JOHNS POND PAGE 2

2011-  Johns Pond was fishing very much like it has been in the past 2-3 years.  That is,  the fish were doing much the same thing that I found them doing  at certain times the past 2-3 years at the same time this year.  The early bite was pretty good for February and March. The small mouth were still deep– 25-35 feet.  I used a tube, Carolina rig, and jigging spoons.

When March came the water was warming and the largemouth and small mouth were beginning to get near the flats and the points that had the deep water near them.  Jerk baits worked pretty good this year, but senkos were really good for some reason.  I also like to use the ultravibe speed craw in green pumpkin.

Fishing the grass and drops and shoreline logs during the summer time was as usual.  I also found the fish were chasing bait fish in deeper water– 16-20 ft.  I ran across the bait fish on the Lowrance structure scan– then I could see the “^’s”  underneath them.  I tried a vertical jig with a beaver-black and blue.  I just jigged it up and down and caught a largemouth, then another, then a small mouth.  I didn’t get anything for awhile, so I changed to a drop shot and caught another largemouth, then another small mouth.

The RJ’s had a night tournament in August, so we could get away from the water skis and jet skis!!!!!   I ended up winning by a few ounces over Ted Barnicle, we both had  over 17 lbs.  I found that the different “light” times positioned the fish.  Around 6-7 pm, it was still pretty light and I found the fish in the lily pads, or in the deep grass areas– 10-14 ft.  As the light got less and darkness set in, the top water bite got better.  After dark, the top water bite was not as consistent, but  the senko bite was really good and in the shallows!!!  The water temperature is still in the 50’s as I write this– the fish are not biting very well, I think because of the fluctuating weather patterns we’re having.  There is still a lot of bait in all depths, so they aren’t hungry.  Minnow imitating baits are doing the best, and the fish are still shallow.  I haven’t run across any big schools yet. 

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April 2013

Sorry I missed 2012-   The water is warming up, but not like last year. The beginning of April was really tough, the small mouth were not being caught, and I spent most of the time in the back pond catching what largemouth would bite.  There were some largemouth in the bay in front of the little river, jerkbaits were the best lure. 

May 2013

I write this on May 3-  the water temperature rose 5 degrees in 4 days. A string of nice sunshine and warm temps have allowed the small mouth to come up and make beds.  There are more beds than small mouth., meaning I believe they came up and “played” making beds and the new moon is the 9th and the full moon  the 25th.  That’s when the small mouth will be hard on the beds.  Probably in the rest of the ponds around the Cape as well.  The large mouth are doing the same thing in the back pond– where the water temp is 61 degrees.  I found pre-spawn fish in the 8-10 ft range just outside the spawning areas. I like the tube or small creature baits (crawfish, beaver).

 

2014-    Johns Pond gave up some nice fish to the Rod Jockeys this year.  In the early spring, the spawn showed some big fish, but it didn’t occur all at once.   The weeds are “moving”  in the pond, some areas not as thick as in the past and some areas are devoid of the grass.  It was necessary to seek out these weed areas and then you would find some fish.  In the summer time around June/ July The inside grass lines were very productive and as the sun came higher, the fish would move into the grass or get nearer to the outside of the weed lines.  I didn’t fish much with top water this year, I tried, but the bite didn’t seem as strong when I was there.   This late fall, the water temp. stayed around 44 right through December.  I stayed around 30 feet, and made sure there was a breakline right next to it, up to 22 ft and caught a lot of small mouth.  I still don’t know where all the largemouth go in this time of year ?????

 

2015. I spent time this year getting to trust my electronics and found that I could chart the fish and then catch them.  This was what I learned early in Johns, but backwards.  The RJ’s had a tournament in April and I figured the small mouth should be in 16-20 ft on the break lines to where they would spawn.   I found them there by catching them  and then I realized afterward that I was also charting them.  It was quite the epiphany.   I tried  to throw a swim bait during the summer over the weeds and saw some big largemouth follow them.  I never did hook  up but they showed themselves.  I found the patterns to be “normal” this year-  early top water and then look for the weeds.  The water temp stayed  49-50  through Dec. this year , which was a higher than it normally is, and the small mouth did not school up on the deeper points like they should.  I caught them shallower and was able to use jerk baits more than jigging spoons !!!  It is now Jan 2016  and the water temp is down to 43– and the small mouth are back to where they should be-  the 25-30 foot  points and deeper. The large mouth were there as well !!!!!!!!

 

2016-2017-  Johns Pond remains one of the best small mouth and largemouth ponds on the Cape.  Even though it is heavily fished by numerous bass clubs, the fishing is outstanding.  The spawn in 2016 was prolonged because of the  weather. We had numerous cold nights come through in April and May. 2017 was more stable, meaning I could go to the first areas where the small mouth spawn and actually see and catch the fish.  The grass was the tall and stringy type in 2016 and gave me fits, trying to fish it.  Senkos were the only bait Icould use.  I started using a chatterbait more in 2016.  I started by using a white/chartreuse, and used it much like a spinnerbait.  Post spawn small mouth would get up in the shallow bars around “high” sun times and wind.  I caught some huge small mouth using this technique.  In 2017, the grass was not as abundant in some of the shallow bar areas.  There was more grass in the 15-20  foot area than I had seen.  I started fishing these areas with 3/8 oz jigs and started to catch some nice largemouth. The RJ’s held a tournament in October and the big fish were taken in 15 ft. Morgan caught a huge small mouth with a deep diving crankbait on a deep point.  Jigs still caught the winning fish in 15 feet along grass lines.  Trusting you electronics to pick out these grass lines was essential.