[PECo]

After JJay (aka Jason) saw the weather forecast for the week, he decided to take the day off from work to take advantage of the beautiful day, today. When we arrived at the canoe launch on Whites Wood Road, the air was already well on its way to the low 60s and the sky was almost totally clear. We launched at 8:45 am. I paddled El Habañero and Jason paddled his Trophy 126:



The water level was lower than it normally is. Although the water was stained, it was clear in most place at least four feet down. We decided to paddle upriver to Little Pond. Along the way, Jason boated the first fish, which was a small largemouth bass:



I think that it hit a Texas rigged soft plastic worm. I didn't get any hits on the white buzzbait that I threw. We passed only one other boat on our way up to Little Pond. The water in the pond was murkier than it was in the river. I could see down only about two feet. I started throwing a white four inch curlytail grub on a 1/8 ounce shakeyhead jighead in open water and at the edges of cover, but didn't get any hits. I tried a weightless Texas rigged Baby Bass Strike King KVD Caffeine Shad on a 4/0 EWG Offset Shank Worm hook. Nothing. I tried a Natural Shiner Sebile Magic Swimmer - Soft. Nada. Meanwhile, however, I heard occasional splashing in the pads on the north and east sides of the pond. The lilies are fully grown in and on the verge of blooming. Just for kicks, I tied on a Bullfrog Zoom Horny Toad on a 4/0 EWG Offset Shank Worm hook. As I dragged it over the pads, I saw a lot of action in the water. I got a lot of false strikes, but soon boated a chain pickerel:



Over the next 45 minutes, I boated three more:



Although I love setting the hook on chain pickerel, I soon tired of all of the false strikes. Well, that and the lack of largemouth bass. So I ran home to mama and tied on a wacky rigged green pumpkind/red flake Senko. I tried throwing it around randomly in the pads, but it was really shallow and there was already green slime algae on the bottom in a lot of places. In some open water between the shore and the pads, I felt a "tick" and saw the braided line "shiver" as a fish picked it up. Whoo hoo! It was a largemouth bass:



It was 15 inches long and had what looked like a long white noodle sticking out of its anus. Seriously, I have no idea what it was, but it was weird. I boated a small one before I got a 16 incher:



And then a 15 incher:



After another small one, I got another 15 incher:



The wacky Senko also got me an 11 inch black crappie:



But the catch of the day was a 19 inch, four pound, two ounce largemouth bass:




Whoo hoo! After I caught another small chain pickerel, we headed out of Little Pond and back down the river. Immediately after we got back into the river, I boated another 15 inch largemouth bass:



I didn't get any more largemouth bass in the river, although Jason got at least one. And, of course, we each caught a few rock bass :



We got off of the water at 4:00 pm. I didn't see any beds at all, today. We didn't have a thermometer, but I'd guess that the water is still a little too cold for the largemouth bass to nest and spawn. They certainly fed more aggressively than the largemouth bass I've seen in other lakes and ponds so far this year. Jason and I went to get something to eat after another long day of fishing. Thanks for taking the day off and getting my tired butt out onto the water, Jason! Next time, though, you might want to consider using a little more sunscreen :


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Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!

[CT_BASSman]

Awesome! I have been waiting for a report of little pond this year, hopefully the weathermen are wrong and this rain holds out so I can get up there for a day

[BassRican]

Nice chunks there Phil ! You never fail to keep us entertained.
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When in doubt, rip their lips out!

[hila2006]

Awesome report Phil, gotta get up there with the yaks. I was out on Hitchcock Sunday and there were a lot of beds, and bass were hitting pretty aggressively. I don't know what the water temp was though. You guys got some nice largies outta there.

[JJay]

Wow, most fish action i got all year. I have to say Phil's intro to casting out frogs has me hooked! I wish i had video to capture all the top water action of fish hitting frogs, though i only actually set hook a few times - i had many many missed hooksets - just the action alone kept me going and it was so much fun ! i did not want to leave.

Great weather, great fish, great comapny -

PS
Use SPF > 30 (probably more) if you don't want "oven mitts"

[x182dan]

Nice job phil you always have good reports

[bdiggy]

Nice. We were up there last Monday and the Pike were definitely bedded along the sticks in back of Little Pond. We moved some fatties out of there, but no success hooking any. Glad to see you had some success with the LMB up there!

[DirtyDawg10]

Nice job guys! Some nice looking fish.

[PECo]

I was surprised that we didn't see any northern pike, bdiggy, although I got a big hit in the lily pads from a fish that made a huge splash, easily bit through my 50 pound braided line and took off with my frog. I never even had a chance to set the hook. The last time I saw a hit like that was on Winchester Lake, when a 35 inch northern pike took two frogs from mep21 (aka Mark) before I caught it with a big buzzbait. It totally mangled the wire on the buzzbait.

What were you throwing when you were up at Little Pond?
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Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!

[slim2043]

Nice report guys. Phil, senko 4 pounder?

I also caught a 4 pounder on Monday! At Batterson :O

Will post in a bit.
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Never give up!

[SmOoTh OpErAtOr !!!]

Def awesome report ! Keep up the good work
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my autopilot aims for ..............SANDBARS!!!!!!!

[CT_BASSman]

Hoping the wind isn't so bad tomorrow, going to try and get out to little pond