Fern Ridge ponds (Kirk pond )

F
fam
Are there anyone fishing in the Kirk pond(just below the Fern Ridge dam)?
What kind of hook I need to use?
I used floating lure hook to fish there but no fish ate it.
Are there anything wrong with my hook?
BTW, how many kinds of fishes in that pond?
Thanks a lot!
 
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troutdude
troutdude
I have no idea what a "floating lure hook" is.

But, there are panfish in there (crappie, bluegill, maybe others).

For bluegill use a bobber and a worm about 3 feet under the bobber. Or, the same rig, but with a mealworm or grub.

For crappie, use a bobber and Danielson's crappie jigs. I use the feathered type...not the plastic ones.

For both species:

Fish near structure: bushes, weeds, docks, pilings, etc.

Method: twitch, twitch, twitch the rod tip a bit. Then, let bait sit for a few seconds. Try one twitch, or multiple twitches but try variations until you find what works best. Repeat until you get your limit.

Gear: Ultralight rod n' reel. Two pound mono line. The lighter the better.

Hooks: size 6, 8, or 10 are good.

And don't overlook fishing in the Long Tom river below the dam and downstream.

P.S. Welcome to the forum.
 
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F
fam
The floating lure is a kind of lure can float on the surface of the water(may be just under the surface). when I throw it out, I pull it back slowly. Does it works?
 
troutdude
troutdude
You're welcome.

I've never used lures of any kind for 'gills for crappie. I've only jigged / bait fished as I described. I'll have to defer to others to answer the lure question.
 
T
the_intimidator03
Fam. there is a wide family of lures that work on the surface and just under the surface of the water. just in the bass side of it you got some soft plastics like jerk baits, weedless frogs/mice, for hard baits there is stick baits, chuggers, poppers, buzz baits. way to many to list. you can even expand into flies such as poppers and deer/elk hair divers and plugs. for bass and top water early morning and late afternoon... like dawn and dusk especially after things really warm up the water. thats just a blast. As for what kind of floating lure you are using im not sure. i dunno if it churns up the water when you reel it in, does it splash, does it dive a little when you twitch it. is it long and skinny with a little bill? or is it short and fat
 
F
Fisher.King
As for the species of fish, there are lots. Mostly pond fish: Largemouth bass, crappie, bluegill, common carp, sucker fish (squafish I think), bullheads (small catfish) and trout are all found in the Long Tom, so I would assume all of them are in the reservoir as well. Bullfrogs also litter the shores at night, if you fancy the spear.

The best time to go is at night too, in my opinion. Just leave the lantern close to the water and you'll eventually hook into some largemouths at Kirk, even on the public docks. Poppers also work extremely well at night, they are the ones that are always floating on the surface and splash when they move.

The bullhead go absolutely nuts if you set up a small LED (red is my favorite) on a button battery glued to a hook with a worm at night in the Long Tom.

Balls of plain bread are my #1 choice in all waters when fishing carp, just stop at a supermarket and get the cheap generic wheat or white and ball up about an inch in diameter or less. You can also tear off a chunk of bread and pinch only one corner to the hook, so it still floats. It's fun to watch the carp come slurp it off the surface (daytime)...
 
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J
JimBob
The only thing to catch in Fern Ditch is trash. There are better places to fish that are just as close.
 
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J
JimBob
I meant actual trash! There is an abundance of it whenever i go there!

Crappies and Bluegill are always fun.
 
E
eddiecoyote
I've made three ventures out to Kirk Pond this past week. I used mostly worms but did switch it up to the occasional spinner, crawdad, popper, rooster tail, buzzbait. I had one good strike in the small pond behind Kirk Pond using a green worm. But it was my first time to ever use a braided line and I fast realized I had the wrong knot. Decent sized bass, broke the surface (worm was coming over some grass).

I tried some crappie fishing from the bank using a jig below a bobber. Not used to bank fishing for crappie not around a tree-top. I'm used to dangling a jig below the water and dancing it until a strike. (family lives in Arkansas and we crappie fish A LOT). But i've never ever tried the bobber approach. Nothing. I'm doing something wrong, rigging my setup wrong, because I have no dance in my jig. It just hangs there. Any suggestions? I've looked for a porcupine quill, something lighter that might impart some of the water surface motion onto the jig.

