Where’s the Yak? Pond Hopping 101

Happy Monday Spacefish!

So I recently took an out of town trip. My wife, my two sons, my mom, my dad, my grandmother and I all loaded up into a big rental van and hit the road headed north to celebrate my dad’s 60th, and my nephew’s 4th birthday. My brother lives on a tobacco farm, outside of the small town of Metter, Georgia, located along I-16 between Macon and Savannah. If you are like me, you need water to breathe, and if there is a body of water that may hold a fish nearby, chances are, I am bringing a rod, a few packs of soft plastics and seeing what we can get into.

Back to the Basics

So many people (adults) have gotten to a point in their fishing life where we have our vessels (boats/kayaks etc), our rods, way too many lures, our equipment, to sum it all up, our “systems.” For me, it usually involves going out to fish with 5 rigged rods, a few tackle trays with my assortment of terminal tackles and topwater plugs and frogs, a few gallon ziploc bags that sort my soft plastics, and a small bag for my leaders, pliers, braid scissors, and boga grips. When you are out covering a big body of water those things are necessary, and in a boat or kayak you’ve usually got the room to carry these things. Well pond hopping is an entirely different animal. In so many ways it is much easier of an undertaking when you consider that you are targeting fish that are confined to a small space, and limited food source. You can take “finding” fish out of the equation, which is the normal make or break for most fishing trips. These fish are usually going to be more aggressive to “eat” due to having a limited supply of forage in a smaller body of water than a big lake. The challenge to pond success is to be able to carry a small but efficient supply of baits that allow you to match the hatch and throw colors and profiles of what is natural to these fish, and to cover all areas of the water column.

My Setup

I brought my best all around setup for Bass fishing, for me that is a 6’10” casting rod, an Empire Fishing Rods “Royal” with an Abu Garcia bait casting reel with Beyond Braid 20 lb test Moss Camo” braid. I tied on a 15 pound mono leader to a 3/0 Gamakatsu EWG (Extra Wide Gap) Worm Hook.

The nice thing about this setup is, I was able to fish 3 confidence pond baits that covered top water, the mid water column, and the bottom without ever having to change anything. No cutting, no retying, just a smooth and easy transition to a different presentation. These South Georgia ponds were filled with aquatic vegetation, so instead of a traditional Texas rig with a tungsten weight, I went weightless and weedless.

My Three “Confidence” Baits & Results

Because it was a big family weekend, I would grab my rod, go out for little fishing spurts around birthday celebrations, smoking & grilling meat, swimming with the kids in the pool. So taking summer Bass patterns into consideration. Fishing at sundown, it was the Bitter’s Buzz’n Gator that shined, buzzing this bait along the surface, along edges of vegetation waiting for the blow up. Here are two Bass I caught after dinner on the Bitter’s Buzz’n Gator in Mardi Gras. Another benefit of pond hopping is you can bring a dog with you, below you can tell that my brother’s dog Piper loves Bass.

When the sun was higher in the sky, the two baits that shined for me were soft plastic jerkbaits, and stick worms. The Fish, or Die Warbird in Liberty Tree (Watermelon Red) and the Bitter’s Skip Shad (Fluke Style) in Okee Magic were great fish catchers on a hot July day, the picture at the top of the report was one of these fish.

If I went 20 minutes or so without a bite on a weightless and weedless jerk bait in the middle of the water column it was time to go low, and go really slow. I was able to pick up a few finicky fish on the Fish, or Die Ramrod in Philadelphia (Junebug Red), and the Bitter’s Salty Sling in Xmas. This is a great bait and presentation for beginning bass anglers, but also experienced anglers on a hot or cold day when the fish are lethargic and finicky. You can’t fish this bait too slow, please never forget that! But you can dang sure fish it too fast. The nice thing about this bait is, you really can’t go wrong if you’re fishing it patiently, the downside is, it can get pretty boring. With this bait the key is to throw it to a good looking spot, and do nothing for about 10-15 seconds, then lift it off the bottom, reel up the slack and wait. Rinse, repeat.

Conclusion

What a great trip and time it was! I missed my kayak and the Florida scenery, but it was great family time. Don’t worry folks, I am back at it this week, and next week’s report I will be back in the yak with some local content! I hope everyone has a great week, and stays cool and finds some fish willing to bite in the dog days of summer. Until next time!