Day Trip To The Pit

[OzarkFishman]

I owed a wrestler (I'm a coach) of mine a fishing trip (since February). Since I made him wait so long, figured it would be worth the 1 1/2 hour drive to get some good fishing in today.

We headed up to some pits (family) that don't get fished more than 10 - 15 times a year. It makes for some fun fishing. He started with a tube and caught 2 crappie, then he folded and switched to the stik-o (bass pro brand senko). This pit has cattle around it (fenced off usually, but they run the cattle through a few times a year), therefore there is plenty of growth in this water. It has a green tint to it with a visibility of maybe 12 inches. I have fished this pit many times and the weightless stik-o by far out produces everything.

We started the day hot, with three fish over 3 pounds and six over 2 in the first few hours. From then on, it was consistent until 2, when it got slower until we left at 3.

We ended the day with six over 3, twenty over 2, probably 40 - 50 dinks, and the rest pounders to 1 1/2 (over 90 fish total). There were 3 crappie (all caught by him). The biggest was 13 inches (stik-o).

We threw some jugs out and caught one 2 pound cat.

Before we got there, I told him that the day didn't count if he didn't catch a fish over 3 pounds. After the 19 inch, 3 lbs 15 oz fish, he was happy it counted.

Funny side note: I took quite a few plano tackle boxes jammed into a milk crate and could have fished the whole day with a package of 5/0 magna ewg hooks and a package of black/blue stik-o. Why use something else when what you have tied on is working?

We were both fishing with light or medium-light rods and 8 or 10 pound test. He had a 5' 6" light rod and had to ease some of the bigger fish in. He only had one fish snap his line (before we got the drag set). It was a nice probably 3.5 or 4 pound fish, but losing it was worth getting the drag set early in the day.

Enjoy the pictures and hopefully you all put some time aside and get to a pond. It is good for everybody to fish a farm pond every once in a while. It reminds you that fishing is fun and not a battle (the up and down of the river has killed me this spring).

Good day,

OzarkFishman

[Justin Spencer]

Great looking trip. Don't know if anyone ever keeps bass from that pond, but looks like if you did you might really get some whoppers. Those big ones have huge mouths but because of all the small bass they can't grow like they should. My guess would be you have some big bluegill in the pond also. You can keep 30 8-12" inch bass per acre per year without seeing a big drop in population, and your remaining bass will grow much faster. Kind of fun use different management methods to fit what you want out of a pond. Don't mess with it if you are happy, but it looks like that place could be a real hog pen if you pull out a bunch of stunted bass. Plus you'll have some good fish fries to boot!

[OzarkFishman]

Justin,

I agree with you 100% and did a lot of studying about pond management a few years back. There are not a lot of big bluegill in that pit (but there are big crappie). The other pit, there are big bluegill.

The problem is that the owner's son likes to come in and bait fish and keep most of the fish he catches. He will even keep 2 and 3 pounders. While I know that it could be an amazing fishery, I don't have the right to tell family what to do with their land ... BUT, you all could help me map out a management plan and I could see if they go for it. The landowners son could do all the harvesting and in a few years there could be some monsters. I have already caught a 6 lbs 2 oz and 5 lbs 15 oz and multiple 4 pounders in these pits. Could get crazy with proper management.

Thanks for the tips and I welcome any more management tips,

OzarkFishman