I need help finding some gills in the ponds around where I live. None of them have any structure that I can see, but I know that they are there. I have wanted to take my girlfriend fishing so she can catch some, but I need some tips for what to do in these structure less ponds.

If you mainly are wanting to put her on some fish, take her over to Canyon Lake #6 off of MLK and 19th. Just west of MLK (about 100 yds. or so) is a little wooden bridge. There's some decent structure there in terms of concrete as well as a little bit of brush. Should be able to catch gills all day long there. May also try dropping a crappie jig down there, or bring some minnows even, as I used to catch alot of crappie there (mostly small, but occasionally a decent one will happen by). Another trick you might try for the crappie there is to scale and fillet a bluegill, then put thin strips (about 3/16" by 1") on a jig head hooked through the end and jig with that. Seems like the southeast "corner" was always best.

Oh yeah...I'd skedaddle before nightfall. Daytime seems to be pretty safe though.

As far as other ponds, try to find ones where the concrete drainage ramps are still in the water and fish around those.

try a bobber and crawler toss it out and wait a few minutes every 3-5 minutes reel it in a little till you find fish also over hanging brush from land is good too especially shade areas under trees.

Tight Lines!!!

The easiest and main way to go about it is to cover water and don't stop moving until you find a school that is biting and be prepared to move with them. Normally a pond devoid of cover (structure is the bottom and how it's composed and shaped; cover is the actual brush, timber, snags, vegetation, etc..) has got plenty of vegetation and/or the water is fairly clear, so I'm assuming that's the case here. Let me know if it isn't. What I have done in this instance is to cover water horizontally. Make sure you have tackle that can cast light lures a long way. I say lures because they are easier to cover a lot of water with and most pond bream respond well to lures unless they have been hammered with fishing pressure. Anyway, the lures I bring out to find bream in the situation you describe are:

Curly tail grubs (I like the 2" Southern Pro Hot Grub) on a light jighead.

Small crankbaits and topwaters. The Rebel Crickhopper is the perfect choice for what you have in mind.

Small spinnerbaits. Most like Beetle Spins, but I like small bass style spinnerbaits like the Booyah Micro Pond Magic spinnerbaits and roadrunners.

Last, and to be frank least, some sort of float n fly rig. I like the Bett's Mr. Crappie Rattlin' Pear with a spit tail beetle grub on a jighead below for what you've described, but any kind of float n fly rig will work within reason.

To find them cover the high column of water, the active fish will come up and show themselves and their school. You should worry more about working the bait fast or slow than worrying about how deep it is. Frankly, if your lure is more than 12" deep, it might be too deep.

Once you find them and they stop biting you search lures, fish for them in a more verticle manner. A more finesse aproach is called for here. More subtle and quiet. I like the following lures and rigs.

A triple tail type grub. I like Southern Pro Triple Tip Grubs on a jighead. Make sure to use a lighter jighead than you did on the other plastics. Let it sink deeper in the water column and swim it back slower. Tubes with an internal jighead have been good for me when the bite slows. Also, any plastic that looks like an insect, worm, emerger or craw.

A deeper float n fly rig is also great. Again, lighter jighead, a tad deeper and slower.

Small suspending plugs work ok, but they are hard to find and they normally sink more than they suspend. A better option is a 3" or less stik bait wacky rigged. Just let it sink and deadstick it. If they are there, they will bite it.

Work fast, quiet and stealth like. No loud shirts or hats for ponds devoid of veg. Use cloud cover, shade, wind and sun angle to your advantage. If the bass have the bream outnumbered and out balanced, the bream fishing will be hard to come by. They will be in hiding and won't come out of their hiding places to bite except maybe at night. Maybe. If the bass are so numerous that the bream are pinned down. I would go after the bass. A wacky rigged 4"-5" stick bait always works well. I personally like a 3"-5" curly tail grub rigge on a light jighead with a good sized hook.

Hope this helps. Feel free to ask any questions and let us know how it goes!

Thanks for the quick replies guys! I'll definitely try that corner near the bridge, I've been there before but never caught anything. Will try this eventually! All help is greatly appreciated especially your reply jagg!

No problem. If the pond does have vegetation, look for the veg different from the norm. I know of a pond that was bottom carpeted with coontail moss. On the North end of the pond there was a cabbage type weedbed mixed in with the coontail. My fishing buddy and I caught so many bream and bass from that cabbage! Look for changes! Even the slightest change is enough to hold bluegill in a pond with wolf packs of bass. If the bass allow the bluegill more movement, the bluegill will become more nomadic and relate less to cover and structure (or lack there of) and more to whatever prey they are keying on. Hence, stay on the move until you find them.

What Jagg said is right on. I will add that you can try some inline spinners, Mepps Aglia spinners, Panther Martins and Rooster tails. You can cover a lot of water, fish different depths and different speeds of retrieve. Hope this helps.

I have a local pond that is pretty much void of any structure. Seems as though the bass and bigger gills still manage to find ambush spots alone the water's edge. Otherwise I find them in the deepest spot.

Another tip, folks feeding ducks bread = bluegill nearby.

I got my fiance started in similar ponds, and my goto lures were Gulp products. The 1" minnow, curly tail grub, fish fry, and minnow heads in the little jars under a tiny float with a tiny split shot in between. The scent really helps finding the fish, or helps the fish find your lure, either way. I also noticed that they would react to the sound of your float/bait hitting the water and key in on it like little sharks. Good luck, hope yall catch them.

I would try to fish by over hanging tree branches and would also look for grass/weed beds. I would start out using worms and if you find a bunch of em you can always start using artificial. Catching a bunch of hungry pond gills on ultra light is hard to beat.

Walk the bank and look for minnows near the shore, start simple get a box of night crawlers or red wigglers from walmart or academy. Feed them what they are use to eating then once you've found where they are you can move to jigs or whatever you like to use. No structure ponds are puzzles...have fun