Fishing for Beaver-Pond Bass
Leisure-Time Canoeing
 Editor’s
Note: When beaver-pond basing is right, it can be some
of the most-explosive, exciting fishing that an angler
can experience. There is more than one way to catch
a beaver-pond-bass because there’s more than one
type of beaver p ond
to fish.
The problem with most beaver ponds, at least the ones
I like to fish that don’t receive a lot of fishing
pressure, is that most of them are in hard-to-get-to
places. You hardly ever will see a fully-rigged, modern
bass boat deep in the woods on a beaver pond. However,
a canoe that drafts little water and is lightweight
makes anexcellent craft for beaver-pond bassing, since
it opens up new water that’s hard for the wader
to fish. One of the best areas in a beaver pond to catch
bass is at the dam, because the flat-tailed beavers
use sticks and mud to construct their dams, leaving
lots of underwater cover in these regions for the bass.
But landing bass caught around a beaver’s dam
is not without problems. When the fish takes the lure,
the bass usually will run from the dam to the middle
of the pond, straight toward the angler, making setting
the hook and keeping the line tight difficult. The first
time I noticed this phenomenon I had 12 strikes on one
dam. I saw four bass, weighing 5-pounds or more each,
break the surface and throw the lure. I cringed every
time I set the hook, saw the rod bow and tried to retrieve
line to catch up to the bass as it headed toward the
boat, only to find that it had thrown the lure. I have
learned that a better technique for catching beaver-dam
bass is to cast parallel to the bank. In this way, when
the fish takes the bait, I can get a good, solid hook
set and keep pressure on the bass as it heads for deep
water. For anglers who aren’t secure when fishing
from a canoe, a small,  lightweight
single-person boat may be the answer. However, no matter
what kind of craft is used, some type of boat in a beaver
pond gives the angler some advantages that wading doesn’t.
Starlight Beaver-Pond Bassing
During th e
spring and the summer, most of the big-bass activity
in beaver ponds will be carried on at night. Bass move
to the edge of shallow water cover and feed more actively
when the moon comes up, and the stars come out. Ron
Smith, an avid nighttime angler and conservation officer
for the State of Alabama, explains, “I’ve
caught some of the biggest bass in my life while fishing
beaver ponds at night. There are certain key factors
that are important to taking hawgs by starlight –
like being as quiet as possible when putting the boat
into the water at night. When we beat on the side of
the boat, fall or drop something in the boat just before
and during the launching, the bass wait a long time
before they begin to bite. However, if we quietly slide
the craft into the water, we can begin, almost immediately,
to catch fish. When night fishing, an angler must have
heavy line, stout rods and noisy baits. I use 30-pound-test
line so that I have enough power to break the fish away
from the cover as soon as it strikes my lure. I want
a strong, stiff rod so that I can keep the fish’s
head up and keep it from coming to the boat. I like
a noisy bait like a Lunker Lure or a Lucky 13 Lure,
because at night, bass hone in on the sound of the bait.
I have fished the same pond during daylight hours and
at night, and I consistently catch bigger bass at night
than I do in the daytime. Depending on how clean the
edge of the pond is, and whether or not I can get a
boat into it, I often will wade beaver ponds at night.
I will always make sure I have a buddy with me if I’m
wading. Whether wading or fishing from a boat, nighttime
fishing for beaver-pond bass is the most-exciting fishing
there is. When I am out there at night listening to
the “Putt! Putt! Putt!” sound of my Lunker
Lure, and a big bass suddenly blows up, I really get
excited. Battling that lunker largemouth to the boat
when I can’t see the bass really makes the fishing
more thrilling.”
Tomorrow: Belly Boating
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