(Un)official Hoosiers Thread

[HoosierHawgs]

On 1/2/2017 at 9:55 PM, IndianaFinesse said:

All of this rain has melted most of the main lake ice here, but the coves still have some ice left.  The ice is still to thick to plow through with the boat in the backs of coves, so I took the canoe out instead.   Water clarity's about 1.5-2 feet, and the water temperature is still hanging around 39 degrees.  Started out fishing for white bass, but it was impossible to stay put out in the middle of the lake in the wind with the canoe.  Switched over to crappie/bluegill (they seemed to be biting the same lures) and found them hugging bottom in 17-20 feet of water near some dying weeds.  The bites were so lite that I had to use an ice fishing rod with a "spring bobber" flat wire tip, instead of regular rods.  The most effective bait was a 1/100 ounce horizontal jig tipped with two or three spikes and an atomic wishbone plastic.  They wanted it held as steady as possible beneath the canoe, not an easy task in the wind.  Ended the day with 5 crappie, 15 nice bluegill, and one largemouth bass, in about three hours of fishing.  It was basically ice fishing in open water, except harder because of boat control, but it was nice to get out again.  Looks like it might have safe ice by the first part of next week if the weather forecast holds true.  

This weather is taking me for a ride. 55 last night 20 this morning. I got up and left for swim workout at 4:50 this morning and had to pry the door open on my truck, which was a real pain but ran the defroster as much as I could in idle after so the doors seem to be doing a little better. Hope the ice works out though! 

[HoosierHawgs]

Who would be interested in meeting up for eats and talking fishing on the evening Saturday, March 4th? I know it probably seems a little late but that is really a good date for me. I'm open to suggestions on where we should meet... Like I said, I'd be willing to travel for about an hour so I'm up for anything that's reasonable. Something that's local would be cool too rather than some chain place., we're Hoosiers after all!

[frosty]

On 1/4/2017 at 2:33 PM, HoosierHawgs said:

This weather is taking me for a ride. 55 last night 20 this morning. I got up and left for swim workout at 4:50 this morning and had to pry the door open on my truck, which was a real pain but ran the defroster as much as I could in idle after so the doors seem to be doing a little better. Hope the ice works out though! 

Spray a little wd-40 on a rag and wipe all your door seals before we get a freezing rain and it will keep your doors from freezing shut. 

[HoosierHawgs]

21 minutes ago, frosty said:

Spray a little wd-40 on a rag and wipe all your door seals before we get a freezing rain and it will keep your doors from freezing shut. 

Good idea! Thanks for the advice. I have been using silicone inside the door seals and it seems to be doing well. I also need to get some lock Dr-over as I do not have auto locks (stripped down 2004 F-150 XLT SuperCab). Do you know if the we-40 or silicone would work inside the door handle area as well to keep it from freezing up? 

[frosty]

8 hours ago, HoosierHawgs said:

Good idea! Thanks for the advice. I have been using silicone inside the door seals and it seems to be doing well. I also need to get some lock Dr-over as I do not have auto locks (stripped down 2004 F-150 XLT SuperCab). Do you know if the we-40 or silicone would work inside the door handle area as well to keep it from freezing up? 

I'm sure wd-40 would work, anything to keep the ice from freezing to the car. 

[OddChase]

Warm weekend coming up, anyone have any guesses on what the bass will be doing? 

[IndianaFinesse]

21 minutes ago, OddChase said:

Warm weekend coming up, anyone have any guesses on what the bass will be doing? 

Don't know what they will be doing this weekend, but I do know what they were doing today.  

