hey guys so i stumbled across this new farm type pond in slc and the first time i saw it i didnt have my rod with me so i couldnt fish it so this last weekend i took a little walk with my old man to the pond. let me start off by saying that we went to walmart right before to get gear for what we though might be lurking in those waters, so i bought my typical blugell or panfish rigs with slip bobber and small jigs, but for some reason my dad wanted to get this chatterbait and he did. so we start fishing and on my dads first cast he nailed a nice 15 inch LMB, cool cool, and then 2nd cast , BAM again and he haad an even bigger one on that showed him whats up and wrapped him around a log, SNAP. well i guess that was the end of that since we only had 1 chatterbait dangitt[mad]. we ended up with 30 gills 8 nice perch and we got 10 LMB with the biggest being the 15er. a quick question to go along with this is im new at LMB fishing in a sense but i have done well for smallies so do they typically hit the same stuff? i was thinkng of getting some more of those chattterbaits since it produced 2 fish in 2 casts. what are some other good LMB tackle to use in a situation like that, poppers, spinnerbaits etc. any bass guys want to chime in?
thanks
tightlines
this is the one we had
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I'd throw top water-frogs specifically... Sounds like those bass are active and aggressive should be tons of fun!!!
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Surface lures are fun, though they don't perform all that great compared to the other parts of the country I've lived in (the midwest and the south). For whatever reason, bass here stay subsurface WAY more than I've ever seen in other regions. It's
, really - because there's nothing more exciting than watching and feeling and hearing LMB smash a jitterbug or hula popper...
Every bass box should have a spinnerbait or three.
Rapalas are versatile lure with lots of options to choose from. Other crankbaits will expand that technique.
Plastics is a huge category, but if you want to start out simple, find some curly tailed grubs, 3" range, give/take an inch or so in either direction. Just put them on a leadhead.
The fact is, sub 15" bass will eat anything and everything. Good luck! I grew up fishing farm ponds in Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska - and there's no better fishing in my mind. Those were good times and I miss 'em.
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ya i even saw some pretty big frogs swimming around the lillies and the bass were jumping like crazy after either frogs or the dragon flies that were skipping across the water. are there any specifc frogs to use, and do some poppers imitate that? and yes they are very agressive from what i witnessed.
tightlines
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ya it sure was fun not only with the bass but if you put a bobber on you would get a big gill every cast in 5 seconds max. but the biggest we landed was 15 the one that busted my dad off was atleast 5 pounds and fat but i guess he was camera shy[:p]. i would think that there are some nice ones in there since there is plenty of food and plenty of cover aswell as warmer water. next time i hit it ill post pics of a hog LMB if im lucky enough to land one cause they are good fighters.
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It all depends on the water color when it comes to lure color selection.
The classic colors of spinner baits, white, black, and chartuse work great.
As for plastics, sweet beavers, senkos and single tails are great. The cinnimon with black flecks, Changible Crawfish, Sweet Grass and Black with Red flecks works just about anywhere.
For poppers.....I only use white...but I bet more colors work as far as those go.
For swimbaits I would go with perch patterns, or bluegill patterns....after all that is likely what they are eating in there. The monkey minnow (white and black) pattern works well too on LMB's.
Hope this offers just a little if any insite. Sounds like you found a good little place for yourself!
P.S. Try some popper flies too! That would be awesome to get a biggun on a fly rod...but you better use some strong tippet! The Prince Nymph and Pshcodellic Prince Nymph work great on bass too.
P.S.S. Try out a top water fog...I have heard of some success with those at small waters...but I have never tried it yet, mainly due to the fact that most waters I fish lack frogs.
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Lure selection will depend on the body of water. If the pond is ful of weeds with only small openings in them then worms, jig, or top water baits would be my choice for the fact of being able to work these small openings.
If the pond is open water in the middle with the cover around the edges then is opens up a whole world of lures. While the above lures wil still work and work well now you can look into crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and the fast action top water baits like buzzbaits.
The one thing that we can't tell you is what will work the best. That is something that you wil have to find out for yourself with lots of fishing fortunatly.
One thing to keep in mind if you fish this small water alot is that the fish can become conditioned to a lure after time and you may have to switch tactics from time to time to keep the bite going.
Have fun learning a new peice of water.
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well i wasnt planning on fishing yesterday but my dad got up at 6 and said he was going fishing to the pond, tried out some topwater frogs and probly caught 20 LMB in 4 hrs. biggest landed was about 15 again and i had a few nicer ones shake the hook. i also defianlty need some stronger line to control some of the huge ones in there, we were catching gills on bobbers and while we were reeling em in these bass that probly were no joke 7 to 8 pounds were complety inhaling our gills we were trying to get for dinner and they were pretty decent sized gills. they would grab it and hold on to it for a good 10 seconds before they would spit it back out. a total of 4 times my dad hooked into em and they are just to big for 4 pound test that i generally use everywhere. we will have a rematch cause now i know i need some blugill or perch imitating lures or swimbaits. defiantly some of the biggest bass ive seen. PS topwater frog action is amazing fun, it reminds me of fishing dries for trout.
tightlines
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50-65 lb braid for the frogs I forgot to add...pOP-r are great too...though if the water is sloppy I always go frog vs POP-R so I don't have to pick crud off my bait every cast. I have found Utah bass like topwater just fine... its all in the presentation...
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it would make sense for that line in way thick moss to almost cut through it if the fish decideds to take off into the weed beds but all in all it worked good enough with the 4 lb mono even though it was squigling up on me for about 5 feet up my leader. going back in the morning with my boss from work, gonna get one of those toad bass for sure cause ill be prepared.
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[quote UVUbass]I have found Utah bass like topwater just fine... its all in the presentation...[/quote]
Then perhaps I need you to teach me a thing or two. [
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ive got some topwater for smallies a little at East Canyon but it had to be perfect timing and presentaion, definalty something new for me, but i also know that knowone fishes that pond. some of the casts i would do tthe frog would land in the water and before i could even twitch it back i would hear a spalash and it would be gone, its also sweet when you see the wake of the fish trailing behind it so i would just stop it and bam, fish on.
heres the bigest one i landed, a minnow compared to the ones eating our gills off our hooks while we were reeling in.
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