Big bass, little pond.

[EddieWalker]

George,

Great story, and congrats on a fine catch!!! I bet you're rethinking your plans on "fixing" your pond. hahahha With fish of that caliber in there, I'd say it's about as good as it will ever get. Anything you do to it will either mess it up, or set it back ten years.

The grass carp will probably cause more harm then good. I woldn't mess with them, or do anything else to the pond. Leave it alone, it's in perfect condition right now.

I'm not much of a fisherman myself, but I do have one story that everyone might enjoy. I got to watching those bass shows on TV and thought it might be fun to try, so I mentioned it to a buddy of mine. He said he was going to go fishing at a Lake Chabot that weekend and I should come along. The bass were spawning and it was a good time to fish. This is a public lake in a park that borders Oakland California. Lots of people there and I never thought it would be any good for fishing.

We walked along the paved trail for about half a mile when he spotted some bass along the shoreline. To me, they looked like they were about six inches long, so I wasn't very interested. He said they were big and maybe a few were HUGE. I shruged my shoulders and went along with him, but didn't believe him.

I put on a black, plastic worm like I'd seen on TV and cast it out, then realed it in past the fish. I think it was my fourth or fifth cast when the fish took the bait. My real started spinning and my pole was half bent over. The fish just took off with it!!!! I tried to real, but couldn't get it in. Then it jumped for the first time and my buddy just about passed out. It was HUGE!!!

She came in and I'd take up the slack,then she'd take off and the real would spin out. This went on for half an hour to 45 minutes. Finally she was close enough to the shore that I draged her out while by buddy grabbed her.

With a cheap scale, we weighed her at 12 pounds. This was my very first large mouth bass. He took a whole roll of film worth of pictures of me and that fish, and not one of them turned out. I kept a few pics, but they are fuzzy and out of alignment. He's a good friend, but the worlds worst photographer.

Eddie

 

[ToadHill]

My grandson at 10 is the fisherman in our family. We have 2 ponds , a small one of abour 1 acre and a larger one of about 2.5 acres. He fishes them all the time. His best catch this summer was a largemouth that was 23". Thats quite a battle for a 10 year old.

Two years ago he talked me into fishing with him. I'm of the same mindset as my dad was; " I had a great day fishing until they started to bite." I just soaked a worm and let it lay on the bottom, darned if I didn't hook one of the grass carp, when I got him in we took him down to the house and put the bucket (big bucket) on the bathroom scale, The thing weighed 32 lbs. Thats eating a lot of grass in the last 5 years since I put them in to control alge.

 

[dooleysm]

I was jigging for crappie one time in a pond near where I went to college. I thought I snagged a log until a big grass carp came up to the top and took off across the pond with my drag screaming. I fought that sucker for a loong time and got it pretty close to me when all of a sudden the jig came flying back at me. He had completely straightened the hook and it shook loose. Just as well, I don't know what I would have done with it otherwise!

 

[N80]

Eddie, 12 pounds is a monster!

Since I don't have the resources to do much with my pond, it probably isn't going to change anytime soon. But the pond weed (I looked it up but don't remember the name) is really choking the place. I'd say its a safe guess that it is occupying 1/5 of the pond, and it goes from bottom to surface and it is dense!

His best catch this summer was a largemouth that was 23". Thats quite a battle for a 10 year old.

Heck, that's about the size mine was and with my light tackle it was all two grown men could do to get him in. That is a real trophy for a 10 year old.

The thing weighed 32 lbs. Thats eating a lot of grass in the last 5 years since I put them in to control alge.

Some folks around here fish for carp on purpose! They make 'carp dough'. There are various recipes but it often contains cotton or hair to hold it together. As you are aware carp can get huge and apparently put up quite a fight. When I was younger, some of the local folk used to eat them...and by local I mean poor, and apparently very hungry.

 

[czechsonofagun]

He took a whole roll of film worth of pictures of me and that fish, and not one of them turned out. I kept a few pics, but they are fuzzy and out of alignment. He's a good friend, but the worlds worst photographer.

Eddie

hahaha, that reminds me of that old joke:

This priest was a fisherman, but he hadn't fished in months. One perfect Sunday morning he couldn't resist. He called up the Bishop and claimed he had laryngitis. The priest then headed out to his favorite fishing spot. The hook hadn't been in the water five minutes before he got a strike, and landed the biggest fish he had ever caught--although he had seen bigger ones. A half hour later he caught the biggest fish he had ever seen. Another forty-five minutes later he landed a fish that broke the world record. All this time Saint Peter and God had been watching the priest from heaven. Saint Peter turned to God and said, "How can you reward this priest? He lied. He let down his congregation." God smiled at Saint Peter and replied, "I am punishing him." Saint Peter was confused, so God continued, "Well after he finishes, who can he tell his fish story to?"

You have great story to tell, but no good pictures to show

 

[EddieWalker]

You have great story to tell, but no good pictures to show

Great joke, but there are a few pictures.

I took a few pictures of the fish while it was on the ground that were clear enough for my taxidermist to use to paint a replica of it. With the weight and dimensions, he was able to order a fiberglass form that exact size. Then with my pictures, he was able to paint it to match.

I can't say for sure if she weighed 12 pounds or not, the scale wasn't very fancy or anything official. I let the fish go, so all I have to say I cought her is a few pictures and my buddy who was there. I know the lake record was quite a bit bigger then that, so there are others in there that are bigger.

Eddie

 

[czechsonofagun]

That's a nice fish; wonder when those bass fingerlings in my pond be that size

 

[Oleozz]

My biggest to date was a 7 lb smallmouth that I caught in Canada this summer. I am a catch and release person so hopefully it is still swimming in the lake and maybe give someone else the thrill of catching it. Normally the smallmouth are scrappier than a largemouth and love to jump. The 7 lb smallie was so big it could barely break water.

 

[clemsonfor]

Back 15 years or so i remember on outdoor life network i remember seeing fishing shows that either were current or several years old that i think was a BBc production from england or ireland or somewhere in euorpe where they fished for carp that were huge 20 pounders.

I was going to say as well grass carp that are sold are sterile.

Back about 12 years or so ago i was fishing with a buddy in his uncles farm pond that was about 1/4 acre. We would throw a lure out and on like the second cast we both caught about a 6 pound bass and we did that each for about three fish each, releaseing them all. We did this every day for a couple days then about every other day for a week or so till they stopped biting well. At first it did not matter what you dragged through there they would bite it. I had a lure that i have never cought a fish on till then and not since (well i never use it), but that lure had no motion was a cheap chineese lure i guess. It looked like a crank bait, had no lip, but sunk like one. It is like a zara spook in size and shape but it sinks so there is not motion on it just a purple fish like plastic thing that you reel in no side to side or anything, and it caught one!! We joked that we causght them all and they would not bite fo awhile, or that we just kep catching the same 8 fish. The pond was small you could cast across the middle and about 1/2-2/3 of the length of that pond. It could not have been more than 6 feet deep in the middle. It was in the cow pasture and the cows would walk about 15 feet out into it to cool off. That was one of the funnest summers i had fishing, we would go there about every other week after that first time. We never went befor then as we wrote it off being to small or just filled with brim.

What you can do it to keep catching those small bass and brim and taking them out so that the pond dosent get overstocked. The fish will stagnate and stay small and eventually the big ones will die and you will only have those small ones. So keep catching those small ones, if you dont want them give them to someone else.

 

[clemsonfor]

oops did it again, clicked on one of those posts at the bottom of a page when reading another, got involved reading it, to where i wanted to post. Did not look at how old the dang thing was till after i posted, and was like what forum was that thing in. Oh well.