Fished for about five hours this afernoon, and the fishing was even better than yesterday!  Ended up with twelve total, with the biggest weighing 8.2 pounds!  It took quite a while to get it in on the medium-lite rod and eight pound leader.  So far that's my second biggest bass ever and the biggest bass I've caught in indiana.  The rest of the bass were all really nice ones to, all three to four pounders except three dinks that ate a jerkbait.  Everything including the 8.2 pounder was caught on the Ned rig fished with a drag and a very short deadstick retrieve.  The fish were sitting just underneath docks with wood supports in four to eight feet of water.  Surprisingly none of them were caught under docks with metal supports.

 I have a friend that went out to geist for some crappie to stock his freezer with.  He limited out in an hour and a half using minnows two and a half feet down in four feet of water next to docks within a few feet of where they spawn. 

Well, guys, things are starting to warm up in Northern Indiana a bit.  That water's still cold, but improving.

Nothing at the lake today.  Lots of sunfish, but they didn't act like there was a predator in the area.  Instead of changing spots I went to the river.

I was trying out a new setup I made specifically for shallow crankbaits and lipless crankbaits.  It runs 12lb mono (Trilene XL).  I'd lost some of the line earlier at the lake, and spliced in some 8lb fluoro I had on hand.

Well, I hooked up with a smallie.  That EON 3600 did much better than the reviews would have me believe, and I fought that smallie for a while.  It would pull the drag, I'd pull the fish back in, it would run -- it was fun!

Then it saw me and spat the crankbait right back at me and took off.  I confirmed it was a smallie at this point.

I think the rod's tip wasn't soft enough, and combined with the 8lb fluoro, I had enough mismatched that I lost the fish.  Still, it was a huge bummer.  It was the first fish of the season and fought better than the 15" smallie I landed last Thanksgiving!

That part of the river is rich in smallmouth and walleye.  That's because of the habitat.  There are downed trees and lots of limestone.

Problem is, that leads to lots lures.  I lost five today -- two jerkbaits and three crankbaits!  I need to figure this out in a hurry or I won't be able to afford to fish!

I did throw some jigs -- they usually work along there -- but got nothing.  The rocks along there are smooth and I've not experienced any fraying when I fish braid, so that may be the solution.

Thoughts?

Josh

Try the trd, and if the current is to fast for a 1/15oz head, use a 1/6 or 1/8 oz jighead instead.  

TRD?

1 minute ago, Josh Smith said:

TRD?

Yes, the z-man TRD.  aka Ned rig.

OK, thanks.  Never knew it by TRD.

Do they make these weedless?  All tubes and ballhead jigs I've thrown come back with bent hooks.

Josh

6 minutes ago, Josh Smith said:

Just now, Josh Smith said:

OK, thanks.  Never knew it by TRD.

Do they make these weedless?  All tubes and ballhead jigs I've thrown come back with bent hooks.

Josh

 

Yes, z-man sells a weedless jighead called the finesse shroomz weedless jighead.  With the trd a mushroom style head works much better than a ballhead jig, it has a slower fall, comes through weeds better, and is less likely to snag in rocks.

9 hours ago, Josh Smith said:

TRD?

You should also try their Hula Stickz with the Ned

11 hours ago, Centralinfinnesse said:

Fished for about five hours this afernoon, and the fishing was even better than yesterday!  Ended up with twelve total, with the biggest weighing 8.2 pounds!  It took quite a while to get it in on the medium-lite rod and eight pound leader.  So far that's my second biggest bass ever and the biggest bass I've caught in indiana.  The rest of the bass were all really nice ones to, all three to four pounders except three dinks that ate a jerkbait.  Everything including the 8.2 pounder was caught on the Ned rig fished with a drag and a very short deadstick retrieve.  The fish were sitting just underneath docks with wood supports in four to eight feet of water.  Surprisingly none of them were caught under docks with metal supports.

 I have a friend that went out to geist for some crappie to stock his freezer with.  He limited out in an hour and a half using minnows two and a half feet down in four feet of water next to docks within a few feet of where they spawn. 

If you don't mind me asking, where were you fishing. 

1 hour ago, Midwest Fisherman said:

You should also try their Hula Stickz with the Ned

If you don't mind me asking, where were you fishing. 

A small reservoir west of Indianapolis.

11 hours ago, Josh Smith said:

Well, guys, things are starting to warm up in Northern Indiana a bit.  That water's still cold, but improving.

Nothing at the lake today.  Lots of sunfish, but they didn't act like there was a predator in the area.  Instead of changing spots I went to the river.

I was trying out a new setup I made specifically for shallow crankbaits and lipless crankbaits.  It runs 12lb mono (Trilene XL).  I'd lost some of the line earlier at the lake, and spliced in some 8lb fluoro I had on hand.

Well, I hooked up with a smallie.  That EON 3600 did much better than the reviews would have me believe, and I fought that smallie for a while.  It would pull the drag, I'd pull the fish back in, it would run -- it was fun!

Then it saw me and spat the crankbait right back at me and took off.  I confirmed it was a smallie at this point.

I think the rod's tip wasn't soft enough, and combined with the 8lb fluoro, I had enough mismatched that I lost the fish.  Still, it was a huge bummer.  It was the first fish of the season and fought better than the 15" smallie I landed last Thanksgiving!

