Lack Of Shallow Cover

[bmo30]

I dont know if any of you have this type of problem i fish strip mine lakes witch are lakes made digging for coal. They have a good two feet of milfoil then sudden drop off to 15+ feet. I was wondering how to catch not only more fish but larger fish out of these lakes.

[D.Taylor]

I have fished strip mine lakes in Illinois alot. I to catch alot of smaller fish but have seen and caught many of big ones.

What i do is fish the edge. back way out off the edge and drop a jig/tube/worm right down the ledge. i will also paralell the ledge with a crank bait.

One of the public strip pitts in the area I was told to fish it in march-april the bass drill spinner baits.

In the summer invest in scummfroggs and fish the matts.  

[Chris]

Around where I live there are a few old mines they turned into lakes. They are great fishing. I do have one that i fish thats shaped the way your talking about so maybe this will help. Take out your spinning rod and throw a tube. Toss the bait right to the edge of the drop off and let it fall all the way to the bottom. Watch your line because when they grab it the line will tick or it will stop sooner than it should. Bass in lakes like this tend to suspend alot and will nose up to the drop off. You can fish the edge parallel with a crankbait or rattletrap and do well. Just because its 15 ft deep doesn't mean the fish will be hugging the bottom most of the time they will be hanging 8 ft down or shallower. In the summertime you might see them in the grass so try a scum frog. You gotta figure that your fishing structure and the drop off is the structure now you just need to figure out at what depth they are hanging on the structure. A jigging spoon is another option. You may also want to take the time and look around with your depth finder. I know in alot of the mines around here there are big bolders on the bottom that they left and fish hang on them. Also check the shore for any signs of trees sometimes one falls in and you would never know it till you ran over it with your depth finder. Maybe one side is shallower than the other? My point is there might be more down there than you think. If it has a launch ramp then the ramp is a point. Good luck!

[Chris]

I guess we posted at the same time and said the same thing lol I guess great minds think alike lol

[earthworm77]

I fish some pit ponds and notice that during low light the bass will be drawn shallow, most other times they are deep.

[crankbait]

Fish at night..!

[Big_Bass_Rich]

On tough days try a suspending jerkbait on the edge of that drop. Could work wonders.