# "Hidden" lakes/ponds Escambia/BW



## sureicanfish (Sep 30, 2007)

I was looking at Google maps and there's plenty of tiny lakes or ponds in the woods on both rivers. I tried getting to one the other day and after bushwhacking my way through a few rows of thick vines and shrubs I gave up whooped. Curious if anyone has ever tried getting back to these things and if it's worth it? Some of them have no navigable creek going to them so they are totally inaccessible but by foot and machete.


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## bowfisher91 (Feb 19, 2008)

Yes. Some will have small jon boats tied up from folks who fish them. However, Escambia River swamp is not a user friendly environment.


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## sureicanfish (Sep 30, 2007)

Amen to that. I'm going to pick up where I left off then and try to get back to one.


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## Try'n Hard (Oct 23, 2008)

Are you trying to go from the river into the lake?, or a road to the lake? I guess your trying to fish the lake? I used to do this all the time (river to lake) and had several spots that to get the boat into it, the water had to be a little high or no go.
In the 80's & 90's the Esc. river swamp was a beautiful old hardwood and cypress swamp, walking was easy and you could see for 50 yds almost anywhere you stopped. Hurricanes turned it into a wasteland of downed trees and vines, I don't think it will ever look the same. I have fallen in love with the Al. river partly because of the woods that it borders, it looks like Esc. used to look - only problem is if you get out of the boat your on private property!


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## sureicanfish (Sep 30, 2007)

I'd love to see the AL river swamp then, I wish I could have seen escambia before it was all jungled up. In some tiny spots I can make out what used to be but most of it is rows and walls of mess.

Yes, I'm trying to go from the river to the lake.


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## Try'n Hard (Oct 23, 2008)

sure said:


> I'd love to see the AL river swamp then, I wish I could have seen escambia before it was all jungled up. In some tiny spots I can make out what used to be but most of it is rows and walls of mess.
> 
> Yes, I'm trying to go from the river to the lake.


Try tying the boat up and just walking in away from the water drain, should be easier walk, bank fish it and if it looks promising, do the work to get in. I can say that it will sometimes pay off but don't be surprised when another boat follows your fresh cut trail in!


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## sureicanfish (Sep 30, 2007)

Oh this one was no water trail, it's like 100 yards back through the vines. If there's a trickle somewhere off the main river I can't see it. All I want to do is bank fish it, if there's something there I'll try dragging a cheap kayak back there.


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## GROUPERKING (Sep 28, 2011)

Watch out for the alligators.


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## sureicanfish (Sep 30, 2007)

I'm more worried about spiders, I have yet to see a gator on the river that would let me get anywhere near it. Spiders on the other hand, will send me crashing through the woods like a mad man.


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## GROUPERKING (Sep 28, 2011)

sure said:


> I'm more worried about spiders, I have yet to see a gator on the river that would let me get anywhere near it. Spiders on the other hand, will send me crashing through the woods like a mad man.


 Lol. Well watch out for spiders then.:laughing:


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## NLytle (May 13, 2014)

Interested in help?


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## sureicanfish (Sep 30, 2007)

Nlytme said:


> Interested in help?


You mean a witness to my nonsense? Haha. I'm gonna give it a go this weekend, if I run out of steam before I see water I'll bring help the next time.


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## jcoss15 (Oct 11, 2010)

I grew up fishing a couple old lakes off of yellow river, some of the best ones you could only get to by foot. My dad and me would walk in with some earthworms, beetle spins, and maybe a black worm or spinnerbait for bass and tear them up. A lot of them depend on the river getting up and then dropping back out trapping good fish in the slough...

Oh yea seen some of the biggest moccasins in my life at those places...


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## Try'n Hard (Oct 23, 2008)

jcoss15 said:


> Oh yea seen some of the biggest moccasins in my life at those places...


+1

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## daylate (Feb 22, 2012)

Try'n Hard said:


> In the 80's & 90's the Esc. river swamp was a beautiful old hardwood and cypress swamp, walking was easy and you could see for 50 yds almost anywhere you stopped. Hurricanes turned it into a wasteland of downed trees and vines, I don't think it will ever look the same.


