A few months ago i was walking through the woods and found a new potential spot to fish. Located a half mile from any type of road, its about 2-3 acres, and covered with thick weeds on the banks. Cypress trees surround the banks and almost all of the trees have limbs that dip into the water about 15-20 feet from the bank, completely shading the bank. It would be close to impossible to fish it from the bank, so the only way to fish it is to fish it from a boat. I've been wanting to fish this body of water for a while, and even took a rod out there once to see what I could do, but the edges are so covered with trees, bushes, and weeds that I couldnt cast from the bank. I needed a small boat.

Fastforward 2 months:
My wifes out with her mom garage sale hopping and gives me a call. Some older fellow has a 12 foot alumicraft jon boat for sale and only wants 125 bux for it. I go take a look, and its in GREAT shape so I bought it. I now have two aluminum boats to use which gives me more options. I decided what the heck, I only have 125 bux wrapped up in it so if it gets stolen it will only sting and not hurt too bad, so I decided to take my smaller john boat and leave it out in the woods chained to a tree within close proximity to the new pond that I have located.

On my lunch break today, a co-worker and I hauled the boat all the way through the woods and chained it to a tree. The pond is only about 15 minutes worth of walking and driving from my office so hopefully i can take a long lunch and get some hooks wet pretty soon.

Oh yeah, while taking the boat to the pond, I saw NO trails around the bank and no indication of any activity in a LONG time, but I did see a very old empty bag of Stanley's Ribbits in a small pocket of clear bank, so I dont think this pond has been fished very hard at all.

Man, Im excited. If this pond turns out how I think it will, It will be a great place to experiment with lures because the fish will not have been exposed to much in the past. I feel as giddy as a school girl, haha.

The new pond/lake:

looks like a very nice spot to fish i would throw the ole horny toad and flip and pitch those cypress trees . Good luck

Plannin' on it, hehe.

I'm gonna try and fish a different style/type of lure every afternoon, but will start with the horny toad, work my way through the rest of my top water lure supply, then start hitting them with the weightless flukes, then some worms and lizards carolina rigged. When that runs dry, I'll start working the worms and lizards on the bottom, then ending the week with jigs.

Honestly, I really would like to be a better jig fisherman. Jigs are the one of the few lures that I find to be truley remarkable yet simple. For me, jigs have always seemed like really versatile lures and I have always wanted to be able to fish them like some pros do, but I just have never been successful at it. Watching some people work jigs amazes me, and jigs are one of the few lures that work year round if done properly. I feel that if I can learn to be a successful jig fisherman, then I can increase my chances for catching in adverse (cold) weather substantially.

Maybe I should start hitting this lake with Jigs first instead of the Horny Toad first. That way I can try to acclimate myself to jig fishing before i spook all of the fish with every piece of tackle i have. Hrmmmm, something to think about.

sounds like fun, hope they act right for ya

Great Find Aaron,Keep us unformed..I've been fishing a jig everyday..simply to learn the lajes bottom and depth..

Well gangly , I have caught A LOT of bass on jigs . First question is are you fishing a finese jig or a flipping jig (1/2 ounce) . This year I have have caught tons of fish on a denny brauer flipping jig . All the bass i have caught this year have been on that jig ( black and blue ) , and all of them where caught on the fall when it first hit the water sort of like a reaction strike .

Im fishing both. I have 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 oz Jigs. Some of the spots I fish are open bodies of water while others are covered in lilly pads, so I dont use one size for a specific purpose. For instance, I use a half ounce when casting and trying to bust through the lillypads, or I might use a 1/4 when flipping into a hole just so that the fall rate is slower and I can get more fluttering action from the skirt. However, I am willing to listen and learn from anybody who is willing to teach so I will gladly listen to advice that you have to offer.

The following are my standard jig setups for the most part:

black and blue finesse with a black trailer, black and chartruse no trailer, black and brown with a chigger craw trailer, black and red with a chigger craw trailer, brown and red with a chigger craw trailer, olive green with a chigger craw trailer, Olive and chartruse with a chigger craw trailer, and a Brown and Burgandy swimming jig with a chigger craw trailer, white and silver with no trailer, and a white finesse with no trailer. All trailers are trimmed in length, and matched in color to the skirts.

I would use the 1/2 ounce pitching into the lily pads for a reaction bite , but if you don't have any bites then I would switch to 1/4 ounce for a slow fall.

thanx for the help!