Scoping Out A New Pond; Chptr 2

[Team9nine]

So I was finally able to get all the pictures squeezed down to fit inside the site maximum - LOL. This is another take on fishing small ponds and lakes, what I'm looking for, or at, when trying to decipher the puzzle on these smaller bodies of water. In most cases, I'm limited to bank walking, so it should be helpful for others in a similar situation, or at least I hope so.

 

This post will be similar to my first 'Scoping' post found in the Fishing Reports section, but with a twist. In this case, I've never fished this pond. However, due to construction in the area, they have drained the pond down considerably, giving us a great look at what lies underneath these waters, almost a fish eye perspective on why some areas will hold fish and others won't, or at least hold them better or more consistently than others.

 

First, the pond

 

 

This is an aerial view of the pond in question; 1.25 acres and almost 500 feet long. Like most small bodies of water built in subdivisions across the country, they almost always start life as a smooth hole in the ground - LOL. Rarely do you ever get a lake designed for fishing. Instead, their sole purpose is to move and hold water, acting as drainage areas and largely regulated by local code. That said, and as you'll see, over time things change, and often for the better in regards to fishing and location.

 

Before I go any further, one thing I'd immediately point out is that this pond basically seems to have 4 corners and 2 drains. Corners almost always concentrate the fish in these small bodies of water, as do drains. If I was heading out to fish this pond, those 4-6 areas (some overlap) would be high on the list of locations I expect to find bass.

 

Now, the pond after they drained it down to start development;

 

 

This reveals another likely key to this place - the ridges and dirt extensions in the foreground from drainage work being done. Most everything else is flat and sloping, but these little ridges and humps, likely not visible when the water is back up, would be key locations. As it turns out, these weren't in the original build of the pond, but were placed there when they first did some work on the drainage structures after draw down. It appears they will be left in place once the pond is refilled, and will probably become key locations for fish.

 

Now, lets walk around the rest of this pond and take a closer look.

 

 

This is one of the drains, and a great example of why they can be so good in these small bodies of water. Not only is there the influx of fresh water that can be an attraction all its own, but there is also protective riprap forming a nice change in cover and a break in the cattails. The amount and force of the water has also created a little drain or channel leading out into the pond, another benefit, but it gets even better.

 

 

Look a little further out in the pond and you see where the drain/channel ends. It basically forms two bars or small points, "structure"!! I would surmise this would be one of the better spots in the pond during normal conditions. Not only are there bars, but it creates a break in the weedgrowth, another key/bonus and a place where the deeper water comes closest to the shoreline. Bass would likely funnel up and down this drain all the time.

 

Speaking of cattails and weeds;

 

 

Over time, the cattails have spread and multiplied. This will create great shoreline cover the bass, especially in cases of high water, like after heavy rains. It will also provide some shade at certain times  of the day, as well as make little nooks and crannies the bass can relate to. While it would be hard to fish some of these areas from the bank effectively, anywhere the cattails get broken up and allow access, you can expect to be another key area for the bass.

 

 

As for the weeds, this turned out to be milfoil which is a rather rare find in small ponds. Talk about great frogging cover as well as pitching cover. The milfoil, at normal pool, probably has several feet of water under it, more than enough depth to hold bass along its entire length. Looking for breaks, holes and thin spots would be good starting locations for bank bound anglers, though they could be anywhere along the outer weededge.

 

 

This picture is a good example of where the weeds extend out a little ways into the pond forming a pair of mini points and indents. Again, a potential good spot when trying to key on something a little different than just the long consistent line of grass.

 

 

 

These next two pics are the second drain. Again, you have the riprap and fresh water inflow potential, all key locations. You'll notice no erosion channel with this drain, likely meaning it doesn't get near the flow/amount of water that the first drain did. That said, if you look further out into the pond where it meets the grass, you'll see it still creates an opening in the grass, a key spot for the bass to hold or move into the shoreline rocks from.

 

 

This next spot is small, and the only spot on the pond I found like it. A little harder bottom "rockpile" on the inside edge of the grass. It is likely there is a hole that gets created in the grass at this location, as milfoil usually grows in softer substrate. It could be a good location for consistently holding single fish, and points out the importance of trying to understand every little inch of these smaller bodies of water. This would be easy to overlook and even harder to find at normal pool if you didn't know it was there, but might be the kind of place where you always seem to catch a fish even though you don't see any real reason why.

 

Two ther small things I found while walking the banks.

 

 

This one is probably hard to tell just from looking at the picture, but it was pretty obvious when walking past. It is a little ridge or high spot running parallel to the bank, about 12'-15' out in front of the cattails and rising about a foot higher than the rest of the bottom. Again, it could be hard to find and decipher from the bank, but a little rise like that next to the deeper water in the middle of the pond could be a great area for fish to hang out at after fronts or when not roaming the shallower cover.

 

 

This last spot was on one end of the pond where it started to shallow up, and where I couldn't walk out to, but it appeared to be almost fish attractor like. I couldn't tell if it was all small sticks, perhaps added when someone drug something out on the ice over winter and let it sink when the ice melted. Either way, in a featureless body of water, small items like this can be big fish attractors, and just goes to show you that you never really know what might be out in a small body of water.

