Round Pond near New Athens: Fishing Spots, Seasons and Access

• Overview

  Round Pond sits in Randolph County, out in Illinois. The surface lies 367 feet up. It runs to roughly 99 acres — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. Nothing else we list in Randolph County covers more water. Head to New Athens, 5.4 miles away, for anything you forgot. St. Louis sits 30 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. The county line runs close by, so rules can change within a short drive.

• Where to Fish on Round Pond

  We hold no survey for this water; read the slope of the shoreline instead. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Open biodiversity records for Randolph County list bluegill, green sunfish, orangespotted sunfish and white crappie. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Fish Round Pond where the bottom changes rather than where it looks deep.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 78°F in July and bottom out at 30°F in January. Most months fish reasonably, given the right weather. Cover comes and goes, so treat it with suspicion rather than trust. Late winter often fishes better here than midsummer does. Plan any trip to Round Pond around it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing in our records says who may fish here. Nothing is listed nearby for parking or launching a boat. Bluegill and other panfish take small jigs or worms under a float near any cover. Check locally before you travel, because a wasted drive is a long one. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. Should this one be busy, Hentzels Lake is 0.5 miles off. Where Round Pond is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.