Tackle and Technique for Ponds and Sloughs
by Lew Watson
Ponds are often murky, though a few river sloughs and deep-canyon reservoirs are reasonably clear at times. This discolored water makes vibrator-type lures advisable more often than not.
So, why not go catch your own?
For years I fished slow-and-silent marabou jigs and rubber worms to catch what I thought were goodly numbers of Western pond bass. Then I talked to several local tournament experts who mostly used spinnerbaits and crankbaits. They were boating five fish to my one in the same waters on the same days!
Besides the vibration appeal of such lures, their ceaseless cast-and-crank presentation effectively prospects far more water than slower lures do.
A happy compromise between lure noise and stealth is surface plugs. On quiet summer and autumn evenings, pond bass go wild for anything
splashing, gurgling, buzzing or just dimpling through shoreline shallows. It seems especially important that topwater lures be cast within inches
of shore rocks.
With murky water, duckweed carpets and floating summer algae for cover, bass evidently come in that close to feed on terrestrial life forms falling into the water. Anyhow, we've learned to hone our casting accuracy for better topwater catches along rocky shorelines.
Another excellent place to catch pond bass in warm weather is shallow bays with dense weeds. Regional bass anglers, particularly smallmouth specialists, are used to plugging deep, clear, rocky reservoirs and rarely venture into such jungly muck for largemouth sport.
Even fewer are conversant with weed-fishing techniques - weedless lures, stout tackle, boat poling or wading, etc. Too bad. With open-water forage like shad unavailable, pond bass have to make the best living they can off insects, frogs, leeches and the like way back in those weed beds. The only bad part about midsummer weed bed bassing is that fish kept for supper often have a muddy taste.
Idaho's Fishing Regulations in Brief
(See the Regional sections in Idaho's Fishing Regulations for the exceptions to these General Rules.)
Lakes, ponds and reservoirs, beaver ponds, man-made ditches, canals, diversion ponds, mill ponds are, in most cases, open all year.
Rivers and Streams and their particular off-shoot ponds are generally not open until Memorial Day weekend - May26 - and they close on November 30th. There are many exceptions to this rule, so check the regs.
Best Books on Pond Fishing:
Lakeside Recreation
Catch of the Day
Copyright 2001 by Spring Creek Communications