I have been spending a great deal of time fly fishing for bass and perch on several small ponds. These are some of the things that have been successful for me to date.

During the day I fish the deeper part of the ponds with wooley buggers mainly. I've caught them on black, crystal, brown and olive. Each of the ponds seems to be slightly different. I have also caught them on a chartruese and white clouser. The smaller wooley buggers seem to work better. I have had no luck with gold or silver beaded head wooley buggers. I usually toss the small fly and give it time to slowly drop to the fish.

During the evening I have used poppers. I have only caught one bass with my large frog popper and nothing on my size 1 black popper. But I have caught a ton of bass on one of the cheap walmart poppers. The yellow one with green tail and white rubber legs. The closest to a normal frog fly. I work it very close to the bank in holes in the weeds and have caught multiple 2 to 3 pound bass. I also catch a large number of bluegill and fingerling bass though.

I went out this afternoon and caught by personal best on a fly rod. Just under 4 pounds. I noticed a large number of rust colored dragonflys working on top of the pond. So I found my closest imitation. The water was clear and I could see some large bass. I pulled the fly over his nose and got the reaction strike. What a fight trying to keep him out of the deep vegetation!!!

Nice report!

Thanks, been trying to upload pictures but it's not working. File just keeps uploading and never finishes.

Love pond fishing! Thanks for sharing your report with us.
Regarding the images,are you using the "upload image into post" or are you adding by URL from an image hosting site such as Flickr?

oh and P.S. If you haven't yet tried, the wee hours of the morning, before sunrise and right into sunrise can be productive on topwater.

Crawfish live everywhere.

Yes, I uses the upload photo button.

And big bass love crawfish. Great idea.

Sorry, I meant I used the upload button. That's my Aggie education at it's best.

Thanks J-Moe. I am wondering if this is a badwidth or connection problem? If you could try it at another location and see how that works. Or use an image hosting site and post that way
instructions for posting photos

Probably is. I will try to upload something at the office next week. I also have some heavy security on the computer.

Additional notes:

San Juan Worms - I tried the small red worm with the gold bead head. I like the action, just like a wacky worm. But the bead head failed again. Only perch. I think I'll try painting all my bead head flys. What paint or marker should I use?

Muddler Minnow: Absolutely no luck with this fly. Even the perch don't like it. Poor swim action.

Walmart Poppers: I fished a pond that white has worked well with bettle spins and a wooley bugger. I caught 3 on the white walmart popper and 1 on yellow. The bass weren't hitting it hard. They sucked it in and slowly turned there head. Then I set the hook. Lost 2 more because of impatience. I don't pop these bugs. I let them set. Then I just try to wiggle the legs. Wait again. Pull it a small ways, wiggle, wait and then cast again.

Size 1 black popper. I watched a bass swim up, look at it, and turn away. The only thing different is it has these crazy red eyes that change with direction of light. I think I'll paint the eyes on this one as well.

And a few more:

Weightless Wooley Bugger: Since I put on my Costas I can actually see the action of the flies in the water. I think that is why I have had success letting these drop to the bottom in deep water. They rock forward and backward as they fall. Very good swim action. I caught 2 yesterday before I started experimenting.

Borski Bonefish Slider; This is the secret weapon that the guys at Orvis Woodlands put me on to. It most closely represented the rust colored dragonflys on the pond. I caught the big bass on this one. And 3 more yesterday before I had to retire the fly. I throw it parrellel to the bank and drag it slowly either through light weeds or just outside the weedline. I pull it along as slow as possible to keep it just off the bottom.

One note; If you get hung. Be patient walk down the bank to the other side of the fly and unstag it. Don't try to jerk it out of the brush. I use a 12 lb. flurocarbon tippet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QaKZtHPhcI

Bass Fly fishing in ponds with Lefty Kreh

(with one of the Clouser Minners of course!)

Cool, he's using a red and white clouser. And a red and white hackle. I'll have to try those colors. Thanks for the video.

I've found Chartreuse and White to be the best color combo for clousers around North Texas.
It's the silver rattle trap of flys. If they won't bite that, they ain't biting.