Bass Fishing in ponds

Question
My seven-year-old son and I love to fish in our neighborhood pond (an old farm pond) where we've caught panfish, crappie and bass.  We've had some pretty good luck with bass on artificial worms and occasionally buzz baits, but we've been on a real unlucky streak lately.  Can you recommend some other baits that would work for bass?  Are some bass baits better in the morning vs. evening, summer vs. fall?  When the going is good, we typically catch bass weighing between 3/4 and 2 pounds.  Appreciate your help.  Thanks.

--Scott  

Answer
When waters begin to cool in the fall, bass move to the shallows.  The summer predation period has (in most waters) reduced their food supply, so they roam the shallows in search of food.  Also, since the sun is lower in the sky, bass tend to stay shallow all day.  In this case, you will want to fish water from 1-5 feet.  Use soft-plastics and spinnerbaits around brush, weeds, and other cover; minnow plugs, small spinners, and shallow crankbaits in open waters on shallow flats; and topwaters in morning and evening hours.  

When waters cool more so, the "fall-turnover" takes place.  This means that the water is pretty much the same temperature from top to bottom.  This time period can make catching bass extremely difficult since they can be located anywhere from top to bottom.  Try fishing brush, weeds, and any other cover that tends to "stick out".  The fall-turnover usually lasts no more than a week.

In late fall, when waters cool considerably, bass will begin to move to deeper water.  Look for them on the shallow side of steep ledges and drop-offs in 5-8 feet of water or deeper.  Since they will begin to become sluggish due to the cooler waters, catching them becomes more and more difficult.  Try slowly crawling soft-plastics and smaller sized bass jigs (Stanley Bitsy Bug jigs are my preference) along these ledges and drop-offs.  Try making your presentation look and move as natural as possible.  And obviously, live bait works very well when fished slowly along these same ledges and drop-offs.

No matter what time of year, try following these guidelines as well:  

Use bright colored lures such chartreuse in murky waters.  Use light, natural colored lures such as brown, natural orange, and white in clear water.  
(Black and purple work well in virtually any water.)

Bass stick to any structure that tends to stick out:  brush, trees, weeds, stumps, ledges, drop-offs, underwater trenches and ditches, and other natural and man-made cover.


I hope this helps; if not, please feel free to ask again.  

Good Fishing,
Chris Carter