hook and it shook loose. Just as well, I don't know what I would have done with it otherwise!

 

[N80]

Eddie, 12 pounds is a monster!

Since I don't have the resources to do much with my pond, it probably isn't going to change anytime soon. But the pond weed (I looked it up but don't remember the name) is really choking the place. I'd say its a safe guess that it is occupying 1/5 of the pond, and it goes from bottom to surface and it is dense!

His best catch this summer was a largemouth that was 23". Thats quite a battle for a 10 year old.

Heck, that's about the size mine was and with my light tackle it was all two grown men could do to get him in. That is a real trophy for a 10 year old.

The thing weighed 32 lbs. Thats eating a lot of grass in the last 5 years since I put them in to control alge.

Some folks around here fish for carp on purpose! They make 'carp dough'. There are various recipes but it often contains cotton or hair to hold it together. As you are aware carp can get huge and apparently put up quite a fight. When I was younger, some of the local folk used to eat them...and by local I mean poor, and apparently very hungry.

 

[czechsonofagun]

He took a whole roll of film worth of pictures of me and that fish, and not one of them turned out. I kept a few pics, but they are fuzzy and out of alignment. He's a good friend, but the worlds worst photographer.

Eddie

hahaha, that reminds me of that old joke:

This priest was a fisherman, but he hadn't fished in months. One perfect Sunday morning he couldn't resist. He called up the Bishop and claimed he had laryngitis. The priest then headed out to his favorite fishing spot. The hook hadn't been in the water five minutes before he got a strike, and landed the biggest fish he had ever caught--although he had seen bigger ones. A half hour later he caught the biggest fish he had ever seen. Another forty-five minutes later he landed a fish that broke the world record. All this time Saint Peter and God had been watching the priest from heaven. Saint Peter turned to God and said, "How can you reward this priest? He lied. He let down his congregation." God smiled at Saint Peter and replied, "I am punishing him." Saint Peter was confused, so God continued, "Well after he finishes, who can he tell his fish story to?"

You have great story to tell, but no good pictures to show

 

[EddieWalker]

You have great story to tell, but no good pictures to show

Great joke, but there are a few pictures.

I took a few pictures of the fish while it was on the ground that were clear enough for my taxidermist to use to paint a replica of it. With the weight and dimensions, he was able to order a fiberglass form that exact size. Then with my pictures, he was able to paint it to match.

I can't say for sure if she weighed 12 pounds or not, the scale wasn't very fancy or anything official. I let the fish go, so all I have to say I cought her is a few pictures and my buddy who was there. I know the lake record was quite a bit bigger then that, so there are others in there that are bigger.

Eddie

 

[czechsonofagun]

That's a nice fish; wonder when those bass fingerlings in my pond be that size

 

[Oleozz]

My biggest to date was a 7 lb smallmouth that I caught in Canada this summer. I am a catch and release person so hopefully it is still swimming in the lake and maybe give someone else the thrill of catching it. Normally the smallmouth are scrappier than a largemouth and love to jump. The 7 lb smallie was so big it could barely break water.

 

[clemsonfor]

Back 15 years or so i remember on outdoor life network i remember seeing fishing shows that either were current or several years old that i think was a BBc production from england or ireland or somewhere in euorpe where they fished for carp that were huge 20 pounders.

I was going to say as well grass carp that are sold are sterile.

Back about 12 years or so ago i was fishing with a buddy in his uncles farm pond that was about 1/4 acre. We would throw a lure out and on like the second cast we both caught about a 6 pound bass and we did that each for about three fish each, releaseing them all. We did this every day for a couple days then about every other day for a week or so till they stopped biting well. At first it did not matter what you dragged through there they would bite it. I had a lure that i have never cought a fish on till then and not since (well i never use it), but that lure had no motion was a cheap chineese lure i guess. It looked like a crank bait, had no lip, but sunk like one. It is like a zara spook in size and shape but it sinks so there is not motion on it just a purple fish like plastic thing that you reel in no side to side or anything, and it caught one!! We joked that we causght them all and they would not bite fo awhile, or that we just kep catching the same 8 fish. The pond was small you could cast across the middle and about 1/2-2/3 of the length of that pond. It could not have been more than 6 feet deep in the middle. It was in the cow pasture and the cows would walk about 15 feet out into it to cool off. That was one of the funnest summers i had fishing, we would go there about every other week after that first time. We never went befor then as we wrote it off being to small or just filled with brim.

What you can do it to keep catching those small bass and brim and taking them out so that the pond dosent get overstocked. The fish will stagnate and stay small and eventually the big ones will die and you will only have those small ones. So keep catching those small ones, if you dont want them give them to someone else.

 

[clemsonfor]

oops did it again, clicked on one of those posts at the bottom of a page when reading another, got involved reading it, to where i wanted to post. Did not look at how old the dang thing was till after i posted, and was like what forum was that thing in. Oh well.