 

So that concludes this post. I'm hioping to actually sneak out and fish this pond while it is down just to see if there are any bass in it. I have seen a couple people fishing it at normal pool from one of the open ends along the bank, so perhaps that is a good sign. We'll see.

[Sam]

Good post.

 

Let us know how you do.

 

Keep the pictures for future reference when the pond is full.

 

I remember a drought in Central Virginia about 10 to 15 years ago and Lake Chesdin's water level went way down. You could actually walk across the lake in a number of places.

 

A friend took photos of the bottom and you know what he found? He found a large area full of tree stumps that we pass over with our boats all the time. No one had any idea there were that many tree stumps in the area and how fortunate we were not to have hit them. We now avoid that part of the lake unless we are fishing those stumps.

 

I have a photo of the submerged wood pile in my double secret pond that I refer to now that the pond is over flowing with water. Great reference photo.

 

Good luck with the pond.

[Way north bass guy]

Excellent write up! As I looked at each photo, I was seeing all the fish holding spots, and sure enough, you pointed out pretty much exactly what I was thinking for every one. This is the type of read that a lot of new fisherman should really pay attention to, for either small ponds or even larger bodies of water.  

[Darren.]

Another fine job, Brian. Great tutorial. Thank you!

[Mobasser]

Good thread! I love fishing ponds. We recently were allowed access to a 2 acre pond, and going this wknd to fish it for the first time. I love the challenge of locating good spots in a pond. And, many can produce some nice fish too

[Armtx77]

A 500 acre lake I have been fishing up in Mississippi was drained in the past 10 years...Google maps has a picture if it without water...than they filled it back up a few years ago, stocked, no fish could be kept for 3 years...that bone dry Google map, makes me look like KVD.

[N Florida Mike]

Quality insights! This reinforces some of the things I’ve learned and am learning about bank fishing.

[fishwizzard]

That's a really good breakdown dude.  

[12poundbass]

Excellent write up Brian! Bank fishing or out on a boat this is really helpful. Thank you. 

[Paul Roberts]

Nice! Yes, same here. Only thing I'd add is shoreline trees, which count as overhead cover.

[The Bassman]

1 hour ago, Paul Roberts said:

Nice! Yes, same here. Only thing I'd add is shoreline trees, which count as overhead cover.

And a break from summer sun. Ponds around here are mostly out in the open. I have real issues being in the sun too long since I flirted with heat exhaustion last summer. ( I was fishing, not painting). Just do interior now. Don't know how I ever handled being on the sunny side of a house when I was young.

[Paul Roberts]

On 8/10/2019 at 11:57 AM, The Bassman said:

... Don't know how I ever handled being on the sunny side of a house when I was young.

How about painting a gunite swimming pool (sans water of course) in 90deg heat? Don't know how hot it was in that deep end (think reflection oven). But I do remember looking up to find the pool walls starting to spin. I sat in the homeowner's basement for a good half hour. Oh my... then there was chipping the paint off pool walls, before re-painting, holding a rotary chipper up all day! Yeah, interior work is the way to go. But...then there was my boss, who loved to talk, his hands flying the whole time... knocking a gallon of pink paint off his ladder onto a white shag carpet. Knocked the smile off everyone's face for some time after. We had some good things happen too. They just don't stick in the mind quite as much.

[The Bassman]

2 hours ago, Paul Roberts said:

How about painting a gunite swimming pool (sans water of course) in 90deg heat? Don't know how hot it was in that deep end (think reflection oven). But I do remember looking up to find the pool walls starting to spin. I sat in the homeowner's basement for a good half hour. Oh my... then there was chipping the paint off pool walls, before re-painting, holding a rotary chipper up all day! Yeah, interior work is the way to go. But...then there was my boss, who loved to talk, his hands flying the whole time... knocking a gallon of pink paint off his ladder onto a white shag carpet. Knocked the smile off everyone's face for some time after. We had some good things happen too. They just don't stick in the mind quite as much.

I amassed a lot of stories about goofy coworkers and bosses when I worked on crews. I've been self employed since '91 so I'm the only goofy worker on the crew now. Have never really enjoyed my trade. Fishing's a lot more fun. 

[Wizzlebiz]

Is there a chapter 1 I can read by chance?

[Team9nine]

43 minutes ago, Wizzlebiz said:

Is there a chapter 1 I can read by chance?

 

 

[Wizzlebiz]

Thank you! All info is new info to me lol. 

[TnRiver46]

On 8/10/2019 at 1:57 PM, The Bassman said:

And a break from summer sun. Ponds around here are mostly out in the open. I have real issues being in the sun too long since I flirted with heat exhaustion last summer. ( I was fishing, not painting). Just do interior now. Don't know how I ever handled being on the sunny side of a house when I was young.

A mans got to eat, that’s how! 

[Preytorien]

Excellent post Brian, thank you. I'm also a shore bound fisherman (most of the time) and constantly evaluate retention ponds for viability. This will give me some very valuable insight. Thank you!