Water clarity's down to only a few inches on the upper end of the lake and a foot of visibility on the lower end, with the water temperature reading about 38 degrees.  Fished for about three hours this afternoon, and i decided to start out catfishing.  After a bit of motoring around I found the catfish hole again, but I forgot my marker buoy and the anchor rope wasn't long enough to reach the bottom so I was unable to stay on top of it.  Still managed one nice channel catfish measuring 31 inches on cut shad, unfortunately while fighting the catfish I was blown off of the hole.  Drove around for another half hour looking for it again, but I couldn't find it.  Must be a very small hole.  Switched over to bass fishing and found them in 15-20 feet of water where the channel cuts close to the shore line.  Didn't catch anything on the Ned rig or hair jigs and the water was to muddy for jerks and blades, so I tried the 3/16 ounce baby boo jig with a super chunk junior to see if a little more bulk would help, and so I could try my new daiwa exceller out. Three fish right off the bat on the little jig, I thought I had figured them out but they shut down as fast as they started. On a side note, I love the exceller, casts surprisingly far and is as smooth as silk, well worth the $50 I paid for it on sale.  Never got another hit on the jig, so I switched over to white bass to see if I could find a nice school of them.  I quickly found a nice school of fish that appeared to be white bass by the way they were schooling, so I hung around for a while on that spot to figure out what they wanted today.  Turns out theythey weren't a very active school or I didn't figure out the right presentation, cause I only caught four fish on a slimfish spoon tipped with a couple maggots. I also pulled a very expensive canoe out of the water today that someone reported missing, found it half submerged in the water.  I'm glad I found it before it sank to the bottom, or get run over by a boat.

 

Wasn't a great day of fishing, but it was good to get out on soft water again for the first time in over a month, even if it is just a tease before freezing back up again.  I'll probably be out on Saturday and Sunday enjoying the warm weather, hopefully the water will clear up a little before then.

[OddChase]

19 hours ago, IndianaFinesse said:

 Switched over to bass fishing and found them in 15-20 feet of water where the channel cuts close to the shore line.  Didn't catch anything on the Ned rig or hair jigs and the water was to muddy for jerks and blades, so I tried the 3/16 ounce baby boo jig with a super chunk junior to see if a little more bulk would help, and so I could try my new daiwa exceller out.

Hopefully the fish come a little shallower thanks to the warmer weather! I'll be fishing from the bank at a new spot - maybe I'll get to see some fish getting ready for beds. 

[IndianaFinesse]

1 minute ago, OddChase said:

maybe I'll get to see some fish getting ready for beds. 

I doubt it, the water temperature is still in the upper thirty's and the light angle isn't anywhere near what it is when they usually spawn.  Look for them on the beds on the first full moon of April, and for a week or two prior the male bass will be making the beds.

[OddChase]

4 minutes ago, IndianaFinesse said:

I doubt it, the water temperature is still in the upper thirty's and the light angle isn't anywhere near what it is when they usually spawn.  Look for them on the beds on the first full moon of April, and for a week or two prior the male bass will be making the beds.

Oh I didn't know about this! I'm usually mushroom hunting or catching crappie in the spring. I've been watching some coverage of the bass masters this week and they are looking for bedding fish. 

[IndianaFinesse]

57 minutes ago, OddChase said:

Oh I didn't know about this! I'm usually mushroom hunting or catching crappie in the spring. I've been watching some coverage of the bass masters this week and they are looking for bedding fish. 

Bass masters usually covers southern waters such texas and florida, down there the spawn is much earlier, sometimes even as early as late December.  Look for water temperatures in the 60-65 degree range around full or new moons, often the main part of the spawn is around the first full moon of April (this year the full moon is in the second week of April I believe) and a smaller secondary wave of bass spawn around the next new moon. 

[Team9nine]

The inch of rain we got last night isn't going to help the cause any. Creeks were flooded and rolling mud this morning. Might just end up leaving the boat parked this weekend ?

[IndianaFinesse]

4 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

The inch of rain we got last night isn't going to help the cause any. Creeks were flooded and rolling mud this morning. Might just end up leaving the boat parked this weekend ?

I have almost zero visibility by where I live (water levels about ten inches high now), and it can't be much more than eight or ten inches on the lower end.  Bass fishing is going to be rough, but I might take another shot at getting some big cats. They don't seem to be as effected by water clarity, at least not as much as the bass are.

[The Bassman]

Gonna try a retention pond I fish regularly tomorrow.  The water stays pretty clear. Thought a real slow ned rig presentation might click.  Algae is nil now so I shouldn't have much trouble with scum.

[Team9nine]

5 hours ago, IndianaFinesse said:

I have almost zero visibility by where I live (water levels about ten inches high now), and it can't be much more than eight or ten inches on the lower end.  Bass fishing is going to be rough, but I might take another shot at getting some big cats. They don't seem to be as effected by water clarity, at least not as much as the bass are.

