(Un)official Hoosiers Thread

[CroakHunter]

Southern hoosier here! Looks like moat of you guys are way north of me. 

[frosty]

4 hours ago, CroakHunter said:

Southern hoosier here! Looks like moat of you guys are way north of me. 

Welcome to the forums!

[lonnie g]

10 hours ago, CroakHunter said:

Southern hoosier here! Looks like moat of you guys are way north of me. 

ever fished Monroe? we camp there some. fished with grandkids once there. looked interesting tho

[IndianaFinesse]

Fished last Thursday, yesterday, and today.  Last Thursday I fished for three hours with only one fish to show for it, until a good migration of fish showed up off of a point in 8-10 feet of water.  Caught 15 bass in a space of 15 minutes (four of them were "keepers") , with five bass in row on back to back casts! For fifteen minutes, that was some of the fastest catching I've ever had.  Then they shut off and moved back out again, just as fast as they started.  Started catching them on a shaky head, but switched over to half of a zinkerz to reduce the amount of torn plastics once the bite started.  Water temperature was 40 degrees and was very clear at five feet of visibility.

 

Yesterday the water temperature had improved to 43 degrees, but I did not find any migration.  Caught 7 stragglers in two hours, on the ned and shaky head fished in 6-12 feet of water.

 

This afternoon the water temperature had further warmed to 46 degrees, and I was able to fish for two and a half hours.  Only caught ten bass, but seven of them were solid  "keepers" around two to two and a half pounds each.  Most hit a jerkbait fished on steep dropping shorelines and off of points in 8-17 feet of water, and the vision 110 was fished with a five second pause.  Numbers weren't great, I probably could have caught more on half of a zinkerz but wanted better size, but seven fish over fifteen inches in a 2.5 hour period is a good day in my book.  Water clarity is around four feet of visibility.

 

[dsqui]

Boy Ild hate to see our water temps here in NE In with all the snow that fell last week and cold temps most lakes were starting to lock back up.  This week should hopefully(fingers crossed) start the push for warmer water I won't even get my boat out yet cause it's still getting below freezing at night and don't want to take a chance

[Tvince]

Hello all new to forum and to N.W Indiana only fished a few lakes here but looking for more recommendations on good bass lakes. Great to see so many fellow Hoosiers here!

[IndianaFinesse]

Dealt with the wind as best I could for about three hours today.  I don't know where the weather guy got his info, it was way windier than the 25 mile an hour predicted.  It was so windy my trolling motor couldn't keep me in place, and my anchors wouldn't hold, so I would motor up wind of the spot and put the trolling motor on full speed to slow the drift past the spot down.  Didn't think I could safely get to the dam after spearing a couple waves and getting drenched, so I fished the upper end of the lake.  Still managed 8 bass on jerkbaits retrieved with a 2-3 second pause, with the largest weighing just shy of 4 1/2 pounds.  Seems like most of my bass over four pounds are caught in heavy wind, but it doesn't make it any easier to fish in. Tryed fishing in protected coves, but they are still on steep dropping shorelines and points in 8-17 feet of water today.  Water temperature is 47 on the main lake and 52 in the coves, and the water clarity is about 3-4 feet.

[HoosierHawgs]

9 hours ago, IndianaFinesse said:

Dealt with the wind as best I could for about three hours today.  I don't know where the weather guy got his info, it was way windier than the 25 mile an hour predicted.  It was so windy my trolling motor couldn't keep me in place, and my anchors wouldn't hold, so I would motor up wind of the spot and put the trolling motor on full speed to slow the drift past the spot down.  Didn't think I could safely get to the dam after spearing a couple waves and getting drenched, so I fished the upper end of the lake.  Still managed 8 bass on jerkbaits retrieved with a 2-3 second pause, with the largest weighing just shy of 4 1/2 pounds.  Seems like most of my bass over four pounds are caught in heavy wind, but it doesn't make it any easier to fish in. Tryed fishing in protected coves, but they are still on steep dropping shorelines and points in 8-17 feet of water today.  Water temperature is 47 on the main lake and 52 in the coves, and the water clarity is about 3-4 feet.

