Small Pond to Lake Transition - Tips and Pointers

[pottawattamiebassmaster]

I grew up fishing small farm ponds (no larger than 10 acres) around my parents house and caught loads of large mouth bass. I left home to pursue my love for fishing to get a degree in fisheries but the fishing around here is all large lakes and the land owners don't want a bunch of college kids on their ponds. Does anyone out there have any pointers on how to make the switch from farm ponds to larger lakes?

I miss catching fish like this:

 

[Jamo3030]

Lots of lakes have public boat launches and once you're on the water no one can say anything to you so go on CL and buy an old canoe. Check with DEP, Fisheries, Rec, etc to find lakes with public access. Make sure you also pick up a fishing license.

 

[wantokeeptrout]

once you get water access try fishing on the edge of weed beds or rock piles by jigging spoons

 

[pottawattamiebassmaster]

The area where i'm living now is more dominated by walleye and wipers and i've been thinking about switching over to walleye fishing while i'm at school but don't want to buy a bunch of different tackle. And I was actually planning on buying a boat this last summer but ended up buying a dog instead. who knew that the boat would have been a cheaper investment, but i do love my dog.

 

[wantokeeptrout]

The area where i'm living now is more dominated by walleye and wipers and i've been thinking about switching over to walleye fishing while i'm at school but don't want to buy a bunch of different tackle. And I was actually planning on buying a boat this last summer but ended up buying a dog instead. who knew that the boat would have been a cheaper investment, but i do love my dog.

what do you normally use, unless you use those specialized topwater plugs you can probably use a similar tactic for walleye

 

[pottawattamiebassmaster]

I normally use a single colorado blade spinner bait, a texas-rigged worm, or a top-water frog. The only other time i've fished for walleye is jigging from a boat.

 

[wantokeeptrout]

I normally use a single colorado blade spinner bait, a texas-rigged worm, or a top-water frog. The only other time i've fished for walleye is jigging from a boat.

the texas rigged worm should work well as will the spinner. I'd either troll the spinner or cast and retrieve from weeds. The worm you should drop near areas of heavy cover to entice walleye out. the frog might be an issue since walleye don't generally come to the surface willingly, especially during the day. I normally either jig worms or troll rapalas or william wobblers for walleye but you have similar tactics. try going out at dawn or dusk for best results.