Rutland Farms: Georgia Bass Fishing Farm Pond Heaven

Rutland has numerous ponds of various sizes on the farm

Since my very first trip, Rutland Farms has always felt like home to me. Ever since my first visit back in the spring of 2017 while working on a GON story, I keep finding myself going back, and every trip seems a little more enjoyable than the one before.

I wish I could tell you the trips I make down to the farm are all about the fishing, but that wouldn’t be entirely true. There’s something flat-out special about Rutland, and when I’m riding the dusty dirt paths that connect the many farm ponds on a warm, spring day, I get lost in it all and feel more like an owner of the farm than a visitor.

Yes-sir, at a time in Georgia where court battles are taking place daily over the legalities of who has the right to fish this stretch of river and who owns what creek bank, there’s a place just outside of Tifton where the lines of public and private intersect and everyone comes out a winner.

“We want it to be a place for everyone to come and enjoy. My family takes pride in our farm and it’s nice to be able to share it with others,” said Josh Rutland.

At Rutland, there are a dozen or so ponds up to 22 acres to fish. Some maybe closed at times, but you’ll get that information when you check in. For a modest $20 a day, or only $10 if you come after 1 p.m., visitors can enjoy more than 20 acres of water, featuring farm ponds of different sizes that offer great fishing opportunities for both boat and bank anglers alike. Another plus is that kids 15 and younger fish free with a paying adult. These fees help with the expense of maintaining the farms roads and help to offset the costs of maintaining the ponds.

Bass, crappie and panfishing opportunities exist in the ponds at Rutland, but it’s important to keep in mind that the bass fishing is strictly catch and release.

“The past few years the bream and crappie fishing have been really good, and it’s fine to take some of them home for the frying pan. Just remember if you catch a good bass, it’s fine to take a quick picture but get it released back as quickly as possible. We want them to be here for everyone to enjoy,” said Josh.

The strategy is working well for Rutland, as bass in the 6- to 10-lb. range are common catches at the farm, and bream anglers don’t have much trouble catching a good mess to fry up for supper.

Jimmy Guess, of Ray City, has been fishing Rutland with his family for more than 20 years and regularly targets both bass and crappie at the farm.

“There’s something for everyone at Rutland, and it’s the perfect place for anglers with a kayak or small boat. It’s fun to come out here pond hopping on a warm, spring afternoon,” said Jimmy.

Jimmy regularly fishes tournaments at Rutland with a local kayak club known as the King of the Kayak Series.

“We always have a good time and even with 30 or so kayaks in a tournament, most everyone catches some nice fish,”said Jimmy.

Jimmy has several top-3 finishes at the farm, and he says the key to putting fish in the boat is downsizing your lures and line to fool the sometimes heavily pressured fish.

“These fish see a bunch of different baits, and every time they do get caught, they’re put back in the lake. They get smart real quick, and by taking a finesse-style approach, it’s easier to fool them,” said Jimmy.

Here’s a breakdown of how Jimmy fishes Rutland in March for both bass and crappie. I’ve broken the information down by lake to better organize it.

Jimmy Guess with a nice slab caught at the farm. He says they’re are plenty to be caught this month

Sunset Pond: Directly across the highway from the Rutland Farms Market store, you’ll find Sunset Pond. Though it’s one of the larger ponds at the farm, it doesn’t receive as much pressure as others due to the fact that it doesn’t have a concrete boat ramp.

“Even though it’s right there in front of the store, it doesn’t get a pile of pressure like you think it would,” said Jimmy.

To target bass, Jimmy likes smaller, finesse-style lures such as Ned-rigged worms, small soft plastic crawfish, 4-inch finesse worms and other small soft plastics. He uses a small 1/0 to 2/0 hook and Texas rigs his offerings using a 1/16-oz. or smaller bullet weight.

During March, Jimmy says you can expect the fish to be pushed up shallow and should be in some stage of the spawn.

“They’ll be right off the edge of the grass close to the bank in March. You’ll find some of them that are moving up to spawn, and some that already have, but either way they will be near shallow grass,” said Jimmy.

Sunset Pond is normally a little more stained than some of the clearer ponds on the farm. For this reason, Jimmy likes to throw darker soft plastics, like black and junebug, but will switch to lighter, more natural colors if the water clears up.

Jimmy also added that small topwater baits can be productive when fished slowly parallel to the grass along the bank.

“Small plugs, poppers and small buzzbaits do good out here, especially during the early morning and late in the evening,” said Jimmy.

For crappie anglers looking to have a big fish fry, Jimmy says Sunset Pond is without a doubt your best pond to fish.

