(Un)official Hoosiers Thread

[OddChase]

Despite the hot weather, been slaying bass in shallow grass. The bluegill in a local pond are bedding (they have eggs in them?) and the bass cannot control themselves around a senko or soft swimbait. Great fun. 

[BigBassLoveSenkos]

Got out last night for a couple hours before dark.  We basically followed a school around, throwing spooks and sammys in front of them.  Although we didn't catch anything over 2.5 or 3, we did catch numbers.  The previous night I had fished for a couple hours and caught just one 13" smallie, so last night was that much more gratifying... 

[BassOnKlinger]

I got out last night as well for a couple hours before dark on a nearby pond. I still can't catch numbers or size though.  I caught two. 0.5-1.5 pound in size. Both on a Havoc Grass Pig swim bait.  I had a couple hits on a popper but nothing committed. 

[IndianaFinesse]

Been fishing a fair amount lately, usually I can get out for a couple hours in the evening.  I've been catching them on frogs, x-raps, squarebills, and senkos for the most part.  The areas the fish are in are points and deep docks, but two days ago they seemed to be starting to transition to early fall locations.  Managed to catch a a lot of bass on x-raps and squarebills on wind blown points two days ago (including a chunky 4.6), but yesterday I only caught eleven bass on a frog.   If this keeps up I might have to give up on trying to catch bigger bass and switch back to the ned rig, I can't wait till fall finally brings a good crankbait and jerkbait bite.

[tstraub]

On 8/23/2016 at 8:01 AM, BigBassLoveSenkos said:

Healthy looking fish there tstraub, which lake is that? Oh and what are the secrets to catching big fish?  LOL!

Its a small private lake at Lakeview campground.  We have a seasonal site so I consider it my "home lake"  It were I do probably  90% of my fishing.  His secret is to get a rod rigged wit a pumpkinseed power worm and wade out to this tiny little island just past the beach.  you stand on that island and cast out as far into deep water as you can then drag it back real slow.  It might take a while but if you're patient and you keep at it long enough you'll catch a good one.  LOL

 

[OddChase]

After two years of trying to use swimbaits, I finally got on some fish this morning. Was waking a caffeine shad in about 1 foot of water around some grass and mats and was able to watch the fish dart out and grab it. Caught about 6 but missed 15 or so, assuming they were too small to really inhale my bait. So how can I improve my swimbait game? I have a few of these paddle-tailed baits as well as a jointed hard body lure than I got in a MTB a few months ago. 

[BassOnKlinger]

On 8/27/2016 at 11:04 AM, OddChase said:

After two years of trying to use swimbaits, I finally got on some fish this morning. Was waking a caffeine shad in about 1 foot of water around some grass and mats and was able to watch the fish dart out and grab it. Caught about 6 but missed 15 or so, assuming they were too small to really inhale my bait. So how can I improve my swimbait game? I have a few of these paddle-tailed baits as well as a jointed hard body lure than I got in a MTB a few months ago. 

I threw the same thing today during my lunch break, only I tossed it on top of some scum and fished it like a frog. I had multiple blowups and finally had one commit and actually grab it. Little half pounder, but it's still fun.  Thought hell, they're not hitting the swimbait per the normal retrieve, so I'm gonna chuck it like a frog and bam!  

Same pond yesterday and they were grabbing a jig off the bottom and running with it. 

[Josh Smith]

My wife and I went to the private pond yesterday. Winds from the east, nothing special on the solunar tables, high blue skies, and I still caught eight or 10, the majority being 14" to 15".

April only caught three fish, two bass and a large bluegill. I was teaching her frog fishing, though, and she missed a few. She did do very well after I coached her. She does need a faster reel, however.

I have a complete report in Fishing Reports.

I tried to post pics here as well, but I can't seem to do so from my phone. The Fishing Reports thread was started last night from my computer.

Josh

[IndianaFinesse]

The fish are definitely starting to transition into the early fall movements now with the water temperature in the upper 70s.  When its calm and sunny I've been catching them on frogs skipped under main lake docks.  When the wind kicks up I switch to squarebill crankbaits and jerkbaits fished quickly over top of grass on the down wind side of the lake.  This pattern really gets good when the wind blows the same direction for a few days in a row with at least ten or twelve mile an hour winds concentrating the shad. 

[BassOnKlinger]

Fun piece of info I came across today:  The pond I've been fishing is supposedly loaded. I've only managed a couple dinks (as mentioned above). But today I got picture confirmation of the types of bass in this pond and I'm pumped to keep fishing until I come across them. 4 and 5 pounders seem to be the norm here. This guy even came across a rare blue crayfish, which is cool considering one of the bass I caught was on a black and blue jig. Match the hatch much? 

