Pearland Urban Fishing in Retention Ponds
Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 11:05 am
Who says you have to drive to the coast to get a little action?
We moved to Pearland earlier this year, and there are retention ponds for neighborhoods all over the place. Our house backs up to one that's about 20 acres. I'm a salt water fishing guy but I figured I HAD to start fresh water fishing when it's so close by. I've done virtually zero fresh water fishing, so I started learning about spinner baits, buzz baits, Senkos, etc. Maybe because it's new to me, fresh water fishing seems a lot more complicated, with way more lure choices.
At first glance, it looked like there were no fish in the pond behind our house. I couldn't catch anything the first few times I went out during the middle of the day. But I kept reading freshwater forums online and kept on fishing.
I moved my fishing to late afternoons / evenings, and I finally found some structure in what appears to be a featureless pond. By finding structure, I also found the baitfish. I started catching channel catfish on stink bait and Gulp worms; catfish put up a pretty good fight! I even caught a 2-3 footer on a Johnson silver spoon on light tackle. That one took a while to get to shore.
Then I caught a crappie on the silver spoon. Aha! There's more than just catfish in there. I kept up with the spoon because I had good luck with it and caught more crappie and a few bluegill. I even caught a gasper goo (freshwater drum). It took me a while to figure out what the heck that was. It made croaking sounds when I caught it.
Finally, I started targeting bass, and the light bulb went on. Catching bass is a lot of fun! I've caught them on Gulp worms, silver spoon, topwater (Jittberbugs), and spinner baits. I've had the best luck with the spoon and spinner baits. Now I've abandoned fishing for anything else but bass. It's a very active style of fishing, and pretty exciting, especially on top water. The biggest one I've caught so far is 17 inches (see picture below).
And because a fishing report is worthless without pictures, here are a few fish I've caught so far. The first is the biggest bass I've caught so far. 17 inches and caught on a spinner bait. The second is the gasper goo, caught on silver spoon; the third is a small crappie, also caught on a silver spoon.
Guys (and gals), when you get the urge to fish but can't make it to the coast, start looking around your area. Fishing is a lot closer than you think!
We moved to Pearland earlier this year, and there are retention ponds for neighborhoods all over the place. Our house backs up to one that's about 20 acres. I'm a salt water fishing guy but I figured I HAD to start fresh water fishing when it's so close by. I've done virtually zero fresh water fishing, so I started learning about spinner baits, buzz baits, Senkos, etc. Maybe because it's new to me, fresh water fishing seems a lot more complicated, with way more lure choices.
At first glance, it looked like there were no fish in the pond behind our house. I couldn't catch anything the first few times I went out during the middle of the day. But I kept reading freshwater forums online and kept on fishing.
I moved my fishing to late afternoons / evenings, and I finally found some structure in what appears to be a featureless pond. By finding structure, I also found the baitfish. I started catching channel catfish on stink bait and Gulp worms; catfish put up a pretty good fight! I even caught a 2-3 footer on a Johnson silver spoon on light tackle. That one took a while to get to shore.
Then I caught a crappie on the silver spoon. Aha! There's more than just catfish in there. I kept up with the spoon because I had good luck with it and caught more crappie and a few bluegill. I even caught a gasper goo (freshwater drum). It took me a while to figure out what the heck that was. It made croaking sounds when I caught it.
Finally, I started targeting bass, and the light bulb went on. Catching bass is a lot of fun! I've caught them on Gulp worms, silver spoon, topwater (Jittberbugs), and spinner baits. I've had the best luck with the spoon and spinner baits. Now I've abandoned fishing for anything else but bass. It's a very active style of fishing, and pretty exciting, especially on top water. The biggest one I've caught so far is 17 inches (see picture below).
And because a fishing report is worthless without pictures, here are a few fish I've caught so far. The first is the biggest bass I've caught so far. 17 inches and caught on a spinner bait. The second is the gasper goo, caught on silver spoon; the third is a small crappie, also caught on a silver spoon.
Guys (and gals), when you get the urge to fish but can't make it to the coast, start looking around your area. Fishing is a lot closer than you think!