That part of the river is rich in smallmouth and walleye.  That's because of the habitat.  There are downed trees and lots of limestone.

Problem is, that leads to lots lures.  I lost five today -- two jerkbaits and three crankbaits!  I need to figure this out in a hurry or I won't be able to afford to fish!

I did throw some jigs -- they usually work along there -- but got nothing.  The rocks along there are smooth and I've not experienced any fraying when I fish braid, so that may be the solution.

Thoughts?

Josh

I would think  a fluke will work great ,  if u need more weight then throw it on a keel weighted swimbait hook but I like just a 4/0 wide gap  Texas rigged normally , smallies will crush it on a quick retrieve , a spinner bait also makes sense in this situation as they come through cover great .  When that water warms up get some 1/8 oz buzzbaits and put a power bait ripple shad on as a trailer , it's a nice size bait for smallies , good profile but better hook up ratio at least in my time on the water.  I custom make my spinner baits and buzz baits , if you are interested let me know , 1/8 oz buzz baits can be hard to find sometimes . Then you have the rooster tail and meps inline spinners , I use to wade fish creeks and just crush smallies on those lures all day long .  

12 hours ago, Centralinfinnesse said:

Fished for about five hours this afernoon, and the fishing was even better than yesterday!  Ended up with twelve total, with the biggest weighing 8.2 pounds!  It took quite a while to get it in on the medium-lite rod and eight pound leader.  So far that's my second biggest bass ever and the biggest bass I've caught in indiana.  The rest of the bass were all really nice ones to, all three to four pounders except three dinks that ate a jerkbait.  Everything including the 8.2 pounder was caught on the Ned rig fished with a drag and a very short deadstick retrieve.  The fish were sitting just underneath docks with wood supports in four to eight feet of water.  Surprisingly none of them were caught under docks with metal supports.

 I have a friend that went out to geist for some crappie to stock his freezer with.  He limited out in an hour and a half using minnows two and a half feet down in four feet of water next to docks within a few feet of where they spawn. 

You're obviously not fishing the same lake that I am  BTW, can I borrow your scale on my next trip?  

-T9

39 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

You're obviously not fishing the same lake that I am  BTW, can I borrow your scale on my next trip?  

-T9

I guess I will just have to show you the picture next time you are out fishing.

42 minutes ago, Centralinfinnesse said:

I guess I will just have to show you the picture next time you are out fishing.

Would love to see it - that's a heck of a fish - perhaps even a lake record. Largest I've actually seen previous to that was a 7.2 lb. fish. We can test your scale at the same time out of curiosity. Would be good to know. I have certified weights I use to make sure my own scales stay accurate and calibrated. I'll likely be out there on Saturday. I'll keep my eyes open for you.

-T9

2 hours ago, Centralinfinnesse said:

A small reservoir west of Indianapolis.

Thanks, would that be eagle creek 

Could be he didn't want Google to key into that. Or maybe us? Who knows.

Google emoji ➡ ?

Josh

5 hours ago, Team9nine said:

Would love to see it - that's a heck of a fish - perhaps even a lake record. Largest I've actually seen previous to that was a 7.2 lb. fish. We can test your scale at the same time out of curiosity. Would be good to know. I have certified weights I use to make sure my own scales stay accurate and calibrated. I'll likely be out there on Saturday. I'll keep my eyes open for you.

-T9

I should be out Saturday also, so see you then.

Caught 4 today between a SK RES in a shad color and a Junebug Yum Dinger. Rained pretty good, just got this new waterproof Columbia jacket on sale for $60 and really like it.

Sorry for inverted pics.

We went out this evening and it was cold we got 3 biggest 3 pounds on a rage crawl 

You guys having any early season luck? I feel like I'm fishing in the bathtub right now.

27 minutes ago, Sbauer said:

You guys having any early season luck? I feel like I'm fishing in the bathtub right now.

Only managed one bite today. Fished really well yesterday as the storm was coming through but today the water was muddied up and the post front moving in it will have to be a slow methodical kind of fishing to get them. Junebug stickbaits, black and blue jigs and plastics and black spinnerbaits with Colorado blades and rattle chambers is what I will be fishing tomorrow.

Were going to try hominy ridge lake this afternoon. I have never fished it before but I understand it offers largemouth, bluegill, and catfish so something for everybody in the family to try for.  I'm not expecting great fishing with the cold front that came threw but hopefully we'll find some fish.

Tyler

We went out this morning it was 34 degrees so I wasn't sure...we got 6 fish 2 bass 3 pounds and 1 bass 5.2....most of them came on a KVD 2.5...

34 minutes ago, Amoore9900 said:

We went out this morning it was 34 degrees so I wasn't sure...we got 6 fish 2 bass 3 pounds and 1 bass 5.2....most of them came on a KVD 2.5...

Water clarity?

The north end of the lake was not great the south end was a little better...(the creek flows in from the north)...most of the fish came from the north though which is also warmer 

Went to cagles mills crappie fishing today, but somehow didn't catch any.  I'm not sure why we didn't, all the other recent trips we always limited out there.  Toward the end we spent about forty-five minutes bass fishing, and caught five little guys( all under a pound and a half) on the ned rig near the roped off area by the dam.