Small Pond Fishing
A single farm lease with several ponds that individually would probably not make for a good fishing day. Collectively just any of the two largest would make for a good half day fishing making this a good dovetail activity for a combination spring turkey morning hunt, lunch time nap and afternoon casting of some spinner bait.
In all cases of spring turkey hunters, turkey hunting is not the only activity common during the spring season. Deer scouting, Morel Mushroom picking and fishing in third place rounds out most turkey hunting trips. Putting a take down rod, single reel and a small tackle box mix of small spinners, jigs, weed less and artificials allows for an alternative of just sticking to the motel room after the turkey tags are filled.
These ponds lie outside of our parameters for stocking and fishermen management. This leaves any fish found to be pure products of nature or from incidental stockings by whomever and whenever.
What ponds such as this typically yield are small and numerous fish demonstrating an unchecked population growth that any harvested would be a benefit to the overall pond. Occasionally, such ponds will have captured a large surviving catfish both channel or flathead depending on nature's or previous man's stocking. Such a fish frequently takes over the pond and grows well. The common story we hear of such conditions is the light tackle fishermen loosing his rig to some unknown pond monster. Most will give credit for lost tackle to a large snapper while others show us catfish far too large for the waters they came out of.
In any case ponds such as these give one more opportunity to survey what nature will do on its own over time.
Ponds are sometimes good fishing through unknown previous means. In many cases ponds take some management. Management is not particularly hard work, just time consuming. In this case we are translocation some Crappie to give balance to a flathead minnow heavy pond. The pond in this case had been used to grow for sale bait minnows. In two to three years this will be a good fishing spot.
From Randy
The last one in the series of four. Bigger than the catfish in the other photos (coming to you via us mail) but still only 4.5 lbs. I couldn’t break through the 5 lbs barrier that day. That is the bad news. The good news is I’ll have to keep trying.
Randy is a retired active duty Army aviation officer with more than one tough assignment throughout the world. He joined MAHA while on active duty and kept that membership running for he and family while transitioning another hobby he had while on active duty transforming it into a successful financial advising career.