# Late Winter/Early Spring Pond Tips?



## jmenchhofer (Jan 12, 2007)

The ice is gone, the creek below the Grand Lake spillway is way too high to fish for walleye, and the Auglaize is also too high to give the smallies a shot, so I'm thinking of hitting a local pond tomorrow, primarily to target bass. I've never really fished for bass this early, so I could use some pointers. I'll share my thoughts on where to start, then feel free to pick them apart or add your own.

I'm thinking of fishing in the afternoon, to allow for any warming that may occur through the day. I would also begin by working the shallower areas of the pond because I would expect the water to be a couple of degrees warmer in these areas. 

I like fishing artificials, but have nothing against live bait either. My Dad and I used to catch a lot of bass out of a local pond a little later in the spring fishing a whole night crawler on a #6 or #8 aberdeen hook with a small worm weight in front. We would also sometimes use a split shot a few inches in front of the hook and inflate the crawler with a worm blower. I am thinking of trying this, but possibly in a carolina rig configuration, fished very slowly. 

As far as artificials go, I would consider trying a tube or texas rigged 4" ribbed worm. It seems to me that when the water is this cold, there really isn't much of an option for covering water quickly with a faster presentation. 

That's what I'm thinking...:F


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## Big Joshy (Apr 26, 2004)

husky jerks work for me. very slowly twitched in 6 inch to 1 ft pulls with pretty long pauses in between. This cold weather probably pushed the fish away from the banks to the first drop. I also caught bass and crappie on a small jigging spoon tipped with a waxworm fished under a slip float. jigged just like your ice fishing.


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## Big Daddy (Apr 6, 2004)

Try a 4" black or watermelon seed finesse worm on a slider head or a shakey jig and fish it SLOOOOW.... I would also try a senko or yumdinger too and work it real slow. 4" models this early. If it doesn't work straight, try it wacky rigged..


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## bassattacker (Mar 14, 2007)

ive always caught my early spring bass on tubes on a slow retrieve or a very slow retrieve and slowly bounce it then let it slowly drop back down then do it all over again(pretty much like jiggin), the slow presentation like this has landed me multiple fatties out the private lake i belong to, just like fall bass are putting on the feed bags for spawn. also creature baits work well too on slow retrieves.


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