Obese Smallmouths on Dells Pond Eau Claire

  • O-FISHial
    Posts: 35
    August 30, 2013 at 2:59 am #1283435

    Got a tip from a friend that him and his kids were catching smallmouths all afternoon on Dells Pond. Caught fish all afternoon, but big ones started showing up around 6pm. Just a bit of night crawler under a float or on bottom…..Sounds too good to be true after several 100 degree plus days, so I went out last night to see if he was telling me fish stories or not….
    Turns out he was not….I couldn’t manage to figure out exactly what presentation they wanted, but this is what I tried..
    Fished 6-8pm off the channel in 7-10 feet of water, most fish came on a small 20 ft wide flat in about 8 feet. Started off drifting with a small octopus hook with half a crawler threaded 2 ft behind a couple split shots. Kept that about a foot off of the bottom…caught several nice ones
    Then had success with a 1/4 black jig, again threaded with crawler half, but this time I presented it about 4-5 feet off bottom….about 2x as many fish this way.
    I probably should have just kept with the previous 2 methods, but decided to try and make it even easier by using plastics…Substituted half of a Northland Impulse Crawler on the jig and continued to drift while suspending the bait about half way up. No jigging needed just let the wind rocking my GoldenHawk (25+ year old canoe) make the action. Caught the most fish this way.
    Attached is one of many fish I caught yesterday…And like I said, they are putting on the feedbag early this year. This “little” guy was around 14″ but dang close to 3.5 lbs I thought…Hope to catch him again in late September if he hasn’t exploded by then

    Also attached are pics of the crazy sunset on the Pond that night. Never saw a rainbow that close to dusk before.

    Dam nature distracting me from these smallies!!!



    Bryan Myers
    Moderator
    Posts: 586
    August 30, 2013 at 3:15 am #1192168

    Nice report and pictures! I think a lot of people over look that body of water but there’s certainly hungry fish in there!

    bigpike
    Posts: 6259
    August 30, 2013 at 10:47 am #1192180

    Quote:

    Nice report and pictures! I think a lot of people over look that body of water but there’s certainly hungry fish in there!

    The pond is nothing but an under fished gem that’s 5 minutes from my door step. A buddy of mine lost a smally a couple years back that gave us a full air twice before getting off, that fish was all of 6 pounds or more…enjoy the pond just don’t let anyone know just how good the fishing can be

    kegger1919
    Eau Claire WI
    Posts: 25
    August 30, 2013 at 6:19 pm #1192239

    I use to go and throw cranks across from mt simon and catch some nice ones. Nice to no they are still there. Some day I will go back there to fish. Those darn walleyes just taste better.

    O-FISHial
    Posts: 35
    August 30, 2013 at 10:23 pm #1192265

    Yes there are lots of hungry fish on Dells, big ones too. My friend that gave me the hot tip said his 5 year old son picked up a 22″ hog and lost one that could have been bigger!!!!….Only problem is recreational boaters. That is why I will only go there pre-dawn to about 9am or 6pm to dark. Even during those hours you still get some very rude people…had a speedboat do about 3 laps 100 yards around me in my canoe, which was interesting…but oh well, that comes with the territory.
    Walleyes are a little tougher to find on the Pond but that will change shortly for me…hopefully picking up a Humminbird Fishin’ Buddy 140c soon! Then I can just locate them and follow them around all day! Headed back tonight to see if I can crank them at all, I will let you all know my results.

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