“You won’t catch many big slabs here, but you’ll find plenty of fish the size of your hand and a little bigger,” said Jimmy.

Jimmy says for crappie, a live minnow fished a couple of feet under a cork is hard to beat, but anglers fishing artificials will also do well. Small, 1/16-oz. hair or soft plastic jigs will get the job done, and anything white, pink or chartreuse tends to work well.

“Sometimes we will do a combination of both and tip a jig with a minnow. This has worked pretty good for us, and usually will produce some better fish,” said Jimmy.

When fishing a jig, Jimmy either makes a long cast and uses a steady retrieve, while mixing in a few twitches here and there, or he will rig his jig a few feet below a cork and work it back slowly, using subtle twitches followed by two to three-second pauses.

Shellcracker Pond: If you follow the dirt path that leads past Sunset Pond, Shellcracker Pond will be the next pond you come to on your right. Similar in size to Sunset Pond, this pond also doesn’t have a concrete boat ramp, and this results in less pressure, especially from bigger, heavier bass boats.

“Shellcracker gets pretty clear in the spring time and fishes differently than Sunset, but there are some big fish in there,” said Jimmy.

When targeting bass, Jimmy always spends the first half hour or so of the morning throwing a black buzzbait to the shallows. He works quickly around the pond, keying in on the far end away from the road. The area on this end of the lake is shallow and sandy bottomed and attracts big female fish that are looking to spawn.

“That’s one thing I’ll point out. When you’re looking for spawners in Shellcracker, the water is usually as clear as a bottle of Dasani water, and that will often make them bed deeper,” said Jimmy.

Jimmy looks for spawning fish in 5 to 7 feet of water and works his way quietly through the shallows with the sun at his back using his polarized glasses to locate active bedding areas. Once he locates an area with several beds, he will back off and make long casts to avoid spooking fish.

He relies on the same small style and color of soft plastics he uses in Sunset Pond and cautions anglers to make sure they don’t use too heavy of line.

“Ten- to 12-lb. fluorocarbon is as heavy as I will go, and if it’s really clear, I’ll go lighter. There’s not a lot of structure to get hung up on, so when you do get hooked up with a big fish, you don’t have to be as concerned about breaking off,” said Jimmy.

When it comes to crappie and shellcracker fishing, you won’t find as many, but when you do get bit, it’s likely to be a better fish. To be successful, Jimmy recommends trolling or fishing slowly in water 5 to 7 feet deep and says that minnows and natural-colored crappie jigs are your best bet.

“If you work slowly through the deeper water, you should be able to run into some good fish. You’re not going to catch a bunch, but through the years some of my best ones have come out of there,” Jimmy added.

Three of Jimmy’s favorite ponds to fish at Rutland barely get noticed, and they are all in plain sight. Located directly behind the sign-in station, there is a small pond, as well as two others that are directly past the sign-in station on the right.

“These tiny ponds will surprise you, and though I see some folks bream fishing in them, I have rarely seen other anglers bass fishing,” said Jimmy.

Jimmy went on to say that these ponds will fish the best in March and April. By summer, they will often be overrun by grass. He uses the same lures and strategies as he does on the other ponds he fishes at Rutland and said anglers shouldn’t be surprised if they catch some nice fish in these tiny ponds.

“Many of the tournaments I’ve been successful at have been due in part to these ponds. The fish don’t get pressured much, and that results in some really good fishing,” said Jimmy.

Rutland Farms Market Manager, Paige Fox, with a nice bass from one of the ponds at Rutland.

Granddaddy Pond/Lake Bruce: These ponds are located at the back of the farm near I-75, and though he doesn’t fish them as much as he used to, Jimmy said they both are worth a few casts this month.

Separated by a small dirt road that runs between them, these ponds are as different as daylight and dark. The Granddaddy Pond is filled with various types of grass, and Lake Bruce is deep and crystal clear. What they have in common is that both are known for producing really big bass.

“Usually when you hear about a really big bass being caught at Rutland, it’s in one of these ponds. The fish can be really temperamental in both, but when they’re on, it can be some really good fishing,” said Jimmy.

With the warmer days of spring finally upon us, hopefully you can make a trip down to Rutland Farms this month and enjoy some laid back farm pond fishing. An adult/child fishing tournament is scheduled for March 16. For information on it and other events at the farm, you can give them a call at the Rutland Market Store at 229.386.5111.

Editors Note: For more on the history of the farm and other information on fishing, go to GON.com/fishing/fishing-rutland-farms and take a look at the author’s story from April 2017.