(Un)official Hoosiers Thread

[BigBassLoveSenkos]

14 hours ago, dsqui said:

i havnt had this problem with a spro itll cost ya a little more up front but if u have to keep replacing pad crashers then itll be cjeaper in the long run

Ya I agree. Spro poppin frog in midnight color is hard to beat. 

Natural Brown is another good color.

g@nd3rMtn has select spro popping frogs on clearance for 7.97 these days

[Alan Reed]

Earlier this week I went to Anderson Falls in the middle of the first school day so there were only 2 other people there. I was casting a Ned Rig with a green pumpkin with red flake Hula Stick up to the base of the falls on my medium light spinning rod. Caught about 15 LMB in less than 30 minutes. All were in the 1-1.5 lbs range. Every one of those fish hammered my lure and they were all fighters.

Had the kids with me and they thought that was the greatest thing they had every seen.

[Josh Smith]

The bite has slowed way down in my usual waters. I'm sure the fish are there but I need to play with new techniques.

Anyone else having this problem? It's especially prevalent in the Wabash River. Since the floods the river's whole personality has changed.

Josh

[tstraub]

9 hours ago, Josh Smith said:

The bite has slowed way down in my usual waters. I'm sure the fish are there but I need to play with new techniques.

Anyone else having this problem? It's especially prevalent in the Wabash River. Since the floods the river's whole personality has changed.

Josh

I fished the Wabash last weekend and came up skunked.  The water was very muddy. Not that the Wabash every runs clear but last weekend it was like chocolate milk.  I fished mostly plastics and my son was crankbaits and spinner baits.  He had one possible hit on a crankbait but didn't get a hook in the fish.  Other than that it was uneventful.  

 

A few weeks ago we took a jon boat down the Tippecanoe river the water was running clear and the bite was on.  We caught smallmouth, walleye, and rock bass.  Everywhere we dropped anchor we caught fish.  Unfortunately the boating part of the trip was horrible.  We we had to pull the boat out and carry it several times.  We drug it up steep slick banks,  threw mud that we sank to our knees,  and threw poison ivy several times it was one heck of a trip.

[Frenchman83]

On 8/2/2016 at 1:49 PM, BassOnKlinger said:

Had some time during lunch to check our Fairfield Lakes in Lafayette.  Beautiful area with 4 lakes and trails. Not very many people there. I went to one end of a lake and fished some scum with a frog. Three blowups in 5 minutes. No hooksets though. Pretty happy with that amount of action in the short 30 minutes I was there. Looking forward to getting back out there when it's not high-noon and 90 degrees.

Anyone with experience out at this place?

I have been there a few times.   Generally gets busy in the afternoons.  Never got any real size out there either.  Best bet is probably get a non motorized boat and get away from the bank.    

[OddChase]

Took a kayak trip down Sugar Creek in Parke County fishing for smallmouth. Landed around 40 with my brother and father. Our largest was about 16 inches. Took my new casting set up out to a pond last night and managed to catch a few 1 lbers pitching to the edge of dying weeds with a 4inch senko. Downsizing seems to be the key right now if you're having a hard time catching fish. 

[BassOnKlinger]

13 hours ago, Frenchman83 said:

I have been there a few times.   Generally gets busy in the afternoons.  Never got any real size out there either.  Best bet is probably get a non motorized boat and get away from the bank.    

I'd love to get a kayak out there but I don't have one at the moment.  

I've actually been out there a bunch. I've tried every technique I could think of. Different times of day, early morning, evening, etc.  I haven't caught a single fish there. Beautiful place, but very discouraging to fish. 

I've even created my own little trail down to a lake where I figured no one had targeted.  Found a submerged laydown. Should've been money. Zero fish.  I mean, you'd think there'd be at least one...even a small dink in there.  But I got skunked time and time again. 

[BigBassLoveSenkos]

Got out last night from 8 to 10 and lost count dead-sticking a 5" wacky at shallow structure and grasslines.   I've started running the hook into the senko length-wise and it has definitely helped with top-of-the-mouth hooksets as well as being weedless.  

 

 

[Josh Smith]

@tstraub what's the clearest river you've seen up this way?

I like smaller rivers and creeks that I can bank fish and wade. Before the weed takeover I loved the Salamonie, but wading in slime isn't my idea of a good time.

I've not done the Eel because of all the pollution.

Been looking at kayaks for next year. I'm in the process of dropping weight first. Also looking at rafts.

I want the shallowest draft I can get.

We used to fish the Paw Paw Creek when I was a kid, and can't find the place we used to go now. That creek had good fishing.

