@odole thank you so much! And yes they do seem to be showing up more now, though most of them are flying around and not landing on the pond, while during summer there were less but they were all heading directly there (probably a result of the recent rains and them having more access to water bodies). My pond has several emerging water plants, as well as logs and such. Mostly I see them landing on the cattails and other water plants. Will they still be attracted to the sticks even if those plants are around? I will try regardless.
@fluffyinca honestly your pictures look amazing! As I mentioned I only photograph the ones I can get close to (so either dead or injured odonates so far, like the one that got their wing stuck in a blade of grass) as you can see even those pictures aren’t of the best quality, hence why im hoping to get a macro lens for my phone soon, maybe that will help. But I’ve tried taking pics of some damselflies that were not more than half a metre away from me but because of their size and my phone’s camera quality the photos turned out awful. Still, I will try the stalking method you guys suggested. Thanks!