There’s a little pond – I’ve written about it on FAOL several times – that I fish regularly. I know it has been fished heavily last year by others, much to my dismay.
This spring, I see lots of motion, but very little catching. What I see is fish moving under the water, just below the surface. I can’t actually see the fish, though, I see the “v” of their movement. Bunches of them.
They won’t bite. I’ved tried poppers, gurgles, Jitterbees and other nymphs, boogers, scuds, you know it. They pass right next to it an ignore it. I still pick up the odd small bass or bream, but usually along the edges. These moving fish are mostly, but not always, in open water.
What the devil do I have here? Could it be carp? I never saw signs of carp before. This is a privately-owned pond but not managed and the owner allows anyone to fish it. It was good until this year becaues of it’s relatively obscure location, though like I said, more people fished it last year than I ever saw.
Hard to say but here is what I’d do.
Pick up a few worms. Tie a small hook to
your tippet, thread on a small piece of
worm and lay it in the area where the
activity is. No split shot or anything and
just let it slowly sink. My first thought
is it might be bait fish someone was using
for bass and then dumped them in the pond.
We have one we call a “roach” that will
reproduce like crazy and get fairly large.
Another idea would be using a cast net to
see what you might pick up. Good luck.
Warm regards, Jim
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=“1” face=“Verdana, Arial”>quote:</font><HR>My first thought
is it might be bait fish someone was using
for bass and then dumped them in the pond.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Or they might be chasing local minnows. I think I would have to try to match a minnow to see what would happen under those conditions where I see the fish chasing. I see this sort of thing all the time on a canal I know. I would probably catch more fish if I did match the minnow with a BND (Black Nosed Dace), Squirrel Tail Streamer or other small (mini) streamer or bucktail. A pencil popper might also do the trick.
There are times I have seen fish with tunnel vision and they only key on an abundant natural food source like one kind of local nymph or minnow. Trick is to find that food source. Like Jim said, a net can be one way to find that source.
Best of luck.
Robert B. McCorquodale
Sebring, FL
“Flip a fly”
[This message has been edited by dixieangler (edited 14 April 2005).]
While the info posted by Jim and others is possible, I’d say the more likely scenario is that the fish are simply out there taunting you. At least that’s what they do to me. They swim around in plain sight, back and forth. They make like they are interested in my fly, then they just move along. If you look closely at the water surface where they are swimming you might notice bubbles rising to the surface. I’m pretty sure that’s from them laughing at me.
R,
Could be that the fish are feeding on some type of insect emerger just below the surface. I’ve seen Bluegill do that. If I saw trout doing what you describe, and I have, I’d tie on a soft hackle and strip it fast just under the surface or “wake” it. Partridge and orange is my favorite. Maybe start with a size 16 or 14. I’d definitely try that before I gave up. Let us know the solution. I’m curious as a cat.
Roger,
If you see this condition when its windy with gusts, its possible that there are no fish associated with the V’s at all. It could be caused by the wind. Is it only on this pond that you see the V’s?
Ol’Bills think alike…seen alot of things on a preticular lil farm pond I have fished since I was a kid…that place taught me alot…and is still “the testing grounds” for alot of my best flies…as it’s the hardest place for me to catch a fish…of size…I’ve caught and released them all many times…they know me well
also the place where I took my largest Largemouth to date 14.5 lb.maybe she’ll be too big to weigh on my Boga Grip this year,quite something for a PA farm pond
Roger, you’ll enjoy this and perhaps find some “spirit” in here somewhere. A friend and I were fishing a small walk-in lake up north, which is basically a heritage lake. No motors, no electronics. We were in the wood working, of all things, yellow perch. Nice ones. Okay, also some gills. He was in the stern of the canoe, I in the bow. In about 5-7 feet of crystal clear water. We saw a V headed our way, coming adjacent to the canoe. Past Tom and toward me, then turn toward the canoe. We were both watching closely. There was no fish there, just the V. We called it our ghost fish, and still talk about it over campfires. If the water hadn’t been so clear . . . Who knows. JGW
[This message has been edited by white43 (edited 15 April 2005).]
but heres one suggestion…
take the net advice…catch a baitfish from the pond…small bluegill is good hook it through the lips with say a size 2 kahle hook and toss it out on a floating fly line 4 to 5 foot leader no weight…and see what takes…may take a min…may take an hour but somethings gonna take…I myself catch the “bait” with tiny nymphs or wets…“smallest wet fly hooks you can imagine” and I perfer gills small enough to read a news paper through…ok shared enough secrets for one day…lol
Snipe,
Hmm. An interesting notion. I thought about it all night to be sure, but I gotta say there may be some of that I’m seeing, but actually, the v’s happen most right before sunset, after the wind finally dies down. And some of what I’m seeing is BIG, too, pushing a heck of a wake.
John,
Wow, great story! I might borrow that one day.
Bill,
I might try that too, after the cast net, which I gotta go locate and borrow from someone. It’ll be Monday or Wednesday before I can get back out there.
Thanks all. I’ll be sure to let you know what I find…if anything!
just a lil trick I like to use when the big cruiser bass on a favorite Mtn.farm pond just don’t seem intersted in any fly known to man…and I feel a great need for a hookup with a real monster,but I know have a fly patteren that I’ve devised that minic’s a gill fry in all aspects so all that work is no longer nessasary,my friends all approve of it…just wish they’d learn to tye their own flies already…hard enough keeping my own stocks in supply,not that I’d share the info on my flies anyway…lol
Roger,
You better git your tail ta hell offen that pond when you see that animule a-comin’ atchya. Ifen I’m figurin’ kerect, thats an allimigrator thats got his sights on your butt for dinner! Hopen you take the advice of a yankee whoz been down thar onct and seen a full growed allimigrator swaller a big bird. It was awful…Poor dang bird wasn’t doin’ a blasted thang to that allimigrator and all a sudden…chomp gulp and no more bird! Not even a feather left so’s the bird’s next of kin cud know what happent to the SOB.
Actually, the wind blown V’s have a name but I can’t remember what it is or what book I read it in. Might have been Geiger’s classic.