I also braved the wind about 3 hours or so yesterday when I had the time. The air temp was a balmy 72 degrees, which was a nice change of pace. Very sunny and windy. The wind was so bad I couldn't keep contac with my jerkbait, so I fished mainly a Red Eye Shad instead. My buddy caught a bunch on one as well, it was chrome blue back, but not for long after the fish started to chow down. Only have one to show for it but she was a beauty. Weighed in at 3.48 on the new Rapala scale (which when tested was good to plus or minus a tenth of a pound or so with multiple weights) Also caught a small one, first one of the year, Wednesday evening because the boss let me off early.

It was the first time I'd been fishing in a year and I'm glad I've come back to it. It felt great to be on the water and to get that tug again. 

[Cole Richards]

Had a great 2 hrs on the water today , 1st time the boat has been out this year . The bass were bitting and I had about a 10 to 12 lb bag on a rattletrap . Northern Indiana should start heating up soon ! 

[BrianMRetter]

9 hours ago, HoosierHawgs said:

I also braved the wind about 3 hours or so yesterday when I had the time. The air temp was a balmy 72 degrees, which was a nice change...

What lake were you fishing?

[frosty]

Got about 3 hours in tonight after the wife got home from work. I caught 2 or 3 small spotted bass and 1 little smallmouth. Definitely not great but much better than going to get groceries!

[IndianaFinesse]

1 hour ago, BrianMRetter said:

What lake were you fishing?

A small public pond near Avon by the looks of it, I used to fish there regularly.

 

I picked up another 16 bass this morning (4 "keepers"), plus a bunch of white bass and a 6 1/2 pound walleye. The walleye was the exact same length as the one I got a couple months ago, even had the same white splotch on its tail.  The walleye and a couple bass hit half of a zinkerz fished on a steed dropping shoreline in 8-12 feet of water, and the rest of the bass and all of the white bass hit a jerkbait fished fairly fast in 6-14 feet of water.  Most fish were on steep dropping shorelines and off of the points adjacent to them, but a few of the whites were in the opening of a cove inside a shallow bay.  Water temperature is 48 degrees and the clarity is about 3-4 feet depending on the area.

[BrianMRetter]

Has anyone had any luck at Brookville Lake? I'm debating whether to kayak at Brookville, Summit, or Westwood this coming Sunday.

[OddChase]

23 minutes ago, BrianMRetter said:

Has anyone had any luck at Brookville Lake? I'm debating whether to kayak at Brookville, Summit, or Westwood this coming Sunday.

Visited Summit yesterday - being a higher elevation lake, the water is still pretty cold and none of the fish have moved shallow yet. (I fished the western "river channel" where I see a lot of bluegill fishermen). That being said, if you wanted to take a drive, there's a smaller lake that feeds into Brookville called White Water State Park. I love this lake as its small and manageable and the bluegill were already fairly shallow 3 weeks ago when I was there (S/O even caught a 12" bass in 1 foot of water on the ole trout magnet). Kayak friendly water for sure. You'll find bass in typical prespawn locations and maybe even cruising shallow. No beds sitters yet. I'd avoid a pleasure lake such as Brookville this part of the spring. 

[BrianMRetter]

Oh I forgot about Whitewater. Ive only fished there once, but that was during fall turnover so I got skunked lol. Maybe I'll try there. I'm glad to hear they haven't moved shallow on Summit yet. I was worried I'd been missing out haha

[IndianaFinesse]

Water is 53 degrees and the bass are moving out of their wintering areas towards the shallows.  Caught 31 bass in two and a half hours, with 13 keepers over 15 inches.  They had all moved up into a shallow bay in the far lower part of the lake (where they will later spawn) near the shoreline and under docks, surprisingly sitting in only 3-7 feet of water.  I didn't expect them to be so shallow, and certainly not in the size and numbers that were present.  Most of the bass hit half of a zinkerz on a 1/16 ounce mushroom head, and half a dozen hit a pointer 78.  No monsters, but lots of solid 15-17 inch fish.

