The thrill of a new pond

[Swamp Girl]

I fished 14 ponds/bogs this year. I didn't start fishing until July, so I would have fished more if I'd fished the spring and early summer too. I'll be fishing my 15th pond Tuesday morning. The state of Maine has depth maps of most ponds, but not this one. It abuts the last pond I fished and that pond was deep, so I expect this one to be deep too. I study it on Google Earth and have noted some promising places. I won't have electronics, so my fishing will be visual. I plan to work the backs of some bays and points too. The Google Earth image was shot at a cold time, so I can't see any weeds, so when I arrive, I'll be weed hunting.

 

I get so excited about fishing new water and especially this pond. It has zero cabins/homes and is a quarter mile across and nearly a mile long. It does have some boulders here and there, but no islands. We've had a ton of rainfall, so the inlet will have strong current. I'll focus there too. 

 

I LOVE this part of fishing, the planning and the imagining. It's like being a kid and studying your Christmas gifts under the tree and shaking them and chirping about what might lie under that wrapping paper. 

 

It's the planning that'll get me through the winter. I've also already lined up 15 other ponds I'll fish next year. 

[roadwarrior]

Good luck!

[Aaron_H]

1 hour ago, ol'crickety said:

I fished 14 ponds/bogs this year. I didn't start fishing until July, so I would have fished more if I'd fished the spring and early summer too. I'll be fishing my 15th pond Tuesday morning. The state of Maine has depth maps of most ponds, but not this one. It abuts the last pond I fished and that pond was deep, so I expect this one to be deep too. I study it on Google Earth and have noted some promising places. I won't have electronics, so my fishing will be visual. I plan to work the backs of some bays and points too. The Google Earth image was shot at a cold time, so I can't see any weeds, so when I arrive, I'll be weed hunting.

 

I get so excited about fishing new water and especially this pond. It has zero cabins/homes and is a quarter mile across and nearly a mile long. It does have some boulders here and there, but no islands. We've had a ton of rainfall, so the inlet will have strong current. I'll focus there too. 

 

I LOVE this part of fishing, the planning and the imagining. It's like being a kid and studying your Christmas gifts under the tree and shaking them and chirping about what might lie under that wrapping paper. 

 

It's the planning that'll get me through the winter. I've also already lined up 15 other ponds I'll fish next year. 

 

If you use Google Earth Pro, you can access past satellite imagery for the area that are usually at different times of the year.

 

Good luck! Always nice hitting a new spot for that chance at the unknown.

[Swamp Girl]

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If you use Google Earth Pro, you can access past satellite imagery for the area that are usually at different times of the year.

^I did not know this!^

 

I'm going to go try to do this right now. Thanks soooo much!

 

I did it. It was easy-peasy. There are way more weeds that I would have guessed, which makes me even more excited!

[Aaron_H]

46 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

^I did not know this!^

 

I'm going to go try to do this right now. Thanks soooo much!

 

I did it. It was easy-peasy. There are way more weeds that I would have guessed, which makes me even more excited!

 

It's also useful for saving waypoints. Mine looks like a pincushion at this point. I mark favorite spots, places I've caught quality fish, and cover or hard structure I find, general notes, etc. It's incredibly useful compared to the regular Google Maps.

[Swamp Girl]

More great advice. I plan to have my own pincushion soon!

[Bluebasser86]

New water is getting to be a hard thing for me to find. Exploring is part of what keeps it exciting for me but I've explored a lot of what is available near me. 

[Jar11591]

Nothing beats the excitement of fishing new waters and the unknown of what could be hiding. I like to have a balance of exploring new waters, and learning a body of water by fishing it repeatedly, especially through different seasons. This year I did a lot of exploring new water, so I’ll have a lot of spots next year that I will be picking apart and really learning. 

[Swamp Girl]

46 minutes ago, Jar11591 said:

Nothing beats the excitement of fishing new waters and the unknown of what could be hiding. I like to have a balance of exploring new waters, and learning a body of water by fishing it repeatedly, especially through different seasons. This year I did a lot of exploring new water, so I’ll have a lot of spots next year that I will be picking apart and really learning. 

Heck, yeah! I like that balance too, of plumbing a pond deeply, and casting in utter ignorance. 

 

Blue, if I lived in northern Maine all my life, I still don't think I'd fish all that water. There are that many places to cast. 

[Swamp Girl]

The rods are ready and in the car. The canoe's atop the car. Now I just have to manage some sleep, which is hard for me when there's a new pond waiting for me come morning. 

