Farm pond bass take us back to when things were simple. You don’t need a lot of expertise, equipment, or time. You can be an absolute beginning angler with a spincast reel, a white spinnerbait, and half an hour of freedom. The half hour of freedom is the only necessary ingredient for a good time at the pond.
In rural areas across the River Valley, almost every pasture that did or now holds livestock will have a pond of some size and shape on it. The primary reason for a pond is to supply water for cattle, horses and such, but the landowner would often stock a pond with bass and other game fish. Wading birds can occasionally deposit fish eggs from one locale to the next as well. Ponds with a creek in close proximity will likely have fish deposited in them when the creek overflows, and ponds with larger feeder creeks running through them are good bets to hold bass.
The first thing to do after locating a prime piece of small water is to find out who owns the pond and ask permission to fish. Be polite and courteous. Be sure to add that you will close all gates and pick up any trash lying around, even if you didn’t leave it.
When you get permission to fish, remember those things you told the landowner because if you want to come back and fish this pond again you will need to do them. Close the gate behind you, pick up your trash, don’t keep fish if told not to, and for the love of Pete don’t harass the livestock. It’s not that hard, and it can insure that return visits will be welcomed.
Once you’ve gained access you need to equip yourself, and this is the real beauty of pond fishing: whatever you have will work just fine. You don’t need half a dozen rods suited to half a dozen tasks. I like to use the lightest equipment I can get away with, but really, it doesn’t matter. Bait casting, spinning, fly rod, and spincast tackle are all acceptable. The bass don’t care.
A handful of lures will cover everything. Fly rod anglers need some streamers and popping bugs. All others need a bottom bait like a jig or Texas-rigged plastic worm, a topwater lure of some kind and, no matter what else you bring, always tuck a spinnerbait into your tackle pack. Pond bass and spinnerbaits go together like beans and cornbread. No matter the season, always bring a spinnerbait.
You don’t need to impress anyone by wearing a jacket with enough sponsor logos to make a stock car envious. No one that cares whether you can pitch, flip or skip. The basics will serve you well here at the pond.
The only thing you need to be “pro” at when your pond bassin’ is spotting fresh cow patties.
Simple Fun at the Pond
