Well there are a ton of videos and tips on how to fish pre spawn. Although many of the tips do carry over to RI fishing it is not always 100% accurate. Many of the RI ponds and lakes have invasive vegetation and also rather shallow. Many pros will talk about fishing a suspending jerk bait for pre spawn. Those pros would be right on the money with the exception that jerk baits are designed to suspend in specific water conditions. Seldom are those conditions exactly what they tested in and often the baits slowly sink and dont suspend perfectly. For example the KVD 200 or 300. They are meant to run 4-7 feet deep. Well at a place like Wordens Pond that is too deep. Wordens is about 8 feet deep at its deepest point and is riddled with vegetation. I prefer using floating jerk baits and use suspend dots or suspend strips to help it suspend/slowly rise. This helps keep the bait off the bottom but still gives you the benefits of a pre spawn jerk bait. Color wise you can follow what most people use. Usually its whites and chromes in in clear water sunny days and gold (something with an orange or yellow belly) on overcast days or with slightly cloudy water.
Although the jerk bait is a go to because you can fish it super slow while the water is cold and speed it up as the water gets warmer, there are other options. Worms and jigs work well in coder water. Once it warms up a bit a wacky senko, zoom fluke, spinner bait, or even a swim bait becomes a solid choice. The senko and fluke are ones that can be fished in colder water but I find that in cold water lethargic fish dont attack those baits. They gently pick them up by the tail and dont get the hook. Although I hate fishing with treble hooks just because they are a pain they do serve a purpose when a fish is not all in on hitting a bait, which makes the jerk bait perfect in this condition. So you have options, but right now the jerk bait would be the go to and the water temperature dictates how fast it should be fished. Also keep in mind that deeper lakes and ponds take longer to warm up than shallow ones.
Although the jerk bait is a go to because you can fish it super slow while the water is cold and speed it up as the water gets warmer, there are other options. Worms and jigs work well in coder water. Once it warms up a bit a wacky senko, zoom fluke, spinner bait, or even a swim bait becomes a solid choice. The senko and fluke are ones that can be fished in colder water but I find that in cold water lethargic fish dont attack those baits. They gently pick them up by the tail and dont get the hook. Although I hate fishing with treble hooks just because they are a pain they do serve a purpose when a fish is not all in on hitting a bait, which makes the jerk bait perfect in this condition. So you have options, but right now the jerk bait would be the go to and the water temperature dictates how fast it should be fished. Also keep in mind that deeper lakes and ponds take longer to warm up than shallow ones.
You dont have to switch ponds. You just needs to learn the patterns of the pond and figure out the ins and outs. That can be either the funnest thing to do or the most frustrating. The first thing I like to do is google the pond and see if you can find a map showing the layout of the pond (below is example of wordens pond). This will give you an idea where to start, but this process can take a lot of time and is best to periodically be done over the course of a year as the patterns change. However the patterns of one season will lead you to patterns of other seasons. Right now it being pre spawn you are looking for drop offs and ledges right off of flats. The reason being is that for the most part these fish are not going to be too far from where they will eventually spawn. In a few weeks you will see fish right on the bank where you can see them in plain sight. If you see a good amount of bass bedding it is fair to say that not too far from there is a place where they like to hunt which is usually a drop off, ledge or structure further off the bank. These will be key identifiers for places to fish pre spawn next year as well as post spawn which will be in a few weeks. Identifying where they are in the pattern is critical. To do this water temperature plays a big part. Deeper ponds and more northern ponds are still a bit colder than more shallow or southern ponds. Last Tuesday I fished the Pascoag Reservoir and it was 46 degrees in the water. On Saturday Wordens was 57 degrees. The northern part of RI had a harsher winter and wordens is much more shallow and in southern RI. Wordens will be spawning a couple of weeks before Pascoag starts to.
Now the fact there is no vegetation is not a big deal in fact it opens up the tackle box a bit more since weedless baits are not a necessity. You are just going to have to work the pond a bit more and look to identify flats where the fish will spawn and potential drop offs or structure where the fish may be hunting. Boulders are typically hot spots. This is purely trial and error. A couple of things can be done to help. The first is to download some type of fishing barometer on your phone. I like the fishing adviser which takes into account the weather, moon phase, etc. The reason being that there are a ton of things that affect the activity of fish. When testing new waters you need that feedback for when you are doing something right you are rewarded. Now its not a perfect science, but I'd take any help I can get. Nothing worse than doing everything right and still not catching fish. The least you can do is try to at least have a couple of factors in your favor.
The other thing I like to do is to have a few rods with a couple of styles of baits. The idea should be to entice fish at various levels of activity. Some baits that are meant to work quickly, one that is intermediate, and another that is worked very slowly. Hard and soft jerk baits are a go to (love the zoom fluke) because you can work them fast or slow. When it comes to colors, here in NE natural colors are always best to go to first. Greens and browns are key. Watermelon, green pumpkin are the go to and with some sunlight some red flake helps (watermelon red flake is a primo color in NE).
In an environment with rocks, boulders and sandy bottoms I would be looking to throw a hard jerk bait or a square bill crank bait and clack that thing against the rocks or bottom every chance I got. If that didt work I would look to rock a spider grub with a football jig head on it. Either way its all trial and error so its up to you to find what works for you. Good luck and tight lines..
Now the fact there is no vegetation is not a big deal in fact it opens up the tackle box a bit more since weedless baits are not a necessity. You are just going to have to work the pond a bit more and look to identify flats where the fish will spawn and potential drop offs or structure where the fish may be hunting. Boulders are typically hot spots. This is purely trial and error. A couple of things can be done to help. The first is to download some type of fishing barometer on your phone. I like the fishing adviser which takes into account the weather, moon phase, etc. The reason being that there are a ton of things that affect the activity of fish. When testing new waters you need that feedback for when you are doing something right you are rewarded. Now its not a perfect science, but I'd take any help I can get. Nothing worse than doing everything right and still not catching fish. The least you can do is try to at least have a couple of factors in your favor.
The other thing I like to do is to have a few rods with a couple of styles of baits. The idea should be to entice fish at various levels of activity. Some baits that are meant to work quickly, one that is intermediate, and another that is worked very slowly. Hard and soft jerk baits are a go to (love the zoom fluke) because you can work them fast or slow. When it comes to colors, here in NE natural colors are always best to go to first. Greens and browns are key. Watermelon, green pumpkin are the go to and with some sunlight some red flake helps (watermelon red flake is a primo color in NE).
In an environment with rocks, boulders and sandy bottoms I would be looking to throw a hard jerk bait or a square bill crank bait and clack that thing against the rocks or bottom every chance I got. If that didt work I would look to rock a spider grub with a football jig head on it. Either way its all trial and error so its up to you to find what works for you. Good luck and tight lines..