Going light yields heavy rewards in pond fishing

I'm sorry if my local adventures may bore some of you, but I am a sucker for area ponds.

I know some of these little watercourses are chock full of big panfish and jumbo bass.

I also suspect some you may be ticked off with me because I will not divulge the exact locations of these magnificent little treasures.

And because we are rapidly approaching summer, I now carry a 7-foot ultra-light rod in my vehicle because I am on the prowl for some new spots. That rod holds a small reel spooled with 4-pound braid tipped with a 5-foot long fluorocarbon leader.

There are pluses and minuses to my madness, because what I do could well be construed as harmful to the many fish that fall prey to my lures.

I have accumulated a large number of 1/64th- and 1/100-ounce jig heads.

As I travel from one suburb to another I am scanning the side streets for retention ponds, and when I spot one I usually skip a heartbeat or two because it's a fairly safe bet there will be some kind of angling opportunity.

There's a movement afoot known as the Finesse Fishing Network, championed by Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas.

Ned likes to use 1/64-ounce jig head and small (3-inch) plastic grubs for his smallmouth and largemouth expeditions on Midwest reservoirs. His blogs are often published in the In-Fisherman Magazine. And Ned has been a frequent guest on my Sunday morning outdoor talk show.

Before I get too wrapped up in my storytelling, I will touch on the good and bad sides of what I am doing on the ponds.

The plus side is that experience has shown me pond fish of all sizes have a tendency to chase and inhale super-small lures. For example, I will tip one of those 1/64th-ounce jig heads with a chartreuse or white Cubby Mini-Mite. I will change colors on the tails if I fail to get a hit.

But when fish are in a hungry mode, they will often go after the jig and tail in a way that causes them to swallow the entire rig. If that continues to be the result, I'll either switch to a larger jig head, say a 1/32-ounce version or even a 1/16-ounce with a red or white head.

Most of the time I'll tip the jigs with a Mini-Mite or something similar. But I'll usually have small containers of spikes (maggots) or wax worms along for the rides as well, if the Mini-Mite fails to attract a bit.

And then if all of those tantalizing tricks fail, I go to the truck and assemble a fly rod with a black leech on the end of the leader.

This micro-style of enticement usually works on pond bluegills, crappie, and bass. But as in all fishing there are exceptions, and that means the fish just aren't on the feedbag.

Fishing update:

• Excellent bluegill fishing on Pistakee Lake in 5-feet of water. Walleye action has improved near the Route 12 Bridge as well as the Grass Lake Road bridge near C.J, Smith's Resort. Look for muskie activity near the sand bar separating Channel Lake and Lake Catherine. Try night surface action.

• Deep Lake panfish excellent on inside weed edges.

• Bangs Lake largemouth bass very active in heavy weed cover on northern shoreline.

• Lake Delevan bass good-same holds true for Geneva Lake, especially smallies in 10 feet.

• Contact Mike Jackson at angler88@comcast.net, catch his radio show 7-9 a.m. Sundays on WGCO 1590-AM (live-streamed at www.1590WCGO.com) and get more content at www.mikejacksonoutdoors.com.