I've recently been fishing a series of strip ponds here in nor cal. I've found that in the shallow ponds these bass gravitate to thick submerged hydrilla especially with pennywort nearby. These ponds are different. At there deepest they are 40 feet deep with around 10 feet of visibility. There is a shallow cove with submerged grass but I have only caught sub 5 lb fish there. The entire pond has pennywort around the edges. My question is where would a bigger fish go in an environment like this? Suspend over deep water? 

Look for areas with lots of baitfish near deep water.The big bass should be close.

I'd be throwing a big ole swimbait or jig in that deep water. 

Don't count out the pennywort!. If there's at least a foot of water under it, it can make for some nice comfy lounging for a big fat bass.   Go punching!

Seems like I'm on the right track I've caught several fish punching 1oz unskirted creatures in the penny wort, just no size yet. And have been probing deep with 1/2 and 3/4 football jigs

I wish I could fish in Cali. And complain about only catching 5lbers ha-ha. Must be nice bud. Anything over 5 in ohio is a NICE bass. Anyway. I do alot of pond fishing. Early in the morning you can usually catch the big ones in the shallows chasing prey.