The water clarity is ok....I could see bottom down to about 2' deep. I could see Bluegills which were all small, I may have spotted some tiny Green Sunfish, I saw a couple Largemouth Bass that were <13", I saw a snapping turtle. I also saw some scattered small Common Carp feeding along the edges, and some Bigmouth Buffalo feeding just below the surface. I spent most of the time trying to target the Carp and Buffalo. I couldn't get the Buffalo to strike. I need to improve my carp sight-fishing skills. I think I had one or two hits, but mis-timed the hookset and only managed to spook the fish.
I only landed two fish, and I did not see either of them before they hit the fly. They were both crappies that looked nearly identical to each other, and measured about 9.5".
So...This does not appear to be that great of a pond for fishing. There was almost no cover..even the bottom of the pond seem like clean clay...no algae or weeds. But because of the Carp and the Buffalo...I will definitely be going back to this pond throughout the summer on fairly calm days when I can sightfish for them.
Give me carp, I'm there! And the buffalo would be new to me. Go back and keep us posted!
ReplyDeleteGregg
Dave
ReplyDeleteAccording to our Ala. Game and Fish, you never put crappie in a small pond. They will take over the pond and eat all the bluegill for sure and the small bass. They say that the correct size lake for crappie is 50 acres or more.
Awww snap....ping turtle. Nice little fare. That pond looks like you could sneeze and make waves. Good luck on that buffalo, though. They are fun!
ReplyDeleteThe picture is deceptive, and doesn't show the whole pond. The pond actually measures (according to Google Earth) 700' at its longest length, and 370' at its widest spot. Still it isn't a LARGE pond by any means.
ReplyDeleteBill, you are correct. Most of the local ponds have at least a FEW crappies in them, and I don't think it was the City that stocked them there. They really don't seem to be affecting the bluegill populations. In most cases, the crappies just grow up to about 9"-10" and then seem to stop growing. They sure seem big after you've been catching a bunch of 7"-8" bluegills, though! And they are fun to catch while ice-fishing too. I've caught 13", 13.5", and even a 14" Crappie from these ponds...but that is very rare.