Take Advantage of the Early Season Bite
By Marc Rogers
As spring nears the outdoors grace us with another year of abundant growth. Daylight hours increase and temperatures begin to rise creating a beautiful landscape with blooming trees and flowers. While this transformation is occurring the water temperatures in small ponds – generally one acre or less - are also rising, causing similar responses under water.
Ponds warm faster than lakes and impoundments in the spring due to the small amounts of water they hold. This warming water sets off a series of events under the surface of the ponds. The aquatic plants begin to grow and fish start the process of procreation. As the water temperatures rise to the middle 50-degree range male bass begin to make nests in shallow water. From this point until late fall the bass are usually eager to eat most lures presented to them.
When approaching a pond you should be slow and deliberate with every move. This is particularly important in the early spring, as the bass are easy to spook from the warm shallow water. It is best to wear clothing that is neutral colored and blends with the surrounding areas. Bass are weary of predators that come from above the water and will not stay shallow if they can see anything lurking along the shore of a pond. Most of the time spring weather brings with it some windy days. The wind is advantageous to the angler for two reasons. It helps mix the water in the pond causing it to warm quicker and creates a ripple on the surface reducing the bass’ ability to see an approaching angler.
Bass will build nests anywhere the water is shallow enough to allow the necessary sunlight for the incubation of the eggs. Many ponds are bowl shaped and have plenty of shallow water around the whole perimeter but the majority also has a shallower upper-end (area farthest away from the dam) where much of the spawning activity occurs. In the early spring anglers should target these areas, especially if the vegetation has started to grow. Vegetation creates oxygen in the water further concentrating the bass.
When presenting a lure you should remember bass congregate around cover because there is typically little natural structure in the bottom of a pond. Most of the cover present in ponds is vegetation growing near the shore. This makes a lure presentation parallel to the shore and vegetation essential. The one common deviation from this approach should be when fish attractors like brush piles have been added in the water but these too must be in relatively shallow water to be a reliable spring hangout.
Productive lures to use for springtime pond fishing are shallow running crankbaits, small spinnerbaits and soft plastic lizards. The crankbaits imitate baitfish and the shallow running lures stay in the strike zone without digging into the bottom vegetation and getting fouled. Spinnerbaits can be presented at most any speed and depth and also imitate baitfish. Lizards are common to bass because they will eat eggs from the nests. Male bass will strike them violently in an attempt to protect the eggs and young fry.
A pocket full of tackle is generally all that is necessary to be successful at taking bass from ponds. Bait casting, spinning and spin cast set-ups are all appropriate gear for pond fishing. Medium action rods and reels with outfitted with ten-pound test line is all you need. Pond fishing can be done on almost any budget and many times more enjoyable than chasing bass on large bodies of water.
