Fishing the Tanner City

When one thinks of Peabody, the word “fishing” is not the first to come to mind. This may be because a beginning angler studying online videos from a random YouTuber in Alabama may have a very difficult time catching a Peabody largemouth bass on the standard fishing methods used in the deep south.

The reality is that resident fish in Peabody are smarter and much harder to catch than most places. They are picky and are very unlikely to strike what fishermen can get away with in other places. Peabody ponds with the best fishing have very clear water, meaning a fish can see a bait much better and can much more easily determine it to be fake. For example, Flax Pond in Lynn has much muddier water than ponds in Peabody. Fish will use their lateral line, an organ for detecting vibrations, to find food when the water is not clear enough to see it. For this reason, the lure doesn’t have to be as visually appealing, meaning the presentation of the bait doesn’t have to be perfect. In the clear waters of Peabody, there is no room for for sloppiness. To outsmart these fish, one must perfectly replicate a fishes natural food, or turn on the fish’s killer instinct.

There are over ten ponds/lakes in Peabody providing plenty of great fishing opportunity for many species. Ponds in Peabody are filled with largemouth bass, pickerel, sunfish, yellow perch, crappie, bullhead catfish, and eels. A couple ponds have white perch and one has smallmouth bass. The smaller ponds such as Sidney’s Pond and Crystal Lake are great for catching a few fish, but the larger ponds like Brown’s Pond and the reservoirs, Spring Pond and Winona Lake are home to some monsters. Targeting Peabody wallhangers requires patience, immense concentration, knowledge and specific techniques that I may cover in a later article.

For the sake of simplicity, I have narrowed down the list of baits that will tempt a Tanner City fish into biting, down to a few proven fish catchers. Live bait, such as worms and shiners are always a good bet. The top artificial baits are 5 inch senko style rubber worms wacky rigged, 5-6 inch finesse worms or ribbon-tail worms Texas rigged, small 3-4 inch jerk baits and stick baits such as Rapalas, in-line spinners such as Mepps or Roostertails, and curly-tail jigs. Match this with light 6-8 lb. test line and you have the best shot at hooking a Tanner City fish.

Large spinner baits and buzz baits are loud, obnoxious, and underwater, look nothing like a live baitfish. They are designed for sending off plenty of vibrations in muddy water and can be productive, but leave them out of your tackle box in Peabody. Deep-diving lures also have no purpose because of the shallow and weedy nature of Tanner City ponds and lakes.

Visual presentation is key to catching predatory fish in Peabody. Fish in Peabody are smart, so to catch them, you have to be even smarter. However, this city has a few species of fish that rely solely on their senses of smell and taste to find food, regardless of the water clarity. More on how and where to catch Peabody catfish and eels in the next article.