[The Bassman]

14 minutes ago, IndianaFinesse said:

Water is 53 degrees and the bass are moving out of their wintering areas towards the shallows.  Caught 31 bass in two and a half hours, with 13 keepers over 15 inches.  They had all moved up into a shallow bay in the far lower part of the lake (where they will later spawn) near the shoreline and under docks, surprisingly sitting in only 3-7 feet of water.  I didn't expect them to be so shallow, and certainly not in the size and numbers that were present.  Most of the bass hit half of a zinkerz on a 1/16 ounce mushroom head, and half a dozen hit a pointer 78.  No monsters, but lots of solid 15-17 inch fish.

 

You make me envious. Wish I had more time this week.  My business (painting) takes off about now.

[Team9nine]

16 hours ago, IndianaFinesse said:

Water is 53 degrees and the bass are moving out of their wintering areas towards the shallows.  Caught 31 bass in two and a half hours, with 13 keepers over 15 inches.  They had all moved up into a shallow bay in the far lower part of the lake (where they will later spawn) near the shoreline and under docks, surprisingly sitting in only 3-7 feet of water.  I didn't expect them to be so shallow, and certainly not in the size and numbers that were present.  Most of the bass hit half of a zinkerz on a 1/16 ounce mushroom head, and half a dozen hit a pointer 78.  No monsters, but lots of solid 15-17 inch fish.

 

I saw you leaving my honey hole around 8:30-8:45 last night  First big bass tourney this Sunday. You fishing it?

 

-T9

[IndianaFinesse]

12 hours ago, Team9nine said:

 

I saw you leaving my honey hole around 8:30-8:45 last night  First big bass tourney this Sunday. You fishing it?

 

-T9

I hadn't planned on it, I joined another tournament group (pending I can find a partner in the next week) so I probably won't be fishing more than one on this lake this year.  My partner from last years tournament doesn't want to fish tourneys anymore anyways, so i'd be fishing solo.  Although I did catch ten more keepers this afternoon, so it's tempting to see if the pattern would hold up till Sunday... I would feel good about weighing in the 10-14 pounds we've been catching lately.

Picked up 33 more bass this afternoon, with ten measuring over 15 inches.  Also got a bonus half a dozen white bass and a very chunky 14 inch crappie that weighed a hair over 1 1/2 pounds, one of my heavier crappie. The crappie was underneath a dock sitting in only three feet of water. My best five bass weighed about 13 pounds.  They were in the same areas as yesterday, a large shallow bay on at the openings and just inside coves mostly.  Caught most of them on half of a zinkerz, and some on swim baits.

 

 

[KLoell]

Caught my new personal best Sunday 3/26 in between rain showers.

 

Sitting in about 3' of water on a shaky head.

 

8lbs 7oz! 

 

Shortly after this we had to pull in to shore and hide out under some trees to wait out the rain.

[BrianMRetter]

Congrats!

 

[Team9nine]

12 hours ago, IndianaFinesse said:

I hadn't planned on it, I joined another tournament group (pending I can find a partner in the next week) so I probably won't be fishing more than one on this lake this year.  My partner from last years tournament doesn't want to fish tourneys anymore anyways, so i'd be fishing solo.  Although I did catch ten more keepers this afternoon, so it's tempting to see if the pattern would hold up till Sunday... I would feel good about weighing in the 10-14 pounds we've been catching lately.

Picked up 33 more bass this afternoon, with ten measuring over 15 inches.  Also got a bonus half a dozen white bass and a very chunky 14 inch crappie that weighed a hair over 1 1/2 pounds, one of my heavier crappie. The crappie was underneath a dock sitting in only three feet of water. My best five bass weighed about 13 pounds.  They were in the same areas as yesterday, a large shallow bay on at the openings and just inside coves mostly.  Caught most of them on half of a zinkerz, and some on swim baits.

 

 

 

Now's the time to determine if professional bass angling is going to be a career path for you - you should be out there Sunday if so, even if alone. Each boat can only bring in 5 fish, and you're catching more than enough to be competitive.