Josh

[tstraub]

Josh,

I do most of my fishing at our seasonal campsite on bar lake outside of Rochester, but do enjoy hitting the local rivers when I get a chance.  I probably fish the Wabash the most it is by far the muddiest water but it does hold fish and its the closest to me so it's sort of my go to river.  This season has been difficult fishing si I have been trying to look for other waters.  of the closests rivers I would say the eel river looks the clearest I don't know about pollution but the water looks clear compared to the others.  I fished it this past weekend from a few different public acces points and came up skunked the access points looked like the might produce fish when the river is up but last weekend it was low enough that I could see the bottom in about 75% of the water I could reach with my lures and I didn't see any fish, not even small bait fish or anything jumping out of the water.  I went ahead and cast to what looked like the deepest parts.  no idea how deep the water was just i could not see the bottom so it had to be deeper than the surrounding water.

Mississinewa is clearer than the Wabash and does hold fish but you have to get there early or it's elbow to elbow with the other fisherman and I'm constantly getting snagged on old broken off lines in the water.

The Tippecanoe north of Rochester a bit of a drive but it's beautiful water I've only fished it twice from a jonboat both times so I don't have a clue about bank fishing.  The two times we fished it we took off from different ramps and didn't really fish any water really thoroughly it was more of a lets cover water and try to figure out this river.  We caught largemouth,smallies, and rock bass my fater in law and I were mostly throwing texas rigged worms.  My son threw everything in the tackle box and broke off several times the finally settled on a bitsy bug jig.  Ya just can't tell kids to stick with what is working.  Oh well, I guess he'll figure it out for himself with time.  Anyway we had enough fun on the Tippecanoe that my father in law is working on getting the boat numbered so we can put a motor on it and fish that river more efficiently.      

[Josh Smith]

Thanks man!

Guys, I found 'em.  They're shallow.  Not much of a fight because they're so close to shore.

A small 11-12" smallie that I should have kept for the sake of the population (slot limit):

 

And a 15" smallie, a little on the thin side though.  It looked a little... flat..?  Last winter they were quite chunky.

I tried a 10" weightless Power Worm and it worked very nicely.  Unfortunately, the reel needed some tuning and was backlashing every cast until I fixed it at my shop after the outing.

Any idea on why the bass are so skinny?

Josh

[IndianaFinesse]

I've been fishing a lot lately.  Almost every morning from 6:30 -12:00 and again from 2ish till 6:00 and sometimes in the evening to.  Still getting them on the frogs and senkos, although unfortunately the weeds are severely reduced by the frequent weed treatments.  I usually start out fishing points and any scattered weeds I can find early, then switch to skipping deep docks and fishing in what little surface vegetation there is left.

 Picked up another big one a couple days ago on the junior pad crasher, this one weighed 5.1 pounds!  Almost in the exact same area as the last five pounder, just one dock away from it.  I checked for hook holes to see if t it was the same one and had lost some weight, but didn't see any.

Started out this morning fishing for largemouth when a huge school of white bass erupted on the surface, so I tied on a small white rooster tail with a small grub twelve inches behind it.  I followed the school around for an hour or two, usually they don't stay on the surface that long.  Anyway, over the course of an hour or two I caught a total of 43 white bass with a large part of them being doubles on the same cast.  I know most people don't like white bass, but i do not see why.  They fight harder pound for pound than almost any freshwater species, with the exception of river smallmouth and wiper/striper.  I had a lot of fun chasing the feeding frenzy around and catching the feisty white bass two at a time, it was a nice change to bass fishing.

[OddChase]

10 hours ago, Josh Smith said:

Any idea on why the bass are so skinny?

Might seem obvious, but some species of fish tend to fatten themselves up for the long winter. So that may be why you are finding them skinny this time.

Other speculations:

• Hazardous run-off in the river is destroying a food source for these fish or they have to travel farther for food.
• Over population

Something that has recently been brought to my attention, is that fish who are extraordinarily skinny (which these do not seem to be) have been found to have a stomach full of soft plastics when opened for autopsy. So trash in the river may have some effect as well, hard to tell. 

At least you are still able to catch beautiful fish in that water! 

[Josh Smith]

This river is stuffed with crawdads. In the lake, the largemouth are still pretty round. I figured the river smallies would do the same. Guess I was wrong!

What's the longest plastic worm they make? I could only find 10" locally but want longer. I have a feeling the local bass haven't seen them -- I had no results with the shorter worms I usually use. I'd like to start biggest and go down to find the most effective size.

Thanks!

Josh

[tstraub]

I went up to the campground this weekend and the bite was on.  We got over 50 bass,everything from 8-18 inches, all on soft plastics.  The hot bait was a 7 inch pumpkinseed power worm.  The kids also got a bunch of bluegills on wax worms under a float.  it was a great time and i almost skipped it because the weather forecast called for storms.  We did get a lot of wind and a bit of rain for a short time but I glad I decided to go it was well worth it.  