[Swamp Girl]

Well, the new pond was a little anti-climatic. It was fed by the pond where I caught that 19-incher with the big belly a few days ago and it has ZERO cabins, so I figured it would be amazing. I did catch 29 fish, one pickerel and 28 bass. It was also gorgeous with a couple small waterfalls, beavers, an eagle, and cathedral white pines. I loved the approach too, down a bouncy dirt road with mud and pools. And I loved that I couldn't hear any cars. However, I was expecting/hoping to catch at least two 19-inchers. I did catch two 18-inchers, but one was so skinny I couldn't bear to photograph it. I caught three super skinny fish this year and wonder if they didn't have a parasite in them. I'll start the photos with some small fish, then some lake photos, one with a beaver, and finally some longer fish. 

 

I am amazed that it's November and I can still go out and catch bass in Maine. I figure we'll have snow in a couple weeks. Most of the bass hit the Whopper Plopper, but about eight hit the wacky worm and one hit the wake bait. I couldn't catch a fish on a lipless crankbait or jerkbait. 

[PhishLI]

3 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

Well, the new pond was a little anti-climatic.

LOL. In my section of this island 19 fish in a sesh would be considered a day of days. While we do have backwaters way out east where this is a normal day, the risk of coming out covered with 30 ticks is a real thing. Deer ticks carrying Lyme and Lone Star ticks transmitting cooties causing Alpha-gal syndrome isn't something I'm willing to mess with. People I know have been infected by both, and it can be awful. Out my way 8 solid keepers is a bonanza, so I can't feel sad along with you! You're doing great!

 

3 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

I was expecting/hoping to catch at least two 19-inchers. I did catch two 18-inchers,

I seriously doubt you're dealing with a stunted population. Where those exist around here the fish are quite a bit smaller than what you've been showing. Fully mature, but stuck at around 12". I think you're just dealing with normal odds, meaning big ones are there, but because they're low in number you're simply less likely to encounter them.

4 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

I am amazed that it's November and I can still go out and catch bass in Maine. I figure we'll have snow in a couple weeks. Most of the bass hit the Whopper Plopper, but about eight hit the wacky worm and one hit the wake bait. I couldn't catch a fish on a lipless crankbait or jerkbait. 

I advise that you mix in some 4"-6" slim bodied swimmers into your rotation for your last few trips. Work them low and slow for the fish that are unwilling to come up top, or to hit worms on the fall. A Megabass Hazedong Shad 4.2" rigged on an Owner Twistlock Light 5/0 3/16oz hook will get bigs to eat if they're set up in ambush points, and is easily thrown on your spinning gear. Super weed less too when rigged this way. A Berkley Champ Swimmer 4.5" rigged on the 6/0 version of that hook is another great option. I've caught a few slobs on both and other similar types in these water temps working them as I've described.

 

MB Hazedong Shads, top two left

Champ Swimmers, top 3 right

 

 

 

 

[Swamp Girl]

Phish, I will nearly do as you suggest. I won't use the exact baits and hooks you suggested, but I have baits and hooks that are almost identical.

 

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 I think you're just dealing with normal odds, meaning big ones are there, but because they're low in number you're simply less likely to encounter them.

 

^This sounds sooo right to me.^

 

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Out my way 8 solid keepers is a bonanza, so I can't feel sad along with you! You're doing great!

 

Thank you. My problem is me. I thought I'd found the pond of ponds, down a wet and bumpy road that would deter many, without a boat ramp, with zero cabins, and abutting the pond that had some fat gals. My expectations were over the moon. And Venus and Mars too.

 

What is wicked cool about this pond that I didn't mention is that there's an old bridge made of railroad ties over one of the waterfalls that Google Earth doesn't show. One day, I'll climb that bridge and follow its road.

[PhishLI]

16 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

My problem is me. I thought I'd found the pond of ponds

It's entirely possible that you have, but it just takes time and especially the right timing.  Don't be too hasty to write it off given the elements you've described. Skill and intuition are valuable assets, but the good fortune of being there at the right time is part of the equation. Where big fish are concerned, luck is part of this game whether it's haphazard luck or the good luck you make by following your gut.

 

I'm rooting for you.

[Swamp Girl]

Phish, you're my coach, my mentor and my Yoda. I will fish that pond again next year! I wasn't sure I would, but with your encouragement, I'm sure now. I'm thinking about using one of these final days to return to the pond where I caught that fat fish. There's a ridge running out into the deep lake. I read that bass ambush prey on the sides of such ridges, so that's where I worked my Whopper Plopper, but I'd like to slowly work a soft plastic swimbait there too, like you suggested.