Okay I know I will catch some words for posting this here but the fresh water forums here simply are dead! I have been here for almost 2 years and am still unable to find a pond that holds big bass. I don’t know if I’m doing it wrong or just fishing in the wrong places. I am not looking for someone to give up their private honey hole, just looking for some advice on where some decent ponds are that i can bank fish for bass!
Lately been using 4" zoom fluke (baby bass/shad color) on 1/4oz shaky head jigs. I have caught maybe 3 bass in last 10 trips and none have been over 2 lbs. Also, yes I am only fishing sunrise and and sunset, not sitting out there n middle of day when bite is dead.
The zoom is one of my favorites. It is my favorite for freshwater, but I rig it weedless and don’t use any weight. I fished small ponds all over Charleston and especially Mt. Pleasant growing up. I am sure that if I went to some of those spots now that I would be arrested for trespassing.
Check out Google Earth. There are quite a few spots to catch bass. Ponds in Mt. P, North Charleston, and West Ashley where you won’t go to jail. You just got to do the leg work and find them.
Alternatively, there are a lot of places to fish from the bank where you can catch big redfish, trout, and flounder. In my opinion they fight harder and taste way better.
You will catch more fish per trip in the salt than you will in fresh. I speak with authority on this since I have fished fresh water all my life. My trips to the coast have been fantastic!
The only exception is catching spawning crappie but the spawn run is over on most lakes
Tight lines to you on your trips to the ponds, etc
Ok let me rephrase, I know can catch more/better tasting fish in the salt, do it every weekend. The thing is I get few hrs sometimes where do not feel like going to coast and just wanna switch it up. Ty for advice on google earth and the weedless tho ty ty!
Banco rd in north charleston, palmetto lakes is what it’s called, condos on a 20 acre lake if I had to guess, I got there in a kayak fairly Reginald and I’ve pulled some studs out of there. Zoom jerk shads on a weighted work book work well there and watermelon red sinkos as well. Just Google map banco rd and it will lol up.
Ha it is ok, I usually type on my phone so takes like 5 attempts to get no typos. I’ll give it a try there sometime this week and post how I do Thank you!
there are a cluster of ponds in hanahan. was working over there a few weeks ago and stopped and flipped in a worm in one or two of the spots. ended up hooking up with one i saw on a bed but it got off. one bite in 20 minutes fishin. if you are interested they are spread out all off the side of n rhett past that saltwater creek headed to 526 on the right
Ok, maybe I’m stating the obvious here, but hopefully you’re going out with more than just one bait/technique. If you are, you’re obviously handicapping yourself, greatly. Fish the conditions. Go out with an assortment of baits, something to cover the top, middle, and bottom of the water column.
Glad to see someone with the passion for largemouth. Reminds me of fond memories. These days (partly because people are more sensitive about “no fishing” than they used to be), I’d forget the ponds and go fish the trees at Angel’s Landing on Moultrie with plastic worms and lizards. Big bass there. Hurry, though. It’s warming up. Might be too late already. I used to tear 'em up in the spring there. As it gets hot, fish the deeper drop-offs with plastic worm. You can land the occasional fat bass on the Cooper River, too, but they’ll be mixed in with lots and lots of little ones.
When I was younger, I used to fish the local ponds a lot, too, though, along with ponds in just about any locale where I was visiting at any given time. If you really want to fish local ponds, you’ll need permission, of course, because most are private. I pulled quite a few hogs out of the lake in Wakendaw back in the late 80’s to early 90’s when I was in college (with permission). Just be considerate enough to release what you catch in the private ponds, and take a strong look at releasing most of what you catch in the public lakes, especially the fat ones. Lake Francis on James Island also holds some big ones, but again, get permission. There’s another big pond somewhere around the Rifle Range area of Mt. Pleasant where I smoked the bass on flukes in years past, but they weren’t hogs. Hitlon Head and Kiawah ponds are packed like sardine cans. Get permission there, and you’ll have a blast. The best baits for me on ponds were always plastic worms, flukes, and slow-rolled spinner baits. Buzzbaits produced some fatties during certain times in the spring and at NIGHT during the summer around the edges of lakes, over humps, and in lilly pads.
Hope you find your groove.
Gotcha Covered,
Lee Strickland
Strickland Marine Insurance Agency, Inc. https://stricklandmarine.net
843-795-1000 / 800-446-1862
try a zoom trick worm, on a 18" leader, tied to a swivel. no weight. the swivel gives the lure a light fall in the strike zone. toss into cover/structure and hold on. all colors work, but i prefer bubble gum, black and green
Ha we have done pretty well with a few ponds, mainly bass in the 1-3 lb range. I’ll try take more pictures next trip! If I can figure out way to catch bass on frog with one hand and stop losing them be bigger and better report haha.
Thank you!
