Valley Water Mill Pond

[jimithyashford]

I was out there for about an hour yesterday, one small rig with a worm hanging over the side of the dock to catch panfish, while bass fishing with the other. Caught a number of small bluegill, and one almost comically tiny smallie. He was "punching above his weight" so to speak, the lure he tried to eat was a third his own size.

I've seen lots of people out there fishing, and lots of people walking away with empty stringers. I would suspect it's massively over fished. Has anyone caught anything decent out of there?

[jbooth24]

I have caught like a few keepers of bluegill last year out of there but that was it . And I have never seen any bass at all there or catfish or crappie. It has too much grass to fish in spots and all but I also think it's over fished

[Ohai]

VWM is one of the first places my ladyfriend and I tried to fish when moving to Springfield. We just like being out and about, and it's close to us so we ended up spending quite a bit of time out there. If you want to catch bluegill, this is your spot. If you want to catch anything else, this is not your spot, lol. On the MDC website it says that the catfishing should be strong but I have tried a multitude of different baits and many hours out there and not a single cat. I would be very surprised to hear of someone catching a limit out there. As far as overcrowded goes *definitely* I have never seen so many people consistently fishing a small pond like that. Which can have entertainment value in itself if you're into the people watching kind of thing. Saw one family arguing almost to the point of fighting another family over something absolutely ridiculous. "this girl is gonna make me smack someone". "ohhh snappp did she just say she was going to smack someone???" lmao. People are crazy. Anyways, back on topic, good for Jerry Springer, not so good for filling your stringer.

[jbooth24]

That is true it is very crowded. Only time no one is there is like very early and there is few spots to fish

[riverhyker]

VWM used to be a great spot prior to them renovating the pond. There were some big bass, bluegill and crappie in there and the night fishing was fantastic too. I heard about some people bringing stringers of fish out of there, but it was either prior to the reopening or immediately thereafter, I think it should just be turned into a catch and release pond or it will have to be restocked every couple of months. Some of the fish I have seen come out of there were way below the size limit, so unless it is policed 24/7 catch and release probably wouldn't work either.

Riverhyker

[Bassattack1990]

I just moved to Springfield and this was also one of the first spots I tried! Iv never seen anyone catch a crappie or catfish! But I have caught a few really nice bass 3-4 pounds. Off of top water frogs and flukes. Iv never caught more then 3 in a trip but it's fun when you catch one!

[TheBeardedTay]

I've not seen anyone catch a bass, seen several bluegill, though. I've been several times and continually remind myself why I avoid it. I've thrown top-water frogs, shallow water cranks, plastics of all kinds including finesse, swim baits and creatures, and of course a spinner bait with no luck on bass. Throw a night crawler on, and I can't drop it past the annoying blue gill that appear to overpopulate the pond. VWM is a great place for families, especially younger kids. There's a bunch of educational items along the paths. The fishing platforms are a harbor for blue gill, and each has a line recycle bin and trash bin, which can help teach responsible conservation to our future generation. There's little risk of hang up, and normally you can find room for a good sized family to fish comfortably, and they don't have to worry about bothering other anglers, or vice versa.