I absolutely love to bank fish for Bass. Almost every fisherman started out fishing from the bank. They figure out how much they love fishing and get a kayak or a small jon boat. After that they may graduate to a bass boat. I have a Bass Boat and I have a little Pond prowler boat with a trolling motor, but I still love to fish from the bank. I love walking around a pond and getting some exercise and taking two poles with me and developing a pattern. If you want to catch a lot of bass and some Big Bass than bank fishing at a local pond may be right up your alley. Also bank fishing involves minimal work. You grab some poles, grab some tackle, park your car and and get to fishing.
The Drama of Bank Fishing
This is just going to cover some pond etiquette so if you don’t care to hear this and want to get down to the fishing than just scroll past this. So a public lake is fine for bank fishing. However you may not catch the numbers that you will at some of the smaller ponds. However, a lot of the neighborhood ponds and golf course ponds are private. Here is the strategy I use. I use google earth to find a pond. For instance, in Florida almost every neighborhood has some type of pond in the neighborhood. I try and find a place that has a couple ponds within like a five mile radius. You are going to get kicked out of some places. My advice is to act like you live there. Maybe look at a street name and if they ask where you live tell them you live on Toledo Road!! Do not get on peoples property that live there and you might be just fine. If not just get your stuff and move on to the next one. DO NOT KEEP THE FISH. That is not cool. That is one way to get kicked out right away.
Must Have Lures
Obviously each pond or lake is going to be different. I will focus on pond fishing since that is the most consistent body of water. Most ponds have stained water and typically only have largemouth bass, blue gill, crappie, and catfish from my experience. Obviously we focus on the green fish here at Hook’d on Bassin. So if I am fishing for bass in a pond I’m going to have a Senko rigged weightless. I do not like mine wacky rigged. I like it to be rigged normal Texas style without the weight so it stays more weedless. I also like a shaky head for fishing the bottom rigged with a Green pumpkin worm. I honestly thing if you have that color for your worms you do not need anything else. It is a very universal color for where ever you are in the country.
Now for power fishing I LOVE to throw a square bill crank bait. I love a sexy shad color and a KVD 1.5 or 2.5 is hard to beat in a pond. Remember to reel and pause and give it some twitches. Speed it up and slow it down and use Fluorocarbon. Or you can use braid with a Fluorocarbon leader. If they are not reacting to that they may want something with a more subtle wobble or something that gets down a little bit deeper. One of my new FAVORITE baits is this Sebile Flatt Shad (lipless).
This thing is heavy and can cast a mile but it is a little bit smaller. It has great sound in the water and comes with great hooks also. As you can see in the video below I was using this bad boy to catch most of my 36 bass in 2.5 hours of fishing time. If I can power fish and catch the bass then I will typically do that all day. It is a lot easier and I can get my bait back in the water faster. Make sure you have good pair of pliers and fish grippers with you so you do not ruin your day by getting a hook in your hand.
How to Approach the Pond
STAY QUIET. A lot of this fish may be on the bank so you will want to keep a safe distance from the bank when walking to your next spot. Stay off your phone and don’t yell to your buddy. Just keep quiet so you don’t spook the fish. Also you don’t want to attract people from the neighborhood or golf course to request you leave the lake for having too much fun fishing. I also like to keep my clothing dark so the fish do not see me as well.When you make your first cast at a new area keep a safe distance from the bank on that initial cast just in case the bass are parked right on the bank. Last thing you want to do is spook a big five pound bass that you could have caught. Make parallel cast to the bank. Make several casts at different angles. Make sure you focus because a lot of your bites are going to happen right when you are about to pull your lure out of the water. If you see a target like a log or dock than I like to throw a worm at those targets. That is where a lot of the Big bass might be and Have more confidence throwing a worm and setting the hook extra hard into them.
In the summer and spring look for the areas that have shade. Especially if it is in the middle of the day. The fish can be stacked up in these areas.
In the fall and winter I like to look for places in the morning that get the warmest first. But I also like to focus on deep pockets also.
Do not Move on Too Quickly
On big lakes you can find huge schools of bass in one area. You can catch fish after fish in one spot for maybe an hour. There is usually a reason those fish are holding in that particular spot. Well in a pond it is the same thing. So many times I see pond fisherman make a cast and walk a couple feet and make another cast. First dissect an area. If you get a bite or catch a bass then make another cast in that exact same area. When you catch one a lot fo times it fires up the school and you will catch one after another. I was fishing a pond in Florida dragging a worm on a shaky head and started to feel some shell on the bottom. I knew right about that time I was most likely going to run into a bass. And sure enough I felt the bite and set the hook and caught a five pound bass. Got a new worm and had to retie and casted back out and boom caught another one. I repeated this same cats over and over and caught a dozen fish in that tiny little five foot area in the middle of the pond. Which brings me to my next point. Do not be afraid of casting out in the middle. That is usually where 90% of the bass hang out (unless it is spring time). You will probably have better success with a worm or a jig for this tactic. This will better help you find hot spots that have a rock pile, logs, Christmas trees and shell beds. Yes you will get snagged sometimes but those are the areas that hold the fish and you have to take into account that you will lose some gear. So make sure you bring plenty of your favorite baits. You are going to lose some tackle when you pond fish.
So guys listen if you want to test out some new lures, catch your PB (personal best bass), catch numbers, go on a fun date or get you little girl or boy on their first bass than go hit up a local pond. Also remember if you want your kid to love fishing than make sure they have a good experience. Go to somewhere you can guarantee they catch something. Bring snacks and drinks. Do not stay too long (leave them wanting more). Make sure the weather is nice for their first outing. If you catch a fish ask them to reel it in for you and don’t tell them there is one on the line. There is nothing better than the look on their face. You can get them HOOK’D ON BASSIN!!!!
PS. Check out this Video of me pond fishing and catching a bunch of bass on the tactics I just spoke about!!
Make sure to like us on Facebook and Follow us on Instagram and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
