Quarry Pit Fishing

[KSanford33]

I’m in Florida this week and the local bait shop has told me there’s a quarry pit that holds some big bass. I scouted it out yesterday, and it’s basically a big bowl; 4ft from shore is already 20+ feet deep. There’s zero cover I can see from shore. 
 

How would you fish this?

[TnRiver46]

I live near a spot like that. I just cast out, let it hit the bottom. Sometimes it takes forever. Then slowly drag back. If that doesn’t work I try a fluke and work the upper or middle part of the water column 

[FordsnFishin]

My father in law worked at a quarry. So every so often we would head out to have some fun. These fish have nearly zero pressure. So about everything else threw worked. Crank baits and Texas rig hitting the deep shelf.

 

Last time we went, he said they were covering the pond next month. We took home 6, 5 gallon buckets of bass in about 2 hours. 

[FishTank]

I grew up fishing these kind of spots and it can be tough.  We had a few pits that were 50-75 feet deep with water so clear you could see the bottom.  Any splash or sudden movement would spook the fish.  Since it was a bowl,  we would cast on to the bank and let the bait fall in or use live bait on a split shot rig. The best days are when it's overcast.

[Deleted account]

lipless, chatter, crank, JB if they are active, a T-rig, shakey head or other plastic. A swimbait can be good too. I find most quarries and pits are better off hours. I would have asked the tackle owner, and spent a few $, there is no gouge like local gouge...

[FryDog62]

Am fishing a pit in FL right now... spawn either has or is going on. Best to try to find anything that resembles a "flat" at all, even if just a small area. Drop-shot, Ned, wacky. If they aren't there, go mid-water column like the others above said with a fluke style bait. If you see anything busting the surface out deeper be sure to pull the fluke through that area quickly. Last resort is to drag a football jig down deeper, 10-15 fow, across any rocks you can find.  

[scaleface]

Light line .

[Kev-mo]

1 hour ago, FordsnFishin said:

My father in law worked at a quarry. So every so often we would head out to have some fun. These fish have nearly zero pressure. So about everything else threw worked. Crank baits and Texas rig hitting the deep shelf.

 

Last time we went, he said they were covering the pond next month. We took home 6, 5 gallon buckets of bass in about 2 hours. 

What does covering the pond mean? And why? Just curious, never heard the terminology.

 

Also the only time I fished a quarry I used a deeper suspending jerkbait forget the brand but it probably went down 10 ft. or so.

[Dens228]

90% of my fishing is quarries and I do well.   A depth finder was great, side imaging brought my success to a whole new level.   

 

Structure..........in quarries that can mean old road beds, slight humps, rock piles, corners, depth edges.

One quarry I've fished for years and caught probably my top 30 biggest bass there.  First year with side imaging I was cruising through some 30 foot water from one of my spots to another when I spotted a small in diameter but high hump that rose up to 10-12 feet below the surface.  The hump was maybe 10 feet across.   Fish magnet, especially during the heat of summer.  

 

I another quarry one shoreline is 15-20 feet deep right at the shore for it's entire length. The sun was beating down on it, no shade and I was heading back to the ramp when I noticed a very small indentation in the shoreline, perfect half circle, about 2 feet across so I figured, "why not" and cast a t-rigged craw into it.  Nice 4 pounder.  There is no other discernible structure that I'm aware of within 50 yards of that spot. 

[WRB]

If a local tackle shop is telling you about a quarry pit it’s no secret low pressured spot.

Big soft plastic worm with light 1/8 bullet weight or a rat wake bait early low light morning or evening into night.

Tom 

[papajoe222]

The pits I've fished were deep, clear, long and narrow. During the day, I could pick up a few on a split shot rig. Night fishing was a different story as they would attack a moving bait once you found them. Spinnerbaits and Jitterbugs accounted for the majority of those fish, but if they weren't producing, a medium to deep diving silent crank often did the trick.

[Mobasser]

I fish a 7acre Qaurry Lake two or three times per week all season. This lake is not the bowl shape, but many qaurrys are. When this one was dug out years ago, they left a large hump in the center, and, some shelves along the bank that drop off quickly to deeper water. The water is very clear. I've done best with lighter line and smaller soft plastics. As has been said, these lakes come alive at night. 

[FordsnFishin]

On 2/11/2022 at 8:23 AM, Kev-mo said:

What does covering the pond mean? And why? Just curious, never heard the terminology.

 

Also the only time I fished a quarry I used a deeper suspending jerkbait forget the brand but it probably went down 10 ft. or so.

Was a 30+ year old pond. Covering, as in filling it in. They had to move dirt in that location to start digging in another. 

[txchaser]

The comment above about looking for flats was good advice. Also if you can figure out depth, there's likely to be fish hanging right off the dropoff at that depth, and crankbaits crashed into the wall can be really productive. And that bite can go on all day long.

[garroyo130]

Find it here and go back in time to before it was flooded in 

 

https://www.historicaerials.com/

 

Fish the old road and any major structure visible. Also if it was filled in when an excavator hit an underwater spring, find out where that source of water is. It can be super productive year round.