The state of Delaware borders New Jersey directly to the south. Most people drive through this small state without thinking much of it. Tax free shopping, a couple Malls and Jewelry Shops. Despite the state's small size, there are many ponds and a couple rivers that drew my attention.

Delaware's more southernly latitude is attractive in the Winter as well. It may not be Florida, but my compass is pointed South and I'm seeing what a longer growing season can do.

In this episode, I hook up a local Delaware angler and artist Lvon Yoder. Lvon and I take a trip to Becks Pond near Newark, DE to see what kind of fish live there. I had researched the pond and found it to hold largemouth bass, snakehead, pickerel, bluegill, black and white crappie. The max depth according to topographic maps was about 9 feet. The deepest we found during this trip was 7 near the dam area. The boat ramp is extremely steep and care should be taken when pulling up to it and backing in. The curb on the passenger side of the tow vehicle makes things especially difficult.

Check out Lvon's artwork here:   / makinmoves420  

I took a drone flight over the lake prior to fishing to get the lay of the lake. Lots of pads were emerging in the shallower areas of the lake. Water clarity was about 2 feet with a heavy brown stain. Some areas held clearer water than others. Much of the lake bottom is covered with a black algae that we call "Black Death" in New Jersey waters. It is like gorilla hair and smells terrible. This makes bottom fishing baits very difficult to use. Shoreline access is somewhat limited to the one side of the lake and several anglers were fishing the bank as we fished on the boat. During this day, we were the only watercraft on the water. Several kayaks pulled up as we were leaving but we were surprised that no other boats ever showed up on this nice weekend day.

I tried force feeding fish with a spinnerbait for most of the morning with only one half hearted bite to show for it on the southern side of the lake. All of our fish came from the northern side of the lake. Those included largemouth bass, black crappie, and a rare for me redear sunfish. Bass came on all sorts of baits including a Jackhammer, crappie tube, Wacky Rigged Old Creek Lures stickbait, Megabass Dark Sleeper, and a Rattlin Rogue jerkbait. All panfish ate the crappie tube. I didn't see or raise any snakehead during this trip although several people asked.

After fishing, we stopped at a nearby pizza place that specialized in authentic Mexican food. CARNE ASADA TACOS!!! While there, a Delaware Oldtimer stopped in the parking lot and told us to throw all the lures I highlighted above. He said "Snakehead are worth $15 a head and I catch them like a Champion. Forget work! Just catch snakehead like me!"

Delaware sure is different than Jersey.