I hit up Mono Pond today in Columbia in my kayak.
This was my first time fishing here, so I really didn’t know what to expect.
The pond contained heavy weed growth that extended to within a foot of the surface with a lot of dollar pads and lily pads throughout. This probably would be a good place to chuck a frog next summer.
I was forced to make accurate casts into the lanes between the pad fields and the little bit of open water that existed.
I did manage to catch six bass, three pickerel and a big yellow perch.
I caught the first few fish on a husky jerk and then switched up to the swamp guppy by Huskybass. They seemed to prefer the soft jerk bait and its erratic action over the hard jerk bait.
Overall, it was a fun day in a beautiful setting. I certainly didn’t set the world on fire with the fishing, but I left satisfied and enjoyed just being outdoors this time of the year.

Nice job on a new pond. I got the skunk on 4 ponds yesterday.

Nice report and pics, the fish can't hide from you.

Great trip and pics. Nothing like enjoying the fall outdoors.

Nice day on the water Jon. That is one of the fishiest looking ponds around. I fished it a few times in the late 80s with my buddy. We had a great day going on our last trip there when a couple drunks in a canoe rolled over in the center of the pond. We rescued them from themselves and the buzzkill ruined what had been a great trip. The other trips best memory was when he beached the boat to deal with a Chinese food enema reaction. He was grunting away hugging a tree when a turkey buzzard circled him down low. We still laugh about that. The buzzard was waiting for his emminent demise served fresh for a carrion.

Jerovaty in Hebron is another sleeper spot I went to in the late 80s and once with my GF in 2003. I rated it the most fishy looking canoe pond I ever fished. I went twice solo for brief scouting trips and never caught a keeper. She caught one the day we fished it and recently I have had the urge to try it again. I talked with one of the guys at the swap meet in Plainville and he got me interested in registering my canoe so I can put a trolling motor on it and get back into pond fishing.

Crazy little back story about where my head was when I did the pond circuit years ago. I had a 13 foot ultralight fiberglass canoe that I picked up cheap at a tag sale. The back had a crack dead center that I half assed patched and fished with the leak. I could be as stealth as I wanted in that boat and caught more fish per hour than any other boat method. I would have water up to my ankles and sit 12 hours mining my ponds for every bass I could catch. At the same time Columbia sports had a canoe they sold that was my dream replacement for the one I owned. I never did buy that and instead upgraded to a bigger canoe till I eventually bought my Ranger.


Now the crazy. About 10 years ago my neighbor showed up with his wife carrying a canoe that they deposited in the back yard where I was. They said their daughter moved to California and the boat needed a good home. It was the exact canoe that Columbia sports sold back in the 80s. I have used it sparingly but have plans to use it more when I register it.