Like most anglers, I began my bass fishing on small ponds. Most lake or reservoir tactics you’ve read about in publications, seen on instructional videos or learned from friends can be applied to pond fishing. Small ponds don't fish all that differently than larger lakes or reservoirs, with one major exception based on my experience, fish seem to relate much more to shallow cover in small ponds. Don't ignore deeper patterns, especially if the ponds you fish have good well-defined drop-offs, channels, humps or flooded timber but I would recommend you always start shallow and then work deeper if necessary. I think it makes sense to start with one season rather than cover all seasons at once. I’m going to concentrate on early spring since that's when a small pond really shines.

TACKLE:

Right after ice out or as the water starts to warm into the low 50's, you should see a major move right up to the shallows and even smack up against a nice sunny northern bank. My favorite lures for this time of year would include a gold or silver floating Rapala, which should be worked very slowly with long pauses between a sequence of 3 or 4 jerks. Let the bait sit for a while after floating back to the top. Again start shallow and work out to say 6 foot of water, because bass should be close to the shallows. Try a #2 or #3 Mepps inline spinner with a gold blade & brown/black dressing for overcast days or stained water and a silver blade & natural squirrel tail, for blue skies or clear water. Cast them parallel to the bank and retrieve them slow and steady. A soft jerk bait can be a killer this time of year, so I'd have one tied on. Rig the soft jerk bait on an unweighted tex-posed hook and work it with slow twitches with pauses between or try working it extremely slowly like a plastic worm. Rounding out the selection would be a small lightweight blue/black jig&pig, with a spin frog or small plastic pork trailer. Try skipping it under any overhanging brush or cast to any laydown logs and visible shallow stumps. Last but not least would be a spinnerbait, which would be on the small size (1/8-1/4 oz). Work the spinnerbait slow and steady and try to bump it into stumps, laydown logs or the tops of weeds. One more rig which is good in early spring, is a carolina rig with a light bullet weight (1/8-1/4 oz), long 20" 8-10 lb leader, a small 1/0 worm hook rigged with a 3" Kalin grub. I might drag this through any green wed beds I can find just outside the shallows, in say 6-8 feet.

TEMPO:

The tempo of your retrieve with any of the above baits should be extremely slow in the cold water of early spring. Long pauses or even fishing jigs and soft jerk baits "dead stick" style, will usually work best. Like any time of year however, you should let the bass tell you how they want it. Start shallow with a very slow retrieve, and then vary the depth and tempo until the Bass tell you what they want. Pay attention to how you were working the bait when the first couple of bass hit, then duplicate that and see if that's a pattern. Don't ignore a moderate to fast retrieve however, because sometimes after a real good warming trend, the bass can and will chase baits even if the water is cold.

SIZE:

Due to the cold water these early spring bass don't need a big meal to survive, and generally speaking you should be working smaller baits. The other reason has to do with tempo, smaller & lighter baits make it easier to fish slowly. Again, let the bass tell you what they want. Same comment applies to a radical warming trend. Sometimes a radical warming trend will allow you to fish larger baits, because bass can get real aggressive if the water temperature suddenly warms from 48 degrees up to 58 in a matter of a couple of days.

COLORS:

This is really a matter of personal preference or will be dictated more by the water quality in the ponds you are fishing. Lure size, retrieve speed and presentation is far more important than color in cold water. For early spring however, the water tends to be very clear. For that reason I tend to fish lures with natural or translucent colors. The exception might be on an overcast or rainy day, which might mean throwing a gold Rapala rather than silver, darker plastics and a gold bladed Mepps instead of silver. The basic rule of thumb applies, clear water means more natural or translucent colored baits and stained water means more earth tones and darker baits.

ROD-REELS-LINE:

Lighter baits require lighter line (8-10 lb). Use either spinning or casting gear, but spool on light line to better handle the lighter baits. The exception would be the jig-pig or if you fishing in heavy cover. That might require 12-15 lb mono. Personally I throw a jig-pig on a 6 foot medium action spinning rod with 30# spiderwire. The spinning tackle allows me to skip the bait better and the spiderwire will transmit even the lightest bite, which can be the norm during the early spring. Downsize your hooks and weights to match the smaller plastics, but make sure you are fishing with good sharp hooks. Lighter action rods, spinning or casting, are also best for throwing the smaller baits.

AREAS TO FISH:

The old rule of thumb, smaller lakes warm up faster, really pays off in early spring and starting on a small shallow pond in early spring increases your odds tremendously. You might be fishing 58-degree water, when a larger lake around the corner will still have 38-degree water. Even in the smaller ponds, the other rule of thumb (northern water warms faster) applies as well. If you don't have a temperature gauge, I would strongly suggest getting one, because I've greatly increased my success in early spring by seeking out the warmest water available. Shallow coves on the northern end of the pond with riprap, exposed stumps and timber, dark stained bottom, or incoming streams are all things that will result in warmer water. Look for those areas if available and if not start shallow working the backs of coves, points, and darker bottom areas (which warm faster), laydowns. stumps and brush. Left over weed beds, especially green ones, can really concentrate early (and late season) spring bass. If the shallow stuff isn't working, then work a little deeper looking for similar submerged cover and specifically leftover weed beds if available.

TIME TO GO:

One thing I pay particular attention to in early spring is the weather. In early spring the water will warm up quickly, but will also cool down very quickly. If possible try to time your fishing trips to the tail end of any good warming trend and just before the next spell of cold weather is due to arrive. If you can get out on the 3rd or 4th day of a significant warming trend, you will have success. That doesn't mean you can't catch fish after a cold front comes through, because bass have been stressed all winter and they are ready to feed. It just means a little more work when the weather turns cold again, bass will turn sluggish and you will have to work harder to find them and get them to bite.

Even seasoned anglers should consider a trip to a small pond. If not for nostalgic reasons, then for the faster action they will provide in early spring.