How would YOU fish MY lake?

[demonjd22]

I'm looking for some insight into what you guys would do to fish a new lake.  I'm in Northern NJ, air temps around 80's and water temp 75. The lake is 40 acres, largemouth, pickerel, stocked with trout and infested with coontail that grows up to 5-6 feet below the surface for about 90% of it.  Water depth goes to around 35-40 feet in the middle, with steep dropoffs off shore.  From 5-10 feet off shore depth drops to 15ish feet.

 

Sorry for the crappy quality, but the red notes on the left is the most heavily pressured area of the lake with the lily pads.  There is shore access there so people fish those most often.  Boat launch is bottom left, again heavily pressured with shore fisherman.  On the right side of lake is some sunken trees. And on the top is quick dropoffs, where 5-10 feet off shore your already in 15 feet of water.  I have tried throwing wacky rigged Senkos in the shallows, top water Spooks and Whopper ploppers around the edges of the lily pad fields and trees.  Chatterbaits above the weed level, crankbaits get snagged on the coontail almost instantly.  I think I'm missing fishing any of the real depth in the middle of the lake but there is still coontail throughout and am looking for suggestions. 

 

I'm used to fishing a much smaller pond without the weed infestation, and have access to a jonboat with a basic fishfinder.

My next thought is to start using heavier weighted jigs and texas rigged worms to punch through the coontail and get to the bottom.

 

What would you guys do?  Thanks in advance for any suggestions!!!

 

 

[roadwarrior]

Weightless fluke

[Deleted account]

Swim jig, or weighted t-rig depending on how thick the salad. topwater in the evening, night, and early AM. I'm gonna be up that way next weekend, I'll let you know what works. 

[casts_by_fly]

Which lake is it (I’m in Morris county and fish lots of the lakes here in nnj)?  Pm if you want. I don’t know of anything trout stocked in the 40 acre range around here so can’t give you lake specifics, but generally what you’re describing is the typical lake around here. The drop offs tell my it’s one of the natural mountain lakes, not a park pond. Access to deeper water tends to hold fish around here, so fish the shallower cover that’s near the deeper water. Big shallow flats of grass hold fish, but you either have to cover a lot of water with frogs and other weedless baits or you have to methodically pick them apart (not my preference). If the grass isn’t on the surface, then you have a lot more options. Depending on weather, shallow square bills, wakebaits, spinnerbaits (downsized), and chatterbaits will all work over the top. When the weeds hit the top you can pretty much put those all away. Then it’s Texas rigs on the edges, jigs and Texas rigs pitched to holes, and weedless on top. Swim jigs can work through the grass and are productive. Most lakes here don’t have timber or brush so when you find it, fish it methodically. A boat will be your friend most places around because of near shore grass and bankside vegetation. 
 

 

[LrgmouthShad]

I would be more concerned about establishing where the fish are first. I don’t imagine many are very deep. However, since trout are stocked in there, if there are very large bass in there, I believe the presence of trout is going to influence their behavior. I would not be concerned about “pressure” from the shore fishermen. Of course, if they are there, you have to respect allowing them more than enough room to cast, but I would not shy away from a place just because it is fished more often. If the bass want to be there, they will be there. I would not be looking for bass on the steep dropoffs unless you have caught them there before. I like the look of the left side of this lake, especially that lily padded point that comes out. Instead of skirting around the edges of the lily pads with topwater, get in them, or work something deeper along the edges too. We had a great thread recently on fishing heavy lily pads, which looks like your situation. If you are t-rigging, I would opt for a heavier weight to get through the coontail. Otherwise, anything that stays above above the coontail is all good. Find the bass first

[FishTank]

I would start at or near the bank early, just before sunup if possible, (jigs, senkos, topwater, shallow crankbaits) and then fish slowly off shore after the first two-three hours of day light (vertical spoon popping, paddle tale swimmbaits, small jerkbaits with long pauses, drop shot, vertical jigging, maybe a big curly tail worm).  

 

It also looks like there is some structure northeast of the boat ramp.  I would fish the edges of the that. I would also use frogs around the lily pads and if the lake is highly pressured, I would go small on all your baits, light line, and spinning gear. 

[Triptych]

I would try an 8 inch trout colored swimbait. The big momma's know those trout are packed with calories.

 

I believe trout sleep shallow and start roaming when the sun comes up so look for the first drops from the shallows for large bass waiting to ambush. 

[Bankbeater]

I'd be fishing a topwater over the coontail right before sunrise, or after sunrise before the sunlight hits the water.  I'd also try a jig or a Texas rigged plastic with a light weight around the steep dropoff at the top of the pic.

[BigAngus752]

Stocked trout = lures that look like trout fingerlings.  I've fished lakes where the bass will completely ignore anything that's not a trout.  That's how much bass like trout.  

 

Also, to echo @LrgmouthShad, take full advantage of the areas that the shore fisherman beat to death if they fish live bait.  Is the shore packed with live bait fishermen on Fri/Sat/Sun?  Then get to that lake on Mon or Tues and hit those banks from the boat.  The food chain lives on after the bank fisherman go home.  

[PhishLI]

There will always be fish to be found in the pads, weeds, and edges of drop offs. Pound those edges near weedy shallows with heavy jigs, and everything else that's been suggested to try. Fishing choked out areas requires patience.

 

Start out in the middle with your graph, then work toward the shoreline and you'll probably find huge schools of bait fish suspended or on the move 5 to 10 feet down. If the bite in the shallow cover and drop offs isn't on, then run a progression of small deep cranks and small flutter spoons out deep near the schools. Even a baitfish profile drop shot. A 4" weighted wacky worm in some type of white laminate color dropped through a school can be effective too.

 

Dissolved oxygen levels drop off rapidly below 15 feet in these deep, small places, so you probably don't need to fish much deeper than that with cranks. Other species can hack the lower levels, but the bass can't. Algae is a problem in the northeast. We have a few natural kettle lakes around here that are similar to what you've described, and one dead ringer.

 

You might be one of the few to show them something they're unaccustomed to seeing in deeper water that the shore guys can't reach. Find a hot bite window and it might be crazy good.

[bigbassin']

Flukes and paddletails anywhere the weeds come close to a dropoff would be where I start.

[WRB]

It’s a pond just fish it!

Tom

[PhishLI]

46 minutes ago, WRB said:

It’s a pond just fish it!

These deep, small, glacial kettle lakes around here don't fish quite the same as our typical shallow ponds. They're different in some ways. Different opportunities to fish baits you can't in the typical pond.

[casts_by_fly]

22 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

These deep, small, glacial kettle lakes around here don't fish quite the same as our typical shallow ponds. They're different in some ways. Different opportunities to fish baits you can't in the typical pond.

agreed. I grew up fishing western pa which is a combination of rivers, farm ponds, smaller lakes that are like ponds, and some corps of engineers impoundments. These northern natural lakes are different to all of them and have some unique things about them.  Water clarity is a big one as all of the lakes here are normally very clear this time of year (6-12’ visibility) and that adds a couple wrinkles. 

[WRB]

Fish this Kettle lake like any other steep bank deep lake like quarry lakes. The big difference is the bottom is going to be very deep silt and developed a strong thermocline unless spring water fed. Focus on the shore ares with cover, wood where bass can am use prey. 

1 day you should know this tiny lake.

Tom