Hearns Pond Fishing Guides
A classic Delmarva millpond on the Nanticoke headwaters, shallow and cypress edged, with a state ramp and a long standing reputation for largemouth and crappie.
Guides on the Hearns Pond
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About the Hearns Pond
Hearns Pond is one of the old impoundments that give western Sussex County its character, a millpond thrown across Gravelly Branch generations ago and left in place long after the mill itself stopped mattering. It covers something under forty acres and it is shallow throughout, the sort of water where a boat drifting the middle is never far from bottom and where the fishing happens against structure rather than in open water. The shoreline is the draw: stumps, drowned timber, lily pads and the bald cypress that mark the northern edge of their range on the Delmarva Peninsula, all of it holding fish through the warm months.
Largemouth bass are the headline and they behave the way pond bass do, tight to cover and willing to take a topwater across the pads at first light and again at dusk. Black crappie are the other reliable quarry and they school heavily around the deeper timber, particularly in early spring before they scatter to spawn. Chain pickerel are abundant and often larger than visitors expect, bluegill and redear sunfish carpet the shallows through summer, and channel catfish work the deeper channel of the old stream bed after dark. None of it is trophy water, but it is consistently productive and it is close enough to the road that a short session is worthwhile.
The gauge reports pond elevation, which on a millpond is the number that actually governs the fishing. Sussex County ponds are shallow enough that a foot of drawdown changes which cover is reachable and which flats go dry, and the spillway keeps the level steady enough that the record is readable rather than noisy. The pond drains through Gravelly Branch into the Nanticoke, which means it sits within reach of the tidal river fishery downstream and shares its water with a much larger system than its own surface suggests.
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The photo at the top of this page is not Hearns Pond.
It is a regional stand-in, honestly captioned but generic — we will not put a name to a river we cannot prove. Send us a photograph you took here and it replaces the stand-in, with your credit on it.
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Pool right now
- 24 hours-0.01 ft → steady
Reading taken 1h ago at USGS 01487170, HEARNS POND NEAR SEAFORD, DE. Elevation is the surface of the lake above the survey datum, not depth. Source.
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Access
Seaford - the nearest town to the west, with the bulk of the services and the closest tackle.
DNREC boat ramp - the state maintained launch on the pond, adequate for small boats and car top craft.
Gravelly Branch - the inflow stream at the upper end, shallow and stained and worth working in spring.
Nanticoke River - the tidal river downstream, a much larger fishery reachable in the same trip.
Records Pond - a larger Sussex millpond a short drive away when this one is crowded.
Trap Pond State Park - the cypress pond to the southeast, with camping and further public water.
Georgetown - the county seat east of here, with the fullest range of supplies in the area.
Seasons
Spring: the strongest period of the year, with crappie stacked on the timber before the spawn and bass moving onto the shallow flats.
Summer: hot and weedy, with the fishing compressed into the first and last hours of light and into the shade under the pads.
Fall: the water clears and cools, the pads die back and the bass feed hard along newly opened edges.
Winter: quiet and often skimmed with ice at the margins, with pickerel the most dependable fish for anyone who comes out.
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Questions
What species can you catch on the Hearns Pond?
Anglers target Black Crappie, Bluegill, Bullhead, Carp, Chain Pickerel, Channel Catfish, Largemouth Bass, Redear Sunfish, Warmouth, Yellow Perch on the Hearns Pond in Delaware.
Where can you access the Hearns Pond?
Seaford - the nearest town to the west, with the bulk of the services and the closest tackle. DNREC boat ramp - the state maintained launch on the pond, adequate for small boats and car top craft. Gravelly Branch - the inflow stream at the upper end, shallow and stained and worth working in spring. Nanticoke River - the tidal river downstream, a much larger fishery reachable in the same trip. Records Pond - a larger Sussex millpond a short drive away when this one is crowded. Trap Pond State Park - the cypress pond to the southeast, with camping and further public water. Georgetown - the count...
When is the best time to fish the Hearns Pond?
Spring: the strongest period of the year, with crappie stacked on the timber before the spawn and bass moving onto the shallow flats. Summer: hot and weedy, with the fishing compressed into the first and last hours of light and into the shade under the pads. Fall: the water clears and cools, the pads die back and the bass feed hard along newly opened edges. Winter: quiet and often skimmed with ice at the margins, with pickerel the most dependable fish for anyone who comes out.
Where are the fishing regulations for the Hearns Pond?
Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Delaware agency site: https://dnrec.delaware.gov/fish-wildlife/fishing/regulations/