 

If I get out, got any extra cut shad? I can keep us right on the hole ? If they'll actually bite bait, I wouldn't be opposed to trying. I'm 50/50 at the moment for Saturday.

[IndianaFinesse]

2 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

 

If I get out, got any extra cut shad? I can keep us right on the hole ? If they'll actually bite bait, I wouldn't be opposed to trying. I'm 50/50 at the moment for Saturday.

Yep, I stocked up on shad last spring during the shad spawn and during the shad die off in the fall so I have plenty.  I'll bring some extra on Saturday, I will able to get out in the morning and probably in the afternoon also, but not till about two o-clock.  Rigging 1/2 inch by 2 inch strips of meat on kahle or circle hooks with 1/2-3/4 ounce egg sinkers above a swivel tied to a fifteen pound leader.  Do you have the GPS coordinates of the hole, or is it pretty easy to find with side imaging? I'll make sure to bring a marker with me this time.

 

 

[Team9nine]

55 minutes ago, IndianaFinesse said:

Do you have the GPS coordinates of the hole, or is it pretty easy to find with side imaging? I'll make sure to bring a marker with me this time.

 

 

 

GPS coordinates plus custom map of that whole area ? Won't be able to do morning, but might make afternoon.

[frosty]

So does anyone know of a professional fisherman that lives around greenwood? I was down there the other day doing my deliveries and saw a sweet bass boat with a Lucas oil wrap and a matching truck. 

[Team9nine]

Just now, frosty said:

So does anyone know of a professional fisherman that lives around greenwood? I was down there the other day doing my deliveries and saw a sweet bass boat with a Lucas oil wrap and a matching truck. 

 

Yep, that's Bill McDonald. Look up his profile on the FLW website. Super nice guy.

 

-T9

[frosty]

32 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

 

Yep, that's Bill McDonald. Look up his profile on the FLW website. Super nice guy.

 

-T9

Very cool! I drove by and thought to myself man, look at that boat! Then I noticed the wrap and the truck in the driveway. 

[The Bassman]

Man, what a weekend!  60's yesterday, upper 50's today.  Got out twice.  Caught two big crappie on Ned rig Fri. when it was still chilly.  Tried the same today but got bored and went lipless. Bass really turned on for about an hour and a half.  No bigs but a couple of dozen from 12-17". Good for reflecting on for the next few weeks as the cold weather is about to return.

[OddChase]

Went out on Saturday with my S/O and we got skunked. Water was up about 2 foot and the bass just weren't having it. Nice day to be out and about though. 

[frosty]

4 minutes ago, OddChase said:

Went out on Saturday with my S/O and we got skunked. Water was up about 2 foot and the bass just weren't having it. Nice day to be out and about though. 

My beautiful bride told me to go Saturday afternoon but after looking at the creek levels while we were out that morning I just passed. The last time I tried fishing a flooded creek I ended up skunked and completely aggravated from snagging everything in the creek!

[IndianaFinesse]

Fished yesterday morning for a few hours and again in the afternoon for a few hours.  Started out the morning looking for catfish, and I think I found the hole by the size of the fish I was marking and the density of the school, but I couldn't get them to bite.  Switched over to bass fishing with the Ned rig, Bucktails, and the baby boo jig but only caught one on the baby boo jig. Gave up on that and tried using a tiny panfish jig and a 1/8 ounce flutter spoon tipped with maggots, hoping to catch some bluegill or white bass.  Turns out that the bass wanted the tiny stuff to, caught twelve bass and a crappie in around two hours on the spoon and jig.  Came back for lunch and headed out again in the afternoon.  The tiny jig and spoon bit had shut down for some reason, but I managed two small bass on the Ned rig fished in roughly 20-25 feet of water.  A slow day on the water, but it was great to get out fishing in 60 degree weather without coats and gloves in January.  

[OddChase]

10 hours ago, IndianaFinesse said:

I managed two small bass on the Ned rig fished in roughly 20-25 feet of water. 

I don't have a boat yet but how painful is fishing the Ned in 20+ feet of water? I imagined it as a shallow water tactic, especially when most people use a 1/10-1/16 oz jig head.