monitored by humans; others have wilder, more natural populations that self-regulate. Contrary to popular belief, it’s a myth that birds spread fish eggs from pond to pond. If fish are present, at some point, someone put them there.
Who’s home?
Largemouth bass, bluegills, and crappies are the classic choices for pond stocking, but channel cats are popular, too. If a pond has water that stays cool enough year-round, trout can survive. (This is true of some quarry ponds, where the water is deep and clear.) A well-managed pond will feature all the habitat of larger natural bodies of water, with plenty of cover, good water quality, and a healthy balance of fish populations.
With the right stewardship, ponds offer healthy fish that are great for eating, and worth bragging about, too. Check your state’s record list — I bet about half of the fish came from private ponds.
How to fish the water
Ponds suit themselves to the bank angler. If the banks are clear, and the pond is small enough, it’s sometimes possible to fish your way around a pond, casting as you go. (And that’s not a bad approach!) Most ponds have access points where you can get near the water and cast. Because there may not be a lot of structure to a pond (they are often bowl-shaped), one spot may be about as good as any other. Still, a visual inspection will usually call your attention to a few key spots — cover like fallen, partially submerged trees or floating docks draw fish. If the pond has a dam or levy (the earthen bank built across the lower end of the valley to hold back the water and form the pond), the water in front of it is often the deepest, and that might hold fish. Corners or coves often attract fish. Casting lures or flies allow you to cover a lot of water, and stillfishing with livebait is another good way to catch fish.
Streams and rivers (big and small)
Small rivers and streams often feature everything that makes for a great fishing trip: interesting fish, ever-changing environment, and beautiful scenery. Unlike small ponds, which usually start with an introduced population of fish, streams run wild and may carry wild populations of fish.
Who’s home?
Rivers and streams often hold a variety of fish, and I’m sure there’s a stream or river somewhere that has about every species of freshwater fish, from trout to smallmouth bass to catfish to walleye to muskies to stripers to spawning American and hickory shad. The largest rivers are deep enough to hide the biggest fish in freshwater. Streams and rivers allow for fish mobility. Many fish move upstream in the spring (often seeking spawning sites) and downstream in the fall, seeking deeper holes for wintering. But the opposite can be true as well. It varies from place to place and by species, but you should see the river as a highway with no roadblocks. It flows from place to place, and unless there’s a dam to stop them, fish can move freely up- and downriver.
How to fish the water
What makes a stream different from a pond is its current. Current influences a fish’s life about as much as a paycheck affects yours. Fish in streams make most of their decisions based on the current, so you need to understand how current works. Start with this nugget: Fish face into the current, so they can see food being swept downstream toward them. Therefore, you should present your lure or bait so that it looks natural: In other words, cast upstream of your target and retrieve your offering downstream. Now, this doesn’t mean always casting straight, or directly, upstream every time. You can still cast to different spots and at different angles. Just make sure that you are generally casting above your target — even if it’s at an angle. Fish often want to be near the current (to intercept food from it), but they don’t like expending more energy than necessary to maintain a position. For this reason, fish will often hide behind a large boulder or other obstruction, so they can be near the current but out of it. (You can find more on how to fish current in Chapter 17.)
Fishing large rivers is difficult without a boat, as fish are not spread out equally along the length of the river — most of the fish are usually in the riffles or the deeper parts of a pool. If you have shore access to one of these spots, you could be in luck. But on a large river, good holes might be miles apart. While a large river might call for a boat in order to be fished optimally, small streams are ideal for a canoe or kayak! (Read more about these vessels in Chapter 10.)
Lakes and reservoirs
Lakes are natural and range widely in depth, age, and fish populations. Reservoirs are manmade lakes, formed when a river is dammed. Because reservoirs quite literally grow out of rivers, they feature a channel, which is the now-flooded river. Lakes and reservoirs range in size from a hundred acres to thousands, and can feature all kinds of structure and cover within that space, as shown in the color section. Reservoirs often offer multiple places to fish: in the stream(s) leading into the reservoirs, the tailwater area below the dam of the reservoir, and the large body of water itself. Each place has its advantages and disadvantages, so do your research on your local reservoir.
Who’s home?
Lakes and reservoirs offer the size needed to grow large fish. Almost any freshwater fish could be found in these large bodies of water, provided the water offers the temperature, food base, and habitat that a particular species of fish requires. Because reservoirs are still connected to a river, and because many lakes have creeks draining into them, fish populations could vary as fish move in and out of the waterway. Check with bait shops and the local Department of Natural Resources (whose name may vary depending on where you live) to see what fish species are present in a particular lake or reservoir.
UNDEREXPLORED HOTSPOTS
Sometimes success is about fishing where others aren’t. Constantly seek under-fished water. Often, this means making more effort than other anglers are willing to expend. Walk farther than other stream anglers. Ask permission to fish the tiny golf course pond. Cast around the docks in the bay behind the packed tourist hotels. You never know where a big fish will appear. (And if your local water is packed with anglers on the weekend, fish when others aren’t. If you can swing it, take off work and fish during the week, or fish earlier or later than most of the other anglers.)
How
