IndianaFinesse

Hey guys, I've got a tournament next weekend on potoka reservoir and need some info. Does anyone know what the water clarity is like right now in the different parts of the lake, and also the water temperature? Predominate bottom substrate? Are they moving towards the spawning areas yet or are they still mainlake? I will be able to prefish, but I will be out the day before the tournament and staying over night so I'll have to pack all of the tackle I might need.

Shoot, I probably could have been around those weights solo, woulda been lights out with both of us in the same boat. You know I'm always up for fishing a tournament with you, I'll cover entry fee if that's an issue -more than worth it just for the learning experience. And yep, I expect to see some serious moving towards the shallows by this weekend, warning water and impatient fish are a good combo

Is that a rare smile i see on your face? I can count on one hand how many I've seen in your pics lol. Btw, I think I may be fishing that lake to much when I recognize where you are just by the reflection on the water in that 2nd pic

I wish... Y'all only here about the good days, not the days we struggle to catch one or two. Not much fun writing about those days lol

Yep, I've drank chocolate milk with more clarity than we have right now lol. Actually had a decent bite this afternoon with 7 fish in 1 hour, all right on flooded banks. Cranks doing it again. Water is on top of the docks right now and all kinds of stuff floating, everything from sticks and debris to a small dead dog

It's been a weird bite lately, patterns changing along with our rollercoaster weather. Right now there's 2 things going, the best of which is a shallow crank bite on both wintering areas and mainlake (mostly mid to upper lake) transition areas, using cranks that dive in the 2-6 foot range. They seem to be holding close to the bank in the dirty and high water, within a foot or two most of the time. R2sea biggie, shallow shad rap, skt min Dr, and the 75× crush flat are all getting bit. Another bite going is a jig bite in the mid to lower lake, fishing mainlake points and docks. This pattern seems to get less bites, but a little better quality. Water temperature is in the mid 40s roughly depending on where you are in the lake.

Robo worms, zoom trick and finesse trick worms, mag trick worms, and zman finesse wormz.

Fishing is finally starting to heat up, even though the water isn't. Up to a little over 2 feet of clarity, usually the minimum clarity for a jerkbait bite, so I went out jerkbaiting yesterday and got 14 in about 2 hours. Quality size class, 7 over 15" and the best weighing about 4.2. They are starting to move towards the shallows a little, still on winter areas but moving towards the spawning areas a bit. 2-4 sec pause, in 8-10 feet of water and under.

I've been throwing the ned around a little, even tried that skirted shroom jig you gave me (did well late last fall pitching that up to dock posts, thanks) but haven't done any good on them at all. Literally the only 2 baits I've caught a fish on since the flood rains are the 1/8 ounce bucktails and a 3/16 ounce baby boo jig. Sounds like a fun trip for the conditions especially BTW.

I will probably regret this, but I'm not picking Casey Ashley. Looking hard at bobby lane though

It's been tough here lately, only have about 8 inches of clarity. Starting to pick up a little tho, averaging about 2-3 bass an hour. Even picked up a 4.8 pounder last Wednesday on a small rockpile along a break line. Almost everything is being caught on 1/8 ounce Bucktails jigs, but we're getting a few on baby boo jigs also.

Balance, or lack-there-of, is not only defined by the rod but also the reel. A rod might be tip heavy with one reel and perfectly balanced with another, so you have to take into account what reel you will mount on it.

I'm tired of fishing in 42 degree water with 3-4 inches of clarity, #jealous

Put yourself in the right position enough times, and your bound to hit it at the right time Fishing is a game of tilting chances in your favor as much as possible.

Haha, yeah that's what I've been reading everywhere while researching Potoka. Tough to catch a keeper there. I've got a tournament there in about a month and a half, not real stoked about the lake choice lol.

I would like to see what they'd do on a sucky (sorry, but it's oh so true) reservoir like Monroe, but there's no way they'll ever come here. Fishing is to darn bad

I went to the Indy boat/sport and travel show today also, wasn't super impressed with the lure selection either. Did find some $7.99 lucky crafts tho, some small 1/8 ounce bucktails (impossible to find commercially, custom tying shops are nice but have to pay shipping then) and some odds and end for %20 off msrp. Did get to talk with Jacob wheeler for a couple minutes when I ran into him checking out some gear, seemed like a nice down-to earth guy. I've only met a few of the elites in person, but that's the impression I've got from all of them so far. Much nicer and more humble than the stars from other sports IMO. Funny watching him demonstrate lures in the fish tank for a seminar, you could just see him instinctively start to set the hook and having to restrain himself lol.

The entire shoreline of hl was littered with dead fish of all species right after ice-out, I've never seen such a massive fish kill on that lake before. Must have been the low oxygen levels for such a long time this winter, I'm guessing.

Yeah, that's the one. I don't know a lot about how the percentages should look, but from what I can see it looks a little lopsided, and not in the bass fisherman's favor.

I can't seem to find it right now, think it might have been on the bigindianabass website. @Team9nine (he owns, writes, and operates that site) might be able to direct you to it.

Booyah pad crasher junior and the popping pad crasher, cricket frog, dart frog, and the one with the yellow belly covers it for me. Except on here 15 of those 20 answers will be the pad crasher lol.

This is all really interesting and potentially helpful information, but my head is starting to hurt lol. Interesting to hear how little we really know, and it seems like the more we find out, the more we realize just how much we don't know

Go check out Monroe a time or two, it'll humble ya in a hurry. Worse than coon IMO. The food chain is screwed up at that lake, look up an electro fishing study and its messed up. Weird fishing to, "patterns" don't hardly exist and change way faster than any other lake I've ever fished. And if I make our state championship, I'll have the pleasure of going back to it this summer...lol. Make sure to check wind predictions beforehand, it gets really ugly really fast with much wind at all.

Here's my 2¢, take it as you want as I do not have as much experience as most of you guys. I think that they definitely do get acclimated or used to certain lures that they have already seen repeatedly and/or been caught on. You can see this when a new lure is "hot" for a little bit, maybe a year or so, but then is no longer as affective as it once was. But I believe this happens faster with faster moving baits, such as crankbaits, spinnerbaits and such. A couple studies (although they used very circumstantial evidence) support this. Slower, more natural lures seem to take longer for them to catch on, such as senkos and whatnot. The flipside of this is pure reaction baits (although I strongly believe that most strikes are a reaction of some sort, and not feeding), they probably don't become "immune" to these baits quite as fast. I always try to be a little different than everyone else, even small differences in retrieve/lure sound/action etc can make all the difference. I think it's been well enough documented that bass tend to avoid lures that they've already been caught on, with some exceptions of course. Whether its better to be natural or different, there really isn't a good one answer to to that. None of our lures really look like anything they would eat, but sometimes it pays to be closer to the real thing in clearer and more pressured water, but sometimes not. But whether we try to be more natural or less, either way we always end up being something other than natural.

About 20 days a month, depending on circumstances of course.