Shallow ponds? - 12/04/13 01:08 PM
I am simply amazed at some of the depths that people have in their ponds. I see where some of these ponds are 20' deep or even more. I'm in Calvert County Maryland. This is a lowland county on the Chesapeake Bay. The highest elevations here are just over 100' above sea level. All the ponds here, mostly what you would call farm ponds, seem to be shallow. I have fished many ponds around here over the years and honestly the deepest ones only seem to be about 5' deep. Most of these ponds are from 1 to 7 acres in surface area.
Is standing on the dam and judging the drop off from the pond level to the creek that it drains into an accurate way to get an estimate of the depth? Also most of these ponds are 50 years old and surrounded by trees, so would they have silted in, and leaves falling in over the years, make them even more shallow than they look?
I know that in these ponds if you fish a floating crankbait that dives to 5' it will hit bottom. And a plastic worm on a 1/16 sinker will sink to the bottom in about 4 seconds. And this is at the deep end by the dam.
I also know that these shallow ponds can produce big LMB. The last 2 state records, both over 11 lbs, came from ponds here, just like mine, in the same county. And this is with no management at all, just very light recreational fishing. I know of another pond that is only 1/2 acre and only about 3' deep at the dam, that produced a 9-12 that wasn't weighed in until the next day.
Anyhow, Is my 4 acre pond that is only 5' deep considered shallow? Do any of you have similar shallow ponds?
Is standing on the dam and judging the drop off from the pond level to the creek that it drains into an accurate way to get an estimate of the depth? Also most of these ponds are 50 years old and surrounded by trees, so would they have silted in, and leaves falling in over the years, make them even more shallow than they look?
I know that in these ponds if you fish a floating crankbait that dives to 5' it will hit bottom. And a plastic worm on a 1/16 sinker will sink to the bottom in about 4 seconds. And this is at the deep end by the dam.
I also know that these shallow ponds can produce big LMB. The last 2 state records, both over 11 lbs, came from ponds here, just like mine, in the same county. And this is with no management at all, just very light recreational fishing. I know of another pond that is only 1/2 acre and only about 3' deep at the dam, that produced a 9-12 that wasn't weighed in until the next day.
Anyhow, Is my 4 acre pond that is only 5' deep considered shallow? Do any of you have similar shallow ponds?