JoshKaptur
07-05-2006, 07:42 AM
You may have noticed I've been trying out new sweetwater fishing opportunities. Fished Depot Pond from 5:00 to 8:30 on Tuesday.
Relatively small pond... several acres with about half of it growing what looked like a cross between a lilly pad and elephant ears - not sure what it is. I cruised/surveyed the entire pond (except for the thickest vegetation) in about 20 minutes. I could not find anywhere in the pond that was deeper than 2.5 feet! Water temperature was above 85 degrees. This meant I was not optimistic about the fishing, except for the fact that the place was crawling with killifish and there were bigger fish rising all over the place feeding on insects (I thought they were bream, I was wrong). I also saw a beaver (seemed curious about who/what I was... swam right up about 15 feet away and checked me out) and several egrets and herons.
Well if you know me at all you know what plastic I threw in the first bassy looking laydown (there were several freshly fallen trees in the lake). Second cast of the day and I landed the second biggest largemouth I have caught all year. Forgot my scale but she was a whopper. I'm guessing close to 4 pounds.
Just afterwards a NASTY thunderstorm rolled in and I retreated to the bank to sit it out. I got soaked, and was a little intimidated by lots of lightning all around me. Little pond got suprisingly choppy when the wind was really blowing... but it was glass again as soon as the wind stopped.
When that subsided it was a nice evening, and I resumed fishing. Storm seemed to turn off the bite for about an hour, though I did catch the smallest bass I've caught all year (trusty beetle spin). As dusk approached, I caught two more very nice bass... one over 3 pounds and one about 2 pounds. I also caught a white perch on the beetle spin, and I believe that is what I was seeing rising and jumping all over the place in the pond. If so that pond is thick with killies and white perch. Although it is obviously not teeming with largemouth, the grade of fish was the best I've found anywhere in a long time.
This lake clearly does not receive the fishing pressure some of our other local waterways receive - there is very little bank access and no place to launch anything but a kayak or canoe. It was not an easy launch in the same way a boat ramp was, but it was very doable (had to carry the boat down a steep/muddy 5 foot bank... only one access site). I'm guessing I'm one of the few boats that's been on that lake all year.
I have no idea how that lake was doing so well being so shallow/hot (let alone what a hard cold spell would do in winter), but it was teeming with life. The pads were FULL of little black bugs that the fish seemed to be enjoying. If I paddled through them there would be hundreds on my bow... but they were harmless. Quick splash of the paddle and then the killifish swarmed them. The half of the lake that did not have pads had almost no vegetation, which is surprising given the depth)
As it was getting dark, I dropped a rod overboard when getting un-snagged from a lilly pad, but didn't realize it. I realized it was missing about 10 minutes later (CRAP!!!). Would you believe that I was able find the exact area by looking for the broken stalk with no pad on top (I ripped it off)... despite the fact that it was in the middle of an acre or so of pads. I probed with my paddle and actually found my rod!
In all, a nice small place to go for a quick paddle with a very nice grade of bass. I have a feeling this pond could not take a lot of pressure, and hope that anyone who tries it out based on this report will release all bass. Like I said... the numbers were not there (I fished the entire body of water pretty hard in 3 hours), but the quality of fish was AMAZING. The pond could certainly sustain a harvest of white perch
The other side of the pond (east side of tracks) is slightly larger and also was teeming with life when I got out and walked over the tracks to check it out. I'd like to try over there, but did not see a convenient place to launch... and the train tracks are really to steep to get the kayak over from one side to the other.
Tight lines!
Josh
Relatively small pond... several acres with about half of it growing what looked like a cross between a lilly pad and elephant ears - not sure what it is. I cruised/surveyed the entire pond (except for the thickest vegetation) in about 20 minutes. I could not find anywhere in the pond that was deeper than 2.5 feet! Water temperature was above 85 degrees. This meant I was not optimistic about the fishing, except for the fact that the place was crawling with killifish and there were bigger fish rising all over the place feeding on insects (I thought they were bream, I was wrong). I also saw a beaver (seemed curious about who/what I was... swam right up about 15 feet away and checked me out) and several egrets and herons.
Well if you know me at all you know what plastic I threw in the first bassy looking laydown (there were several freshly fallen trees in the lake). Second cast of the day and I landed the second biggest largemouth I have caught all year. Forgot my scale but she was a whopper. I'm guessing close to 4 pounds.
Just afterwards a NASTY thunderstorm rolled in and I retreated to the bank to sit it out. I got soaked, and was a little intimidated by lots of lightning all around me. Little pond got suprisingly choppy when the wind was really blowing... but it was glass again as soon as the wind stopped.
When that subsided it was a nice evening, and I resumed fishing. Storm seemed to turn off the bite for about an hour, though I did catch the smallest bass I've caught all year (trusty beetle spin). As dusk approached, I caught two more very nice bass... one over 3 pounds and one about 2 pounds. I also caught a white perch on the beetle spin, and I believe that is what I was seeing rising and jumping all over the place in the pond. If so that pond is thick with killies and white perch. Although it is obviously not teeming with largemouth, the grade of fish was the best I've found anywhere in a long time.
This lake clearly does not receive the fishing pressure some of our other local waterways receive - there is very little bank access and no place to launch anything but a kayak or canoe. It was not an easy launch in the same way a boat ramp was, but it was very doable (had to carry the boat down a steep/muddy 5 foot bank... only one access site). I'm guessing I'm one of the few boats that's been on that lake all year.
I have no idea how that lake was doing so well being so shallow/hot (let alone what a hard cold spell would do in winter), but it was teeming with life. The pads were FULL of little black bugs that the fish seemed to be enjoying. If I paddled through them there would be hundreds on my bow... but they were harmless. Quick splash of the paddle and then the killifish swarmed them. The half of the lake that did not have pads had almost no vegetation, which is surprising given the depth)
As it was getting dark, I dropped a rod overboard when getting un-snagged from a lilly pad, but didn't realize it. I realized it was missing about 10 minutes later (CRAP!!!). Would you believe that I was able find the exact area by looking for the broken stalk with no pad on top (I ripped it off)... despite the fact that it was in the middle of an acre or so of pads. I probed with my paddle and actually found my rod!
In all, a nice small place to go for a quick paddle with a very nice grade of bass. I have a feeling this pond could not take a lot of pressure, and hope that anyone who tries it out based on this report will release all bass. Like I said... the numbers were not there (I fished the entire body of water pretty hard in 3 hours), but the quality of fish was AMAZING. The pond could certainly sustain a harvest of white perch
The other side of the pond (east side of tracks) is slightly larger and also was teeming with life when I got out and walked over the tracks to check it out. I'd like to try over there, but did not see a convenient place to launch... and the train tracks are really to steep to get the kayak over from one side to the other.
Tight lines!
Josh