 For my entire life, up until the hurricanes of 2004 and 2005, the Escambia River bottoms were beautiful and a sportsman's paradise. Not only was the fishing great but so was the hunting. Once the big water oaks were destroyed by Hurricane Dennis, the hunting was done. Wood ducks used to winter there by the thousands and they fed exclusively on water oak acorns all winter. The acorns are gone and so are the masses of ducks. There are still a few but nothing like it was. The squirrel hunting is not worth the effort now either. They used to be in there in huge numbers but not now and even if they were you can't move around in there to hunt them anyway. Deer and hogs are still around but they had already adapted to other food sources (corn).

Having said that, the fishing can still be very good if you can catch conditions right (clear and moving water in the swamp sloughs). Trails can be cut for fishing along the bank but it is a lot of work and it grows right back because of the lack of canopy now. Fall is the best time of year to fish there but not sure what effect this heavy rain we just had will have on it.

Good luck and be careful.


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## barefoot (Nov 3, 2011)

Sure, Icanfish;

Some of our areas biggest bass come from these "hidden" lakes.

Like jcoss, I grew up on yellow river fishing the river and swamps w/ my dad from our cabin at millers bluff. We would wind our way thru the cypress knees w/ our small boat, till we got to dads "secret" spot in the swamp.

We always caught fish, high water was a big help...and yes HUGE moccasins in the swamps, they will drop from low trees also.


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## DLo (Oct 2, 2007)

The best thing that could happen to Escambia would be a good burn, but honestly it should have happened 5 or 6 years ago.


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## sureicanfish (Sep 30, 2007)

Is it illegal to bring a chainsaw to the woods??? My arms are still sore lol.


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## Try'n Hard (Oct 23, 2008)

sure said:


> Is it illegal to bring a chainsaw to the woods??? My arms are still sore lol.


Legal and appreciated!!

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## Rustifaro (Jul 16, 2008)

*Lower Escambia*

*I grew up on the lower Escambia and there were two lakes that I used to fish when I was a kid. The first one is about a hundred yards off the main river (30.557441 87.210617) and wasn’t really that hard to get to. Even had a game warden walk in on me one time. We caught a ton of crappie, shellcrackers, and mullet out of there. The other lake is off of Ferry Pass Bayou and is about 40 yards through the woods. It’s very soft all around this lake and hard to get to if it rained a lot. The water is crystal clear and you can see the fish, but they would only bite very early or late or if it was cloudy. There’s also one just north of Murphy’s Pond that you can squeeze a john boat in if the water is a little high (**30.556902, -87.209031) and it was a good crappie spot. There is no shortage of snakes in any of these lakes. It’s been about twenty years since I’ve gone to any of these but they’re probably still there. *


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## sureicanfish (Sep 30, 2007)

Well, today I tried again and kicked myself, as usual. Last week I tried going in from the south. Today i tried driving around this big point towards the north side of the pond. i see two dudes in a tiny little boat with an empty jon-boat tied to their boat right where I want to put my boat. hmm, maybe they're setting bush hooks i think... so they leave and I jump in the woods, it isnt long before i see a sandy trail. the trail has drag marks on it, as if from a jon-boat, hmm... so i walk the trail, very easily i might ad, straight back to the damn pond, lol, who knew! So i'm not the explorer i thought i was but i'm still excited to get a little boat back into this pond since it looks amazing and there can't be that many people that frequent it. Oh well, last weekend was good exercise i guess.


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## Try'n Hard (Oct 23, 2008)

sure said:


> Well, today I tried again and kicked myself, as usual. Last week I tried going in from the south. Today i tried driving around this big point towards the north side of the pond. i see two dudes in a tiny little boat with an empty jon-boat tied to their boat right where I want to put my boat. hmm, maybe they're setting bush hooks i think... so they leave and I jump in the woods, it isnt long before i see a sandy trail. the trail has drag marks on it, as if from a jon-boat, hmm... so i walk the trail, very easily i might ad, straight back to the damn pond, lol, who knew! So i'm not the explorer i thought i was but i'm still excited to get a little boat back into this pond since it looks amazing and there can't be that many people that frequent it. Oh well, last weekend was good exercise i guess.


We need to change screen names.... you may be try'n 2 hard


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## sureicanfish (Sep 30, 2007)

Try'n Hard said:


> We need to change screen names.... you may be try'n 2 hard


i think my problem is I want to find something nobody else has found, some virgin turf, but sure enough, as soon as i'm ready to celebrate i bump into a ladder stand, a pile of garbage, a nice trail, a pile of corn.... oh well. i'm still going back to this pond, it looks amazing.


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