Thanks, and good luck!
 
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troutdude
troutdude
Welcome to OFF EC.

I use these with a lot of success from the bank. Just twitch the rod a few times, every couple of minutes w/ variety in # of twitches. Reeling in slowly also does the trick sometimes.

Here's what I use:

Google
 
T
TTFishon
eddiecoyote said:
I've made three ventures out to Kirk Pond this past week. I used mostly worms but did switch it up to the occasional spinner, crawdad, popper, rooster tail, buzzbait. I had one good strike in the small pond behind Kirk Pond using a green worm. But it was my first time to ever use a braided line and I fast realized I had the wrong knot. Decent sized bass, broke the surface (worm was coming over some grass).

I tried some crappie fishing from the bank using a jig below a bobber. Not used to bank fishing for crappie not around a tree-top. I'm used to dangling a jig below the water and dancing it until a strike. (family lives in Arkansas and we crappie fish A LOT). But i've never ever tried the bobber approach. Nothing. I'm doing something wrong, rigging my setup wrong, because I have no dance in my jig. It just hangs there. Any suggestions? I've looked for a porcupine quill, something lighter that might impart some of the water surface motion onto the jig.

Thanks, and good luck!

This knot works great with braid. palomar knot - Google Search
Good luck and welcome to the forum.
 
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E
eddiecoyote
Yeah... I've switched the Palomar almost exclusively.

I've never seen that Crappie rig before. Interesting. Will have to check Cabellas to see if they have one.
 
troutdude
troutdude
Just go to Bi Mart. They work VERY well, and they're really cheap too.

And use a slip bobber too. Then, you can easily adjust depth until you find the zone.

BTW, night fishing OFF of the Fern Ridge boat docks is good too.
 
F
Fisher.King
When I was a kid my dad would take us to fish crappie in the Long Tom. He was a way better fisherman than I was back then *cough* and he knew like the exact days to go. It was kind of creepy :D.

We would rig up a plain red and white bubble bobber over a 1/8 jig head using the generic red head-white tail rubber jigs and drift it for 10-15 feet before a strike, sometimes less. We would take home a couple pounds of crappie/bluegill mix. Sometimes we would use purple or yellow instead of red. Also I don't think I'll give away each bed I've found, they've been accumulating in my head through some very hard work over the years, but once you find a crappie/bluegill bed on the Long Tom, do not forget where it is. They re-use them. Remember the general dates you catch eating-sized crappie/bluegill too, I keep a log of all catches in a pocket notebook, it is extremely useful in the long run.

I take down:

Water temperature (once weekly if I go more than once a week)
Water level (once weekly if I go more than once a week)
Clarity (once weekly if I go more than once a week)
Species
Number caught
Bait and method
Location, sometimes I take GPS coords of hot spots if I'm walking and fishing a river or lake
General notes if needed, such as "The dam was open" or "There is a new dock in the water" etc

Oregon isn't like Alabama where there's a lot of big bluegill all season, knowing when and where to fish each year is almost crucial for the non-salmonid species.

Arkansas, sorry XD
 
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troutdude
troutdude
Wow. You are one serious fisherpeep. You take notes just like Jed Davis describes in his spin fishing book.

So, will the real Jed Davis please stand up?!
 
F
Fisher.King
Who? Those categories just seemed to describe the most from each trip... Been doing it for a few years now, it helps a ton.
 
troutdude
troutdude
Jed Davis is an Oregonian who wrote a definitive book on Spinner fishing. He did much of his research on the Mac and S. Santiam, but other Oregon streams as well. He kept copious records in a notebook, much like what you described. If you don't have a copy of Jed's book...I highly recommend it (and so will other OFFers).

I don't care much for Amazon, but here is the book:

Amazon.com: Spinner Fishing for Steelhead, Salmon, and Trout (9780936608402): Jed Davis: Books
 

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