Success at Neighborhood Bass Pond after Fish Kill

[Bruce Litton]

Matt fished a buzzbait, hooking a 14-incher, so I guess that got me interested. I went three days later and caught a 17-inch largemouth & two small on my favorite Chompers, 25 minutes. I hadn't fished the pond all year, just walked our black Lab by it every day. Back when the ice came off, we saw dozens of 14-17-inchers dead, and Matt found one over five pounds. Once water warmed, I saw a few small ones, but just never felt moved to try and find out if many big survived. It used to be pretty easy to catch 10 from 14 to about 16 1/2-inches within a half hour, so last winter seems to have taken a toll. But in a few years or so, given no more fish kills, the pond should come all the way back.