Trout/bass in a Pond

[Lunker777]

A while back, a friend of mine, his dad stocked there pond with about 400, 10-12" rainbow trout.

His pond is about 5 acres, and is 40' deep in the middle.... i would say its a pretty consistant depth seeing as it was dug for dirt to make an over pass... so they just made a huge deep hole.

Any how... this pond is spring fed and rarely fished for trout. My question is would the trout still be alive ???? no one has ever caught one but also, no one has gone to the middle and properly fished for them.... we have always shore fished for blue gills and bass .... he has a small aluminum ive been trying to talk him into putting a troller motor on to go fish for them, but he doesnt think they are there any more either ? hahah what do you all think ?

 

My second question would be, what do you think the best way to fish bass from shore in a pond like that be ? i catch ALOt of small ones, but i know there are some big bass in this pond also... Ive caught a few 12-14 inch bass. I have been using texis rigged plastic worms.... tried crank baits, spinner baits, frogs, floating worms... lots of stuff.... my best luck being plastic worms.... but im not catching very big fish .... any tips or ideas ??? Im thinking maybe some tubes might work ? They bite on real worms well, but you also catch ALOt of small blue gills and what not.... its a pain.

 

Thanks for any help !!!

[ccmtcanada]

I'd say why not just try it out, but my gut says those trout are no longer there.

 

From the little I know about trout, in order to have a successful spawn, they require cold moving water (for high oxygen content). A pond just wont have that, unless there is a large fountain in it to keep the waters oxegenated. It'll likely get pretty toasty in the middle of the summer months.

 

When you say a while back...how long ago do you mean? If it was just a few years ago, then there may be some of the original trout in there, but if it's 10 years, then if no one has caught one, then I'd say they are gone. I'd think they'd head shallow to feed.

 

Anyhow, like I said, why not give it a try...it sounds like a big pond.

[kemper]

What is the max depth of the pond and the temperature?

 

Trout are kinda fussy and dont really enjoy hot baths.

 

If it is spring fed and relatively deep they are probably still alive, although if you have never seen one well maybe they are not.

[Stoty]

I would think the rainbows would be alive.

Especially with all those other species in there, they would have lots to feed on.

Depending on the time of year, will dictate their location.

Spring/Fall they will be shallower than the summer.

Try a jigging spoon deep in the summer.

 

As for the bass, if your catching a lot of little ones, I would recommend using bigger baits. Maybe try the 10+inch worms, big flipping jigs, etc.

Maybe try large live minnows.

[danbo]

You would see them surface-feeding on flies at dusk for sure. Look for bass near shore cover & fallen timber or rocky ledges. Crayfish may be natural food.

[Ryan Landry]

Depending on the size of the spring that is feeding the pond, fish may be escaping into the underground water system. Before he spends alot of $$ on stocking it I would get a diver to check it out and cover the hole (if needed), with some type of mesh.

 

Ryan

[cram]

If spring fed then likely cool enough. They wouldn't spawn though, so they're only there for one life span. Another potential issue is bass....hard to have both in the same pond, so if the bass population was established when the trout were stocked, most could have been eaten.

 

For the bigger bass.....try larger lures. Try topwaters in the morning or evening and you'll have a lot of fun.

[Lunker777]

As far as the bottom of the pond goes... i think its pretty clear of weeds... we are still tryin to figure out what the main bait for the bass are ! Im determined to catch a big bass out of this pond... it has happened before and it will happen again ! hahah

 

I have a feeling myself the trout are gone. They had a buddy of theirs tell them that if they didnt find any fish remian on the edges then they should still all be there..... but i dont think thats true. Fish would probably eat the dead ones... of some animal would i think at least ?

[danbo]

Get a mask, snorkel & fins & go dive it.

[Wild]

Five acres is a pretty large pond and you would need some good size bass to pick off foot long rainbows but there is no reason to fish the depths to catch them. Spring fed is good but what is the pH of the water? I say take the boat with a fish finder or invite someone with an underwater camera for a tour.