[Jbower]

Hey everyone. New guy here from Indiana. Actually live on lake tippecanoe and am in the boat repair business. Just started fishing tournaments in July as a fill in. I just bought a wake boat in spring so the wife and I and the baby can use it so a nice bass boat is out of the question but getting ready to purchase an older bomber 17 1/2 footer with a 150 on it.   So anyways you should be hearing from me

[IndianaFinesse]

3 minutes ago, Jbower said:

Hey everyone. New guy here from Indiana. Actually live on lake tippecanoe and am in the boat repair business. Just started fishing tournaments in July as a fill in. I just bought a wake boat in spring so the wife and I and the baby can use it so a nice bass boat is out of the question but getting ready to purchase an older bomber 17 1/2 footer with a 150 on it.   So anyways you should be hearing from me

Welcome to the forums!  BTW, I fish out of a very old and used fourteen foot modified v-hull rigged with a trolling motor and a small outboard and do just fine, you don't need a shiny ranger bass boat to catch bass.

[Jbower]

Just now, IndianaFinesse said:

Welcome to the forums!  BTW, I fish out of a very old and used fourteen foot modified v-hull rigged with a trolling motor and a small outboard and do just fine, you don't need a shiny ranger bass boat to catch bass.

Good to hear for sure. The guy I've been fishing with has a tr21 in great shape my other Freind has a beautiful champion 202. Anyways the last tournament my partner couldn't make it so I took the ole brown bomber and got 2nd by myself so that just goes to show

[IndianaFinesse]

Just now, Jbower said:

Good to hear for sure. The guy I've been fishing with has a tr21 in great shape my other Freind has a beautiful champion 202. Anyways the last tournament my partner couldn't make it so I took the ole brown bomber and got 2nd by myself so that just goes to show

I fish a couple tournaments every year out of my little boat, but not as much as I would like since the tournaments at my lake are so expensive and I no longer have a partner.

[BigBassLoveSenkos]

14 hours ago, Jbower said:

Good to hear for sure. The guy I've been fishing with has a tr21 in great shape my other Freind has a beautiful champion 202. Anyways the last tournament my partner couldn't make it so I took the ole brown bomber and got 2nd by myself so that just goes to show

Welcome to the site.  I also started fishing tournaments this year, even though I almost always have more productive days when fishing for fun.  Go figure.  What did your 2nd place bag weigh?

[Jbower]

That night we fished dewart and no one did real well I think I had 4.2 with 2 fish. 1st had 4.6 if I remember correctly. It can be a tough lake I pulled a 4 1/2 out of 18 foot of water about a month ago there. 

Also these are Wednesday night tournaments so the weights are low. We fish from 5- sunset. 8:45 was that night

[IndianaFinesse]

Did pretty well this morning between 7:15 and 12:15.  Caught a total of 26 bass, with nine over fifteen inches long and the best five weighing 14.7 pounds and biggest weighing 3.8.  All of them were caught on the junior pad crasher fished at a quick walking retrieve with hardly any pauses.  Most of the bass were caught on main lake shorelines in roughly 6-8 feet of water, but after 10:30 or so they moved underneath the adjacent docks. 

[BigBassLoveSenkos]

14 hours ago, Jbower said:

Also these are Wednesday night tournaments so the weights are low. We fish from 5- sunset. 8:45 was that night

I fish the Tuesday nighter from 5 to 9 on Geist a couple times a month.  It can get tough in late summer but in spring/fall it usually takes over 16 to get paid and over 20 to win.

[Alan Reed]

Absolutely killed it tonight before the storms hit. No joke caught a bass on about every 3rd cast.  They were sitting up in the rip rap. I could eyeball the bank and see little indentation that looked like a bass would be sitting or the slight point and worked a weightless worm away away from the bank. The only disappointment was I lost the largest bass have ever had on a hook. I was reeling in as fast as I could by the started swimming towards me and I couldn't keep the line tight and he threw the hook and he was a monster, at least for me.

[OddChase]

Got out Saturday and managed to catch several bass on a reaction bite during the windy hours of the evening. Tossing a soft-plastic swimbait into shallow water and killing it next to small weed points or isolated lily pads. 

[BigBassLoveSenkos]

Got out Friday morning at first light and just destroyed them on topwater.  At one point had 6 fish on 6 casts using a gunfish.  By 8am I had a rotation of a gunfish, whopper plopper, and a lobina rico going.  Topwater bite died by 9am, but managed to catch a few more on a dropshot.

[Amoore9900]

It's nice seeing people start to put bass in the boat we are going out tonight for the first time since it cooled down have high hopes of putting a 5-8 pounder in the boat...

[Amoore9900]

We started fishing the south end and got a couple bass 1 on a crank and 1 on a worm but it was slow..we went around to a spot that is hot in the fall it's where a channel flows into the lake and started throwing cranks and they were packed in....ended up hooking the big one 5.5 on a rapala crank..,got 9 for the evening ...

[Alan Reed]

Made it out on Saturday and between my step son and I, we caught over 40 LMB. Started the day at a location with some size 2.5 to 3.6 lbs with a chatterbait and moved to a second location he would have the ability to catch more fish and that we did. 

[BigBassLoveSenkos]

19 hours ago, Amoore9900 said:

We started fishing the south end and got a couple bass 1 on a crank and 1 on a worm but it was slow..we went around to a spot that is hot in the fall it's where a channel flows into the lake and started throwing cranks and they were packed in....ended up hooking the big one 5.5 on a rapala crank..,got 9 for the evening ...

Is the south end where the ramp is?  I remember fishing that lake with you last year and it seems like the drops around the island would be stacked this time of year