Farm Ponds

Largemouth bass build nests in shallow water, and males aggressively defend them. Try tossing plastic worms, tubes, jigs, straight-line spinners, or small spinnerbaits around the beds to badger a bass into striking. A wacky-style floating worm is another early-season favorite.

In ponds that are more open, try crankbaits, such as 1/4-ounce Model A Bombers or Bagley Balsa B’s, that dive and wobble along bottom.

Summer Tactics

As summer approaches, anglers must adjust their schedules to fish when bass are most active. When the pond was cool, bass spent the daylight hours in warm shallow water, but now that the water’s warm, they feed in the shallows only when the sun isn’t beating down. The first hours of daylight and the last hour before sunset are prime times. Baitfish, frogs, insects, and other critters that bass consume move into the shallows during low-light periods, and hungry bass take advantage of the buffet.

Pond vegetation grows rapidly in summer, and bass use it for shade, for ambush sites, and for resting. During extremely hot weather, oxygen produced by the weedbed creates a more comfortable environment for fish than deeper areas with little or no weedgrowth and low oxygen levels.

When bass hold in thick weeds, use a jig-n-pig or Texas-rigged worm to probe holes in the vegetation. Set the hook quickly and work a bass into open water away from the weeds, to prevent it from heading for the tangled jungle of leaves and stems. Crawl the worm ultraslowly as you work it through the weeds, but when it reaches an open area, speed it up to make it shoot for the surface like a small snake. Also try retrieving it parallel to the edge of weedlines where bass cruise, looking for prey.

Diving crankbaits are overlooked for fishing the edge of submerged weedbeds. Cast to the edge and crank the lure down, moving it parallel to the edge so it remains in the potential strike area as long as possible on each cast. On windy days, shallow divers or rattlebaits retrieved fast over weedbeds draw powerful strikes

When choosing lure colors for pond bass, consider water color and available prey. In murky ponds, parrot, firetiger, and combinations with chartreuse catch a fish’s eye. Rattling models are worth a try, too. In clear water, bluegill and shiner patterns work well, and crawdad colors can be best if the pond has a natural population of craws.

Night fishing is the key to explosive action during summer. While some bass retreat to deeper water when it gets dark, many cruise the shallows and continue to feed on sunfish and minnows that are less wary after dark. Work spinnerbaits through open pockets in vegetation or through the branches of fallen trees.

Topwater baits like the venerable Hula Popper and Jitterbug make a ruckus as they slowly waddle across the surface. Dark-colored lures are favored because as a fish looks upward toward the surface, the sky provides a lighter background, silhouetting objects on the surface.