[cram]

Five acres is a pretty large pond and you would need some good size bass to pick off foot long rainbows but there is no reason to fish the depths to catch them. Spring fed is good but what is the pH of the water? I say take the boat with a fish finder or invite someone with an underwater camera for a tour.

 

whoops -- missed the part about the 10-12 inch.....disregard what i said about the bass :-)

[MCTFisher9120]

Would you be able to put a fish finder on this boat??????

[FLEX ROD]

Why not try to go out in the winter, drill a few holes and see what happens?

 

I am guessing that this pond is strictly on private land and the fish are privatly stocked hence you do not have a closed season issue. Go out and start from the shore and work you way out, use a jig and some worm and give it a go.

FLEX

[Lunker777]

Why not try to go out in the winter, drill a few holes and see what happens?

 

I am guessing that this pond is strictly on private land and the fish are privatly stocked hence you do not have a closed season issue. Go out and start from the shore and work you way out, use a jig and some worm and give it a go.

FLEX

 

Yea.. I suggested that, but the ice on the pond isnt the safest... with it being spring fed, it cracks ALOT i guess... even the owner has never been on the pond in the winter.

Im looking at a pontoon boat with a fish finder on it, so i guess its up to me to head out there and try and find one of the elusive "rainbows" haha

[Rich]

If the bass were there first, he fed them 400 beauty trout for breakfast one morning.

[FLEX ROD]

Lunker777,

 

I am a member of a club with about the same size spring fed pond and it also has Rainbows Specs Bass and Crappies in it yes you are correct with the ice at times not being the safest but 2 years ago for sure no problem and every year we have ice fishing.

The other opption, grab a canoe and a jig topped with a worm and go in first thing in the spring right after the ice is gone.

 

FLEX

[MarcusDiGiovanni]

Kinda late, but when I am shore fishing for bass i like to use a booyeah bogee bait. it's a buzzbait, and its caught me plenty of nice sized largeys.

[OhioFisherman]

A lot of ponds are dug like that for dirt for overpasses along the highways here in Ohio, some 5 + acres. Never seen one anywhere near 40 feet deep, the hole in the ground looks deep but 12 to 15 feet is about it here.

 

Water also tends to be warmer here, trout don`t do well here in ponds without constant stocking, not really suited to their spawning needs and pan fish play hell with their eggs.

 

Fished one for two years and couldn`t catch any bass of any size, dinks 12 to 14 inch, sometimes a lot of them. I thought they may have been stunted due to lack of food, pond was a bowl, roughly 6 acres, sides tapered off quickly not really suitable for wading. Maximum depth roughly 12 feet, most places 20-30 feet from shore 6 feet.

 

I used big chubs, shiners on a slip float to see if it had bigger fish, water was clear, not many weeds at all and they were thin. All small minnows had got me were small fish, lots of them, went thru a bucket of Lake shiners in an hour one day.

 

A 6 to 8 inch chubs caught me the bigger fish 18 to 22 inch and lost bigger ones, pond was on a cement companies property and some tires from the cement trucks were half floating in the pond, fish adapt, hook one near a tire? It`s the first place they head had some swim thru the tires. Wasn`t any wood or rocks.

 

Made my own slip bobbers for the bigger chubs from craft eggs purchased at a craft store, 4/0 or 5/0 hook. Smaller bass will take them but you can`t usually tell, chub moves around a lot, will come to the surface trying to get away, bigger bass just grabs it and gone.

 

No structure, the edge was the structure, break line from 6 feet to deeper water fish would cruise the edge. Rare to catch more than 2 a day, but 2 20+ bass ain`t a bad day. Boats weren`t allowed, no swimming, and a letter of permission at that one.

 

Pond was always pretty clear even after a rain but I used 14 to 17 pound test Clear blue stren and didn`t have issues with bites. Completely different story with lures, only once in 7 years did I see a decent fish caught on a lure, buddy got it on a white spinnerbait.

 

Couldn`t get a bass at nite at that pond, and I tried, never got a bass of any size on a surface lure there, I was usually the only one there and the only one catching and not just fishing. Most of the bigger fish from 10am till 3 pm.