Fishing old gravel pit waters

[Guest dabnis]

I live in Kent County, Michigan and we have a new park that opened up about a year ago on and around some old gravel pits. They've stocked the water with lots of smallmouth, bluegills, sunfish, carp, some walleye I think and other fish. I try to get out to the park just about everyday to hunt down the bass.

I've had my luck here and there. Biggest I've caught personally is a bit over 15 inches. (My daughter caught a 16 1/2 inch bass.) I've had park rangers tell me of someone catching a 22 incher in the same water.

I use a lot of different lures. Mainly, purple crawlers with a white stripe. (Kudos to Richard Beck, my supervisor, he put me up on the crawlers.) I've had lots of success with those. I've got poppers, rattlers, spinners, other crawlers and so on. I recently got my hands on some "BANG" garlic formula spray that I started dousing my lures with with LOTS of success. My daughter caught that 16 1/2er with the purple crawler and scent combination. I try to get at the bass early in the morning and again when the sun is going down. Some days are better than others, as you fellow fishermen know. :-?

Here's the deal. We've only got one spot, a pier, that we can fish from. Correction, we can fish along one side of the shore for about 40-50 yards too. No boats are allowed on the lake right now so our spots are very limited. The water is kind of low, I have no idea about the depth or make of this lake. I've tried to find charts, but to no avail. There's LOTS of vegetation on the bottom. LOTS!

Now, I've caught my share of fish out of this lake, but nothing that I'm TRULY happy with. I'm looking to get my hands on those upper teens and 20+ inchers. What advice can give me to make my fishing experiences more productive?

I'm very serious about this. Fishing has made all the difference in the world to me in regards to my attitiude, the way I deal with life and it's really helped in making me a better father and husband. So, as you can see, fishing means a lot to me.

I want to be a better fisherman. What can you guys, or girls, throw at me in regards to my situation and the resources that are available to me?

[Sam]

Welcome to the fourm.

You will be hearing from a bunch of wonderful guys who can give you many suggestions.

We hope you can share some information with us, too.

[Guest dabnis]

Thanks Sam. I'm not gonna lie, I'm gettin kind of giddy. The wife is cookin dinner and all I can think about is getting back out to the lake. I read in one of the forums that fishing is an addiction disguised as a hobby. Preach!

[56 crestliner]

is a gravel pit the same thing as a quarry?

[Sam]

Portage,

No, a gravel pit is an area usullay found on rivers that is dug out for the sand, rock or gravel.

Many are closed to the public but there are some that are open for business, like on the James River jsut east of Richmond.

I have never ventured into a gravel pit since there are so many other better places to fish on the James River.  However, Woo Daves discusses them in his videos.  I can't remember if they are in his River Fishing or Tidal River Fishing productions, both of which are excellent.

So, how about contacting Woo and asking him for his info.  I am going to post this post and get Woo's address and post in next.

Woo is a great guy and he will answer your questions.

And now, here is Woo's e-mail info:

[Sam]

Dabnis,

Here is the Woo e-mail address:

http://www.woodaves.com/

Give him a shout.

[FisherMan1985]

I'm looking for an old rock quarry in Ohio that was once called the gravel pit, I think it's close to racine ohio, I went there as a kid and I am trying to find it again, if anyone has any information on this lake/old quarry I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you. 

[WRB]

What type of rod and reel are you using? make and model if known.

Line type and # test?

How do you rig the plastic worms?

Tom

[papajoe222]

Welcome.

One of the 'lakes' I fish is an 80 acre gravel pit with a max depth of 15ft. It gives up some five and six pounders every summer and I've gotten one just over seven about fifteen years ago.  I don't know if you're a bank fisherman or not, but two key areas for me are an old road bed and a hump that rises from 12ft. to 6ft. with vegetation on one side and rock/sand on the other.

Two things I'd recommend without knowing anything about the gravel pit, or your experience. First, choose a bigger profile bait. That crawler with the white stripe is a good presentation for catching numbers, but an 8in.-10in. worm, or a jig and craw, in the right spot, will get you more quality bites.  Second, learn to fish a C-Rig or a football jig.  Either will tell you a lot about what's on the bottom and where its composition changes. They're also great depth finders and can be worked quickly when searching for fish.

[Bluebasser86]

I doubt the OP from this 13 year old post is still searching for his answer. 

7 hours ago, FisherMan1985 said:

I'm looking for an old rock quarry in Ohio that was once called the gravel pit, I think it's close to racine ohio, I went there as a kid and I am trying to find it again, if anyone has any information on this lake/old quarry I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you. 

You might try posting in the local forum and seeing if someone in your area has heard of it.

[FordsnFishin]

Hahaha guys this is old old old