Big bass

Question
Hi, I have a group of five ponds that I love to fish at, and at one of the
ponds, there are little weeds , lots of fish, including bass. Yesterday I was
fishing, and I was catching bass like crazy. I caught bass ranging from 6
inches to 23 inches. After a while all the bass get scared away. After
catching 7 bass with my favorite lure, I tried a different pond , this one has
tons of weeds. U can only cast into about 5% of the pond. In one corner I
was catching sunfish, and I noticed a huge bass, 3 times the size of the
ones I was catching. I cast by it with my favorite lure, and it swam away. I
tried every lure, some hot dogs, and even crickets but it just swims away.
What do I do. Please help me.

Answer
That is a situation of the bass being smarter than your average bear.  Bass don't get to be that big becaus they are dumb.  In this situation, you will have to go with the most natural presentations possible.  In late summer crickets aren't really in season and that bass knows that and finds it awkward to see one.  If you want to catch it on artificials, you are better off trying a hard swim bait. The cheapest one, and my personal favorite, the Tru-Tungsten 4" bluegill colored swimbait is by far your best choice.  But, if you don't mind naturals, you can use a small sunfish.  You catch about a 3"-4" long sunfish and rig it through the back with either a 3/0 khale hook or a 5/0 circle hook.  Make sure the wire isn't too heavy and that the hook is black.  You can then freeline him in front of the bass and watch nature take course.  I hope this helped. Send a follow up question to tell me what you think.