What I look for when fishing ponds!

[Strat-A-Caster]

What do you look for when fishing ponds? Here is what I look for and how I approach ponds or any body of water for that matter. Caught some good fish in new bodies of water applying these simple principles!

[big g]

My house is surrounded by man made lakes.  I bank fish at least 5 days a week, and always look for the following.
1. I check the weather and always look for wind direction, and amount of rain over two days before.  This tells me what side of the lake to fish, and whether to concentrate on culvert pipes and places of current.
2). I look for structure especially where there is a depth change.  In my lakes this is easy to tell because that is where the weed lines will end.  My lakes have a perimeter flat with weed cover.  Good for a health fish population.
Then with a good pair of sunglasses, look for large rock boulders under the water line.  Since these are man made lakes boulders and rock ledges are common.
3). Look for happy water, this is when baitfish are pushed to the surface by predators.  Since we have peacock in good numbers, this is common.
4. Look for bird activity.  We have lots of skimmers that zero in on the happy water.
5. Any weed movement means fish, snakes, turtles, and occasional gators in the area.  I will cast to any movement in weeds and work slow Texas rigged.
6. In the shallows, an isolate clump of weeds is usually better then a large expanse.  Bass will gather on isolated clumps because they provide shade, and O2 on an open flat.  You sometimes catch several off one clump but usually the same size.
7. Changes in temp, the depth changes are a good spot because bass will move up and down the ledge especially if there are pads and weeds close by.  The ledges are straight down from 10 to 20 feet and usually 20 feet from the bank.
I hope this helps some, Good luck and happy hunting.

[Strat-A-Caster]

Wow, yes those are very specific things to be looking at. I appreciate that and will keep that in mind when fishing. Sounds like the bodies of water you have access to are a bit more diverse than what I am used to. Tights lines.