Trap Pond - any advice?

[dsaavedra]

I'll be camping at Trap Pond in October and wanted to bring the kayak along and do some fishing. Not sure what will be active at the that time, hopefully some pickerel and maybe some bass.

Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone had any advice or pointers for fishing the pond - I've never been. Is the pond super shallow? It looks like it... I'm wondering if I should leave the pedal drive at home and take my paddle kayak so I can maneuver better in shallow water.

[Mark]

Dave,

I'm very familiar with Trap. It's one of my favorite places to fish.

First thing, leave your Outback at home. There will be lots of topwater vegetation (spatterdock and pads) that will stop your Mirage Drive in its tracks. The plants will be yellowed and in the process of dying in October but it will still be thick enough to both hold fish as structure and clog your drive. I prefer to use my paddle kayaks there because I can go through the vegetation should I choose to do so. Also, the pond is only 90 acres so you won't have a lot of distance to cover.

Overall, it's shall water. The deepest portion of the pond is near the dam -- maybe 8 feet. The back portion of the pond (to your left if you launch from the campground or ramp) is only a couple of feet deep. It chokes with vegetation. But the back portion is where I like to fish. Here's what it looks like:

P1050280 (2).jpg

Another feature of Trap is its Bald Cypress trees. There is a large stand of them in the back portion of the pond. Here is what they look like in October:

P1050226 (2).jpg P1050223 (2).jpg

(The above photos were taken on 20 October, 2020.)

In October bass, bluegills, pickerels and crappies will be your likely catches in that order. At least, that's the story for me. I mostly flyfish at Trap with foam poppers and foam spider imitations. For streamers, I use Bendback minnows that I cast into gaps in the vegetation. A Bendback is close to being weedless because it rides with the hookpoint up. That's why I use it in tight casting quarters at Trap. Again, each of the species I listed will hit those flies.

Foam poppers and Bendbacks:

Foam Poppers (3).jpg Bendbacks1 (2).jpg

I also carry a spinning rod and rig it with a weedless, unweighted paddletail.

Fluke2 (2).jpg

I will cast that directly into the vegetation to catch bass and picks hiding in it.

Target areas are the shorelines, the vegetation, and the stumps of the cypress trees.

Trap gets a lot of fishing pressure from the campers who visit the park. I catch larger fish in other Delaware ponds but Trap has never disappointed me in terms of quantity.

Here's typical bass from Trap:

P1010524 (2).jpg

Bluegill:

P1020770 (3).jpg

Crappie:

P1020942 (3).jpg

Pick:

E.jpg

It's simply a nice destination. Its camping facilities are excellent and I like the pond itself. It's very scenic.

October is a good time visit. I hope you have an excellent trip.

[dsaavedra]

Wow, I'm glad I asked! Thanks for the detailed response, Mark. And thanks for confirming that the pedal drive will be more of a hindrance than it will be useful - I figured this would be the case.

Your photos of the pond look beautiful, exactly the reason why we chose to go camping there. Paddling through those cypress trees must feel like you're in a different world. I'm looking forward to the trip and will follow up after I go.

[Mark]

Dave,

You're very welcome.

More Trap photos from last October:

P1050216 (2).jpg P1050221 (2).jpg P1050228.jpg P1050230 (2).jpg

I hope to get back there myself this fall.

[dsaavedra]

Awesome photos. I shared these with the group I'm camping with. We'll be there October 22 through 24, maybe I'll see you out there.

[dsaavedra]

Camping was a blast and you were right Mark, the facilities and lake were awesome. Paddling through bald cypress trees was like experiencing a whole new biome.

Unfortunately, the fishing was pretty poor. I fished probably 2-3 hours the first day and around 4 hours the second day. Only caught three fish to show for it and they were all small. The biggest was a 13" largemouth. I got a smaller largemouth and a small yellow perch. I was actually pretty excited about the yellow perch, I had no idea they were in the lake. I had several taps on my paddle tail from small fish and did hook and lose a couple other fish. I didn't mind one bit because the scenery was just so cool.

Yesterday it seemed there was a fishing tournament on the lake. There were tons of bass boats out in the morning and one of my friends saw a weigh-in station set up at the boat ramp area. I was very surprised to see that gas-powered motors are allowed in the lake.

[Mark]

Dave,

I'm glad you enjoyed the park's facilities. Indeed they are superior.

Fishing is usually good too. Too bad you ran into a tourney.

I catch the vast majority of my fish there on the fly. Few people flyfish the pond and I can often follow the path of a Jon boat angler who is chucking spinner baits and pick up what he or she leaves behind. Also, I like to work the gaps and edges of the pads with flies. Bass and picks are in those areas and willing to bite right now. Sometimes I think fish are looking for the subtler approach of flies than the hardware typically tossed at them.

I will resort to weedless soft plastics worked slowly in the vegetation if the fly bite is slow.

But Trap does get a lot of pressure -- much more I believe than the other DE ponds I fish.

It might be good if you can arrange a future trip there on a Tuesday or Wednesday off season to let the fish calm down after a weekend's hammering.