[BassOnKlinger]

I finally ended my slump!  Fished from 8p - 10p this past Friday at a nearby neighborhood pond. Have been getting skunked there over and over.  Buzzbaits and frogs in the morning - nothin'.  Cranks along the riprap - nothin'. Swim jigs near the grass - nothin'.  Finally drug a small jig along the bottom and had the slightest tap on the line. Thought it was a rock. Then the tap again and a very slight pull. I set the hook and sure enough, a little 12" LMB.  No fight or anything.  Pretty anticlimactic, but I'll take it. One fish guys...over the span of my last 5 outings...

[Alan Reed]

We went out yesterday afternoon and I'm really proud of myself for being able to figure out what the fish would bite on after a really tough start.

Very early on I caught a Muskie on a Bleeding Shad spinner bait. Which got me thinking the fish were going to be biting on fast presentations That wasn't the case at all.

I had to keep going to lures that were slower and slower until finally I figured out the only consistent bite came on a Ned Rig with a Hula Stick. Color didn't matter it was all about the presentation which was painfully slow. Crank 4 rotation let it sink to the bottom. Then sit for a count of 2. Crank again. Once I figured this out it there was fish almost every cast.

[BigBassLoveSenkos]

Got out twice over the weekend.  First on Saturday morning, it was tough until the rain started.  Thankfully I keep a rainjacket in the boat, bc the LMB's were just destroying a LC gunfish once the rain started.  Half of the fish caught hit the lure on impact with the water.  It was definitely one of the most fun days I've had fishing this year.  

Got out again Sunday from 6 to 9pm and did ok.  Caught less than 10, but most were keepers.  I had the most success fishing a baby structure jig with paca chunk trailer really really slowly, but also caught one on a popper, one on a swimjig, and 1 on a t-rigged 5" Lake Fork hyper worm.  Other than the fish caught on the popper, the bites were extremely subtle. I believe that the bass would pick up the jig but not swim off with it.  The key for catching those was to slowly reel down to a tight line and then lightly shake the rod tip before setting the hook.  I also noticed when fishing towards the bank, I had more bites on casts that hit land and were slowly pulled into the water vs casts that splashed water on impact.  Getting back out this evening after work, hopefully they are a bit more aggressive....

[BigBassLoveSenkos]

Question:  There's a relatively small lake on Indy's southside at Raymond/Harding which I believe is owned by Eli Lilly for it's employees.  Has anyone ever had a chance to fish it?  I drive past it almost every morning on my way into work and often see bass erupting on the surface...

 

 

[BassOnKlinger]

Everything I've gathered confirms what you said: It's for Lily employees and their guests.  There's a gate at the front entrance. I know a former employee (retired now). I wonder if he still has access and can get me on (if it's worth it). 

[tstraub]

We did get a little fishing in between the storms this weekend.  The fish we found were shallow most were taken with soft plastics thrown into about a foot of water and worked down a dropoff into 6-8 foot of water.  My youngest got a new PB 17 inch largemouth. Now he is a expert and likes to share all of his secrets of how to catch big fish lol

[BigBassLoveSenkos]

16 hours ago, BassOnKlinger said:

Everything I've gathered confirms what you said: It's for Lily employees and their guests.  There's a gate at the front entrance. I know a former employee (retired now). I wonder if he still has access and can get me on (if it's worth it). 

I've driven past the gate before, it's off of Raymond.  Looking at google maps I don't see a ramp so it must be shore access only.  Still, it may be a nice little honey hole if one could get access to it...

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

[BassOnKlinger]

Congrats to your son, tstraub, on his new PB!  Nice looking fish there.

 

BigBassLoveSenkos:  Yeah, I checked out Google Maps too and didn't see a ramp. Probably just shore access like you said. If it doesn't get fished often, I'd be willing to bet there are some nice ones hanging out.

I got out last night to our small neighborhood pond. Haven't had much luck in the past, but I only had 45 minutes to fish. I chucked a popper out in the middle and worked it slower than I ever have before. I caught 4 in that time span. Pretty happy with that. Two were decent pond bass.  Every hit was very subtle. None exploded on it. Instead they just sucked it in from just under the surface. I saw a swirl and the lure disappear. A second or two later the line was tight and I set the hook. Happened that way with all 4 fish. 

[JDkelly10]

I work right beside this place and never see anyone fishing it but see action on top all the time.

[Wally Corder]

Over on Lake Tippy through Grassy Creek. Touchdowns and Kelly's are like crack to the LMB here but pulled up a lot of 1lb Dinks with the occasional 2-3lb chunker. All in all it was a good time. Got a buddy to bring in his first bass along with 2 more, and now I think he's hooked lol.