Pond Bass Playing Hard to Get

The bass in our favorite ponds around home showed themselves early this spring, sunning in shallow water and seeming like they were ready to move up and get active. That was a few weeks ago, and we've had quite a bit of spring-like weather since that time. The fish have largely remained hidden and tough to catch, though.

Nathaniel, Asher and I hit two of the ponds for a couple of hours today and only managed three small bass. We tried a variety of approaches -- stuff that normally works this time of year -- mostly to no avail. All three fish we did catch took shallow crankbaits. I caught two on a Rebel Bluegill. Nathaniel caught one on an XCalibur Square Lip. Beyond not catching many, we're not really seeing them. We only saw one bass that we did not catch today, and that has been more the norm than the exception since that one sunny early-spring day when fish were cruising shallow all over the place in the same two ponds.

It's not all bad. Trying to figure them out is part of the fun, and the boys and I always enjoy just going out to the ponds and riding around in the johnboat and/or walking the banks. It's just a bit baffling.

Small Water Surpise

Nathaniel and I spend a fair amount of time fishing a few little ponds on some friends' property. We spend the most time on the upper pond, both due to convenience and because we catch fish there pretty consistently and know it really well. Our favorite pond, though, is the beaver pond, which is tucked in the woods and a little more remote than the others. The beaver pond is shallow, full of stumps, has grown up banks and is really pretty, and it seems the frogs are always singing around the edges. We sometimes do quite well there, but we had never caught a fish that weighed more than about 2 pounds from it's waters. That is until yesterday, when Nathaniel threw an XCalibur Square Lip crankbait in the right place. See for yourself.

St. Clair Smallmouth Bass

Limited computer access and lots of running have caused me to miss some timely reports. Some stuff warrants noting, though, even if it is after the fact. A good example is the fun day that Nathaniel and I spent with Doug Cummings of Fine Line Guide Service on Lake St. Clair a couple of weeks ago.

Nathaniel and I always enjoy a day on St. Clair with Cummings, who always seems to know exactly what's going on with the lake's hefty smallmouth bass. YUM F2 2ubes and Mighty Bugs were the day's top producers, but we also caught fish on XCalibur Square Lip crankbaits and Rattle Baits. The Xr50 Rattle Bait is Cummings' go-to lure for St. Clair smallmouth bass, and he keeps a couple of them rigged and ready at all times.

We caught a bunch of smallies, with several in the 4-pound range, plus plenty of overzealous rock bass an a couple of small pike. Nathaniel also had fun battling a couple of big drum, but you can read that for yourself on his blog.

A Few Inches Deeper

"I'm not hitting any cover," Nathaniel said, having been thinking about my comment from a few minutes earlier that most strikes were coming after I felt my crankbait bump off a stump.

I'd caught four bass and lost another in pretty short order since Doug Markham had figured out that the bass were using a shallow, stump-covered flat and that they were tuned into crankbaits. Nathaniel was throwing an XCalibur Square Lip Xcs2, just like I was, and was making the same presentations over the same stumps, but so far he'd not had a strike.

Then it hit me. His baitcaster was spooled with 17-pound-test. The one I was fishing was spooled with 10. The lighter line was allowing my bait to go just a tiny bit deeper, and in that specific setting, that gave me just enough depth to hit the tops of the stumps and trigger strikes. Nathaniel didn't want to trade rods with me, and it was too late in the day for a total overhaul. He did pick up a rod that was spooled with 14-pound-test, though, and even that difference allowed him to hit a little bit of cover. Just a few minutes later he was in the game with a bass of his own.

Little things can make a big difference some days, and yesterday was one such day.