 

I played around and mostly just idled to the backs of coves to see what was going on. Managed 45+ on TRDs but almost no keepers. Fun to see how many you can catch in a small area though. Had one tiny pocket barely big enough to turn my boat around and about 3 boat lengths long that I managed to pull 10 bass and 1 crappie out of. 

[IndianaFinesse]

On 3/30/2017 at 9:27 AM, Team9nine said:

 

Now's the time to determine if professional bass angling is going to be a career path for you - you should be out there Sunday if so, even if alone. Each boat can only bring in 5 fish, and you're catching more than enough to be competitive.

What makes me hesitant to enter any more tournaments on this lake is the amount of politics and bs I've seen and suspect.  One example is in the tournament we competed in last year we arrived at weigh in just before the deadline (45 seconds), and the first thing the guy running the tourney said to us was "if you had been fourty-five seconds later I would have had to disqualify you".  Wouldn't bother me except that we were the second boat out of eight to pull in, the other six were late and were not disqualified or even given a warning.  First and second place literally came in 15 minutes and twelve minutes late respectively, and not a word was said about it.

 

 Then the next thing that happened was we had brought in five bass, all legitimately 15 inches, three of them only half an inch or quarter inch over but still over the fifteen inch mark.  The guy "measuring" fish (who was the same guy that ran the whole thing) just dumped our bass in the sink next to a ruler and without individually placing each fish on the ruler to measure them, and threw back three of our bass.  He didn't even actually measure them, just kind of eyeballed them.  Then later in in the weigh in, one of his friends brought in a short fish that looked to only measure 12 inches or so.  He let the fish slide, and was even ribbing the guy about bringing in a dink, and weighed it in with the rest of the bass.

And the fact that there is no live well check doesn't make me feel good either, anyone could bring in a limit of bass in their live well that they had caught the day before.  I mean, what tournament doesn't even have a live well check? 

That's one of the reasons I am competing in a different club this year, (and wanting to learn other lakes)

[frosty]

2 hours ago, IndianaFinesse said:

What makes me hesitant to enter any more tournaments on this lake is the amount of politics and bs I've seen and suspect.  One example is in the tournament we competed in last year we arrived at weigh in just before the deadline (45 seconds), and the first thing the guy running the tourney said to us was "if you had been fourty-five seconds later I would have had to disqualify you".  Wouldn't bother me except that we were the second boat out of eight to pull in, the other six were late and were not disqualified or even given a warning.  First and second place literally came in 15 minutes and twelve minutes late respectively, and not a word was said about it.

 

 Then the next thing that happened was we had brought in five bass, all legitimately 15 inches, three of them only half an inch or quarter inch over but still over the fifteen inch mark.  The guy "measuring" fish (who was the same guy that ran the whole thing) just dumped our bass in the sink next to a ruler and without individually placing each fish on the ruler to measure them, and threw back three of our bass.  He didn't even actually measure them, just kind of eyeballed them.  Then later in in the weigh in, one of his friends brought in a short fish that looked to only measure 12 inches or so.  He let the fish slide, and was even ribbing the guy about bringing in a dink, and weighed it in with the rest of the bass.

And the fact that there is no live well check doesn't make me feel good either, anyone could bring in a limit of bass in their live well that they had caught the day before.  I mean, what tournament doesn't even have a live well check? 

That's one of the reasons I am competing in a different club this year, (and wanting to learn other lakes)

Sounds like a pretty sketchy "organization" to me!

 

 

 

 

Have any of you guys saved the fishing license on your phone? I can't figure out how to get to or save the PDF version they say is available for download. 

Edited April 1, 2017 by frosty

[IndianaFinesse]

1 hour ago, frosty said:

Sounds like a pretty sketchy "organization" to me!

Most of them are really nice guys, but there is definitely an inner circle cause many of these guys have known each other for 10-20+ years, and you're either inside it or not.  Maybe I'm overly sensitive to all of the politics, and maybe that's just part of tournament fishing nowdays, but it it still ticked me off.  That said most of the club members are very helpful and good guys, so I'm not slamming the whole group.