Looking for advice! How would you tackle this pond?

[JFlynn97]

Pictures of the pond in question.

 

Just found this spot near my university and I've been told by a friend of mine that there are some really nice bass in here. I went for about 30 minutes after my classes today and threw a spinner bait to cover as much of the water as possible, but I didn't get a single hit. 

 

For more info, this is in northern Delaware, Spring is just about starting. Water is pretty stained/dirty, but it did rain a lot recently, all of the bank is accessible, seems to have lots of vegetation, not entirely sure how deep it is.

 

Thanks in advance! 

[TX-Deluxe]

Spinning or Bait caster?

I can't even stress how many fish I have caught on Rooster Tails.. 

It seems everyone uses a spinner bait at first.

Pic is a Rooster Tail 

Try a T rig worm/craw 

RatLTraps 

Stick baits 

[Quarry Man]

swim jig paralel to the bank, i like rock and water in flow, those are your high percentage spots because it will be warmer there. Good luck!

[Ayrnay22]

Spin beetle that way if there are crappie or sunfish and perch you will know also 4inch curly tail grub may work.

 

I usually fish new ponds with small bait to see if the water has any panfish first then increase lure size and color accordingly 

[Fish the Mitt]

At first glance, I'm guessing it was man made. This is sometimes important because it's likely a bowl shaped pond. Deepest in the center and moving shallower the closer to shore. Regardless, it's early winter/prespawn transition time in the NE. Generally, I would advise you find the deep spots, find the shallower spots, and fish that transition between the two. However, it appears you can reach pretty much anywhere on that pond from shore. I would just start on one side and fan cast the whole side multiple times; ensuring I reach various depths. Try this with a variety of lures (bladed jig, jerkbait, skirted structure jig, spinnerbait, etc..)

[Cheetahsneverprosper]

I have a pond almost exactly like this one near me.  This early in the season, I hit it with a weightless wacky rigged Senko.  Chuck it out as far as possible and work it back in with little pops and jerks, letting it sink on semi-slack line inbetween.

 

They might be out really deep and hit it out in the middle, or they could be hanging out on a shelf.  Either way, you'll find their preferred depth.  Once you know that, you can try just about anything you like.  They're just starting to bite here in northern IL, so the only things working on my favorite ponds so far have been slow baits like drop shot worms, Senkos, and small texas rigs.

[Robert Riley]

Its hard to say since that pond looks very monotonous. Id fan cast parallel to the bank anx work my way deeper. My baits of choicr would be spinnerbait, chatterbait, crankbait, jerkait.

[ThePolkFolk]

I like a small chatterbait or willow leaf spinnerbait to search out a new pond, especially if it has dirty water like yours.

[Hawkeye21]

Pretty much anywhere I go and any time of the year I will throw the chatterbait for a little while because it can cover a lot of water.

 

I usually avoid spinners this early in the year.

 

When the water is still pretty cold I find the jerk bait works great.  

 

If you want to get out to the middle and fish deeper then I'd throw a lipless crankbait.  Let it sink then reel in slowly.  If a slow retrieve doesn't work then I'll try speeding it up.  Then I'll go to a yo-yo like retrieve where I pull my rod back somewhat hard to make the bait go fast and vibrate then reel in the slack allowing the bait to drop and I  just keep repeating.  This triggers a lot of bites for me.

[J Francho]

Just throw what you like to throw, and fan cast the entire perimeter.  As it warms into the mid 50s, the fish will start to be shallow. 

[2tall79]

Gather all your neighbors Christmas trees this year and sink 'em out as far as you can cast.  Man, that hole needs some structure! 

[Hawkeye21]

12 minutes ago, 2tall79 said:

Gather all your neighbors Christmas trees this year and sink 'em out as far as you can cast.  Man, that hole needs some structure! 

 

How do you know there isn't structure there already?  We can't see underwater.  The only thing we know for sure is that there isn't any shoreline structure that's visible.

[RoLo]

Based on your images, it's a very small pond (5 acres?).

On a waterbody that small, you really don't have to bother with broad coverage lures,

but 'fan-cast' the entire shoreline with your favorite bait (high confidence lure) and fish it slowly & thoroughly.

Everyone has their own go-to baits, but I'd probably rake it with a 5" worm and 1/8 oz bullet sinker.

 

You will learn of any existing drop-offs, sunken humps or holes if you pay strict attention

to the elapsed time to reach bottom after each cast, and by studying the angle of your line.

This can be done with an 1/8 oz sinker, and doesn't require a Carolina rig.

 

Roger

[IndianaFinesse]

37 minutes ago, 2tall79 said:

Gather all your neighbors Christmas trees this year and sink 'em out as far as you can cast.  Man, that hole needs some structure! 

You can't see structure from above water (unless its a causeway or dam), for all you know there is a perfect structue leading from the shallows to the deepest water in the pond.  A couple of trees thrown in the water is not structure, but if put in the correct positions they could serve as breaks.

[fishballer06]

Pond fishing. If they don't bite a Senko or Baby 1-, then they're not biting.

[Fishes in trees]

Bait wise - good advice has already been given.   Gear wise - you're bank bound so I'd stick to spinning gear.   Back when I was a meat fishing bush hippie, my most important piece of gear was a set of hip waders, which got you off the bank a little ways and made fishing parallel to the bank much easier.  (Fishing parallel to the bank, your bait is potentially in the strike zone much longer)

 

If the water was really clear (5' or more on the secchi disc reading) and I really wanted to check out the deeper parts of that pond, a float & fly might be a good option.   To adequately throw a float & fly requires relatively specialized gear, but dare to dream. . .

 

If that wasn't an option and I really wanted to check out the depths, I'd go  light line (6 or 8 fluorocarbon) and a quarter ounce Brewer Slider head with the 4" worm.   Throw it as far as you can, sink to the bottom and slowly polish the bottom on the retrieve.  

 

Option B ( which I often used when I was in college ) Find out which professors on your campus fish and befriend them.   They know better fishing spots than you do and if you make yourself indispensable, you'll get invited along.

 

Option C - Real Estate agents often know many decent places to fish, but most often don't have time or aren't inclined to fish themselves.   If you can befriend a real estate agent, you can often get introduced to great fishing spots.

 

The way to befriend a real estate agent is to call them up and tell them you have free time on weekends and you're looking to make a little spare cash helping to clean up properties for sale.  If they don't need help, they know another real estate agent who does.

HAVE REFERENCES!!   The last thing they want is someone they don't know nosing around properties they're trying to sell.

 

Hope this helps in finding places to fish.  None of this stuff is brand new news.   I'm just sharing stuff I got told when I was a sophomore in a college town, wanting to fish, didn't know where to go and didn't have transportation other than a bike.

[BassAssassin726]

17 hours ago, TX-Deluxe said:

Spinning or Bait caster?

I can't even stress how many fish I have caught on Rooster Tails.. 

It seems everyone uses a spinner bait at first.

Pic is a Rooster Tail 

Try a T rig worm/craw 

RatLTraps 

Stick baits 

Yea man Rooster Tails are awesome and severely under rated. I like throwing bigger ones, 1/2 ounce or a 1 ounce. Bass nail them and I've caught some nice catties on them as well. Everything loves a Rooster Tail. 

[moguy1973]

Wacky rigged stick worm, drop shot worm, square bill, and depending on the time of year a buzz frog on the top.