slugman

Waiting on a motor for my 14ft grumman, so I have been fishing the banks and shores of a large local pond. There are 3 ponds about7 football fields in size. Recently the wind has blown in alot of debris to the banks. Plenty of moss & grass. My question is how do you get the most of fishing when no boat is available. The ponds were once owned by the D.O.D , but now are leased to the state. In some spots its 60ft deep. There are also flats, but havent seen any bare spots to let me know spawning has begun in the shallower water. Without the boat I cant cast past the crap that the wind blew in. Spots I was pulling fish out of no longer work. This is my first year of serious fishing. Guess 29yrs old isnt too late to start. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Chuck7

My biggest bass I hung up was off the shore. For many years during my college poverty years I fished off shore.

!. i eventually bought some waders.

However here are some tips I'd like to give ya.

1. I use to cast ...move 10 feet to the right cast move 10 feet to the right etc. etc until I found the, fish. You will be surprized how much water you can cover.
Actually my mounted bass was caught off the shore. 7 pounder fisrt cast in my church clothes. He got stuck in hydrilla and I waded chest high to get my 25" bass.

2. Rooster tails are great depth finders. Cast and count 1000 1... 2000 2 etc. It's pretty close to the water depth.

3. Look for air bubbles surfacing.

4. Watch for gulls feeding on surfacing shad, Fish will be there too.

5. Fish the pond side on a windy day where the wind is in your face. Bait is being blown toward the shore and the fish know it.
C7

slugman

No gulls, just cranes. Been trying to follow them lately but ponds are huge. Was looking into waders as you can get almost to the middle of one pond by using the flats & sandbars.

G5

with any c/b you can try clock casting, this works well. fish 3 o'clock, 2, 1, 12, 11, 10, 9 then move about half the distance of your 9 o'clock cast and start all over. when i do this with a c/b i usually crank like hell from 3 to 12 and then slow it down from 11-9. and if you find some cover that you just know there has got to be a fish in there. keep fishing that structure. fish it until you want to blow it up and then fish it some more, you will get him out.

HighDesertWolf

you could always invest in a set of oars while you wait for your motor. when I got my first boat ( a 12 ft row boat ). I fished ponds with oar power for 2 years before I got a trolling motor. from west marine you can get a pair of oarlocks and a pair of oars for around 50 bucks.

Phil from Maine

What kind of fish are you fishing for ?