Got out this twice this weekend on gravel pits.  Saturday afternoon was ridiculous. Me and a buddy just slayed them em on a pointer 78 and a whopper p.  Was awesome to have that kind of topwater bite going on.  They were super aggressive on Saturday btw, both LM and SM.  Sunday I threw on some Columbia bibs and a rain jacket and we went back out on the gravel pit but didn't fair as well.  My buddy did ok with a skirted ned rig, and I caught 6 working a swim jig slowly down the bank but nothing else.  

 

The 2 main differences between days were 1) rain and 2) casting angles.  I was on the trolling motor Saturday and I kept positioning us so we could make casts that were parallel to the bank, but on Sunday we were on his boat making casts towards the bank.  The way his pontoon is setup, parallel casting isn't doable unfortunately.  It was super fun to fish in heavy rain, so bonus points for everyone that hit the lake on Sunday.

 

On 4/28/2017 at 6:39 PM, dsqui said:

On a side note I've never seen so many rock bass omg I probably caught 40 Of em all on the Ned it was a fun day on the lake

 

We caught a ton of rock bass on Saturday too.  They have a lotta heart for their size, but handling them SUCKS lol.

Is it ever going to stop raining........

Been fishing in the rain on Monday and Tuesday, caught 14 in an hour on Monday with all but bone being keepers and 13 with 11 being keepers in an hour and a half on Tuesday.  They've mostly moved off of the beds since the cold front and all of the rain, but are sitting tight to docks and other cover neareby.  They have been very predictable, if there's an edge of a dock and another transition such as a ladder or a change from rip rap to sea wall. Put two or three together and there was a garrunteed fish on it, it was so predictable I started calling my shots and was right most of the time.  Most fish were caught on zinkerzs, but some were also on a finesse jig and shallow crank.

10 hours ago, Cole Richards said:

Is it ever going to stop raining........

Yes, I think we have 37 days left... 

Made it out yesterday to a local lake fish were biting decent.  Managed 3 keeper bass but probably caught 30 the 3 keepers is farely good for the lake.  Side note I was there for walleye and managed to cull a limit which was the first time ever for me.  All on a vision 110 tried a crank bait a Ned and shaky head but they wouldn't touch it

Im a little more south than most of you guys but have a wuestion regarding all this cool weather and rain. Will the chamge in water temps (im guessing over a 5 degree drop or more) will this keep fish that wanted to spawn from spawning or will they still go shallow and spawn? I have my biggest tourney of the year saturday and am racking my brain on what to focus my attention on right off the bat. I need to weigh in roughly 21 pounds. 3 over 18 inches and 3 under 18 inches. Im thinking im gonna have more preapawn baits ties one (lipless, jerkbait, spinnerbait, and jig.)

3 hours ago, CroakHunter said:

Im a little more south than most of you guys but have a wuestion regarding all this cool weather and rain. Will the chamge in water temps (im guessing over a 5 degree drop or more) will this keep fish that wanted to spawn from spawning or will they still go shallow and spawn? I have my biggest tourney of the year saturday and am racking my brain on what to focus my attention on right off the bat. I need to weigh in roughly 21 pounds. 3 over 18 inches and 3 under 18 inches. Im thinking im gonna have more preapawn baits ties one (lipless, jerkbait, spinnerbait, and jig.)

In my opinion allot of it will depend on where the water temp was before it dropped.  The fish here seemed to hold close to the neds that were already there.  Mostly smallies.  The lm were still a little slow to move in but they were starting.  Now keep in mind fish never seem to do what they are supposed to.  I think if u go pre spawn u'll be ok. A buddy of mine just took first fishing a jerkbait on a lake here if the fiah arent whete u think they are move out five feet in depth the cold may make them spawn and hold a tad deeper

4 hours ago, dsqui said:

In my opinion allot of it will depend on where the water temp was before it dropped.  The fish here seemed to hold close to the neds that were already there.  Mostly smallies.  The lm were still a little slow to move in but they were starting.  Now keep in mind fish never seem to do what they are supposed to.  I think if u go pre spawn u'll be ok. A buddy of mine just took first fishing a jerkbait on a lake here if the fiah arent whete u think they are move out five feet in depth the cold may make them spawn and hold a tad deeper

Thats what i think ill do. Start a touch deeper off the grass line and if i dont get em there, head shallow with all this new bank that has been created sith the 12 inches of rain weve had over the last 5 days. 

8 hours ago, CroakHunter said:

Im a little more south than most of you guys but have a wuestion regarding all this cool weather and rain. Will the chamge in water temps (im guessing over a 5 degree drop or more) will this keep fish that wanted to spawn from spawning or will they still go shallow and spawn? I have my biggest tourney of the year saturday and am racking my brain on what to focus my attention on right off the bat. I need to weigh in roughly 21 pounds. 3 over 18 inches and 3 under 18 inches. Im thinking im gonna have more preapawn