The smallest of reservoirs—ponds.

These are relatively easy to fish, yet many have the capacity to produce record-class fish.  Most anglers live within a few miles of several ponds. Successful angling is primarily finding the right ponds.

The key to a productive pond is good management.  You need to know if a pond is well managed or neglected, and what the pond is managed for.   Once you’ve located a productive pond, remember that all the usual principles of structure still apply:  a pond has shallows, flats, and “deep” holes—just on a much smaller scale.


Important aspects of a pond are determined by its watershed, soil type, and size. Nearly all small waters that qualify as ponds fit one of four categories; most are one of three types of farm ponds—dug pond, built pond, and dammed creek—managed primarily for fishing.


Dug Pond
Farm ponds with shallow, featureless basins often are dug with earth-moving equipment. Runoff usually keeps them full, but supplemental pumping may be necessary during dry periods. Most are round or squared off.

Dug ponds generally are less than 5 acres, but good management can make them productive. Regular fertilization can keep them green with phytoplankton, fueling the food web and shading aquatic plants that can harm balance in small waters.

From spring through mid-fall, active bass roam the banks, provided the edge quickly drops into 2 or more feet of water. Casting parallel to the bank from shore usually works better than casting into the featureless depths. Of course, fallen trees, docks, stands of cattails or submerged weedbeds provide cover and feeding spots for bass. Overhanging trees hold fish, too. Bugs fall off the branches and sunfish gather to sip them. Bass lurk in the shadows to seize the occasional bluegill.

In many ponds of this type, phytoplankton photosynthesize and raise oxygen levels in surface waters during late morning and afternoon, particularly on sunny days. Oxygen levels decline with depth, often nearing zero on the bottom. This profile forces fish to suspend, and deep cranking bottom-bumping with worms can be fruitless. If water is pumped into a pond to restore the water level or to enhance oxygen levels, preyfish and bass move toward the flow.

Built Pond
An earthen dam across a low area can create a pond of up to 100 acres or so, as the dam backs up runoff water. The area near the dam is deepest, providing predictable wintering locations. The shallower upper end attracts fish in spring, as this area warms first and often offers more cover and structural features. Land and other features like underwater points and cuts hold fish. This type of pond functions as a miniature reservoir.

Dammed Creek
Small creeks are dammed for irrigation and fishing. Those dammed for power production generally produce impoundments larger than what we’re calling ponds. The creek channel and any feeder channels are focal points for bass location during all seasons. Standing timber and stumps on points or channel turns hold bass during all seasons, except during the spawn.

If current from the creek is substantial, the pond won’t stratify thermally or chemically (such as the oxycline often found in dug and built ponds). Some bass may move onto deep structure in summer, while others remain in shallow cover. Ponds of this type usually are large, sometimes surpassing 100 acres. Successful fishing patterns diversify with pond size.

Most dammed creeks aren’t managed as intensively as small farm ponds because of the expense and labor. Weedbeds and wild fish such as shiners, bullheads, pickerel, and other non-stocked species complicate the bass-bluegill balance, but waters of this type can produce huge bass, particularly if fishing pressure on bass is light. In some regions, ponds of this type are open to anglers who drop a buck or two in a can nailed to a fence post. “Dollar ponds,” they’re called in south Georgia. Hawg bass await skilled bass hunters or lucky novices.

Pits
In mining areas, pits often fill with rainwater or spring water when mining operations cease. Some mines have been reclaimed for recreation. Those under 100 acres technically qualify as ponds, though their characteristics differ greatly from classic farm ponds. Where water chemistry is suitable (exclude coal mines), bass, bluegills, catfish, and wild species thrive.

Pits are typically deep and clear, so their productivity varies with shape, preyfish, and productivity. When harvest is limited, some Florida phosphate pits produce extraordinary bass fishing due to their high fertility. Shallow pits are typically more productive than deep pits.