Slough Fishing

[grizzald]

I have a decent sized private pond about 70 yards off my front door step which the DNR uses as a rearing pond for walleyes. I tried it down there in my portable about 2 weeks ago and I could not get them to bite! I could see them come up to my jig and dead stick but they would not hit. Any tips would be great. It would be pretty sweet to get home from work and walk to my fish house from my home

[wishing for walleyes]

Check it out with an underwater camera.

[smeese]

Alot of times the meat on fish from these smaller ponds seems a bit mushier and is not as quality. All of them differ, and I am sure this is more of a summer issue, but if you get on a bite I would try one or two before taking a limit.

[Fred_Bear]

I fished a slough like this a couple summers ago. Maybe 40 acres tops and mostly 6 ft deep with one small 13 ft hole. We started out trolling and casting raps in the shallow water and eventually switched to plastics which was better. The fish were crazy aggressive, but only before sunrise and then they shut off so that might be your key. I know you're fishing hardwater but in such a small lake the low light periods most likely are their only feeding times.

You could have found a gem though we had multiple 30+ fish days in a matter of a couple hours between no more than 3 guys. The best was seeing the crazy looks on people's faces driving by seeing us out fishing a slough in a little duck boat. Probly figured we were fishing bullheads haha.

[Shawnny B]

could also be 14" or less walleyes ....=)

[7outof10]

some times slougs can have big sunfish in them also

[Caleb S]

could also be 14" or less walleyes ....=)

We haven't had any really bad winter kills in recent years, there might be some doozies in there too!

[Black_Bay]

If they used the pond this year they might have netted it down pretty well. Call the Ortonville office and see what they caught. They might have only caught fingerlings.

[wormhook]

iv fished rearing ponds in the past with great success one winter and, the following winter proved to be a waste of time. the only way to determine what way it will go is to get out there and maybe even try some new things. time on the ice will tell you.