How's the fishing at Vernonia pond?

[tdspence]

I want to take the kids fishing there. I would like to try for bluegill because all they have caught before is small bass and trout. Any good time of the day that works best during this heat? Any good baits besides worms? Any other tips? thanks

 

[chris61182]

I hope it's not too late but I'd recommend the smallest hooks you can get and even better if they're circle hooks. As for bait, worms work great, as do soft plastics but make sure they're small, think trout/crappie worms cut into fifths. You won't need much weight, just a split shot or two to have some line control and jig it close to cover. How close to the cover depends entirely on the fish and how they're feeling, you may only have to get it in the water near them other times you'll have to put it right into their lairs.

 

[fishfor life]

I was over there today with kids and had a great time .(power bait,under a bobber( rainbow color power bait was the hit today under a bobber also silver spiners..

 

[Cstylezwayz]

Vernonia pond can be fun. I have found that the trout bite best towards the early part of the year and the bluegill and catfish tend to bite during the summer/fall. This year I have had the most luck with green powerbait. I limited out in about 2 hours. That was right after the April stocking though. I have not had any luck from the docks, only from the East side (opposite side of the parking lot) of the pond from the banks. Worms do work great in this pond when the waters start to warm up.

 

[GerbilManBoa]

Thanks everyone! Please keep the info coming, because I could use as much I can get!

 

[GungasUncle]

A good option instead of bait for all of the panfish (and trout, and even bass) are these nifty little things called Trout Magnets. They're 1/64th oz shad-dart type jigs with 1" split tail grub bodies. Come in a bunch of different colors. A fellow on iFish turned me on to them last summer - and I swear by them now. I started fishing them out at Hagg for panfish, and caught everything from bluegill & yellow perch to trout and largemouth bass. Took them down to Takenitch in September, first cast of the trip nailed a 16" cutthroat, and during the rest of the trip I got bluegill, pumpkinseed, crappie, and largemouth on them.

My favorite color by far is white, fished on a gold jig. Next favorite is translucent tan (not sure what they call the color), followed up with brown, then black. There's a few other colors that I want to try, but haven't yet.

You can find them at Wal Mart locally, or order them online (and they sell them in larger quantity packs than wallys has them) from troutmagnet.com

I fish two of them in tandem, usually by themselves, occasionally under a micro float. Sure beats rebaiting hooks when the fishing is fast paced. We'd often run into schools of perch or sunfish - and there were numerous occasions I got double hookups fishing the tandem rigs. Great lure for kids to fish, and even better that you don't need to worry about packing around worms or grubs or other bait with you. Couple dollars worth of the jigs, a couple $0.25 cent floats, and you're all set.

BTW, I fish these on an ultralight rod with 4lb line - they are pretty tiny after all

 

[GerbilManBoa]

A good option instead of bait for all of the panfish (and trout, and even bass) are these nifty little things called Trout Magnets. They're 1/64th oz shad-dart type jigs with 1" split tail grub bodies. Come in a bunch of different colors. A fellow on iFish turned me on to them last summer - and I swear by them now. I started fishing them out at Hagg for panfish, and caught everything from bluegill & yellow perch to trout and largemouth bass. Took them down to Takenitch in September, first cast of the trip nailed a 16" cutthroat, and during the rest of the trip I got bluegill, pumpkinseed, crappie, and largemouth on them.

My favorite color by far is white, fished on a gold jig. Next favorite is translucent tan (not sure what they call the color), followed up with brown, then black. There's a few other colors that I want to try, but haven't yet.

You can find them at Wal Mart locally, or order them online (and they sell them in larger quantity packs than wallys has them) from troutmagnet.com

I fish two of them in tandem, usually by themselves, occasionally under a micro float. Sure beats rebaiting hooks when the fishing is fast paced. We'd often run into schools of perch or sunfish - and there were numerous occasions I got double hookups fishing the tandem rigs. Great lure for kids to fish, and even better that you don't need to worry about packing around worms or grubs or other bait with you. Couple dollars worth of the jigs, a couple $0.25 cent floats, and you're all set.

BTW, I fish these on an ultralight rod with 4lb line - they are pretty tiny after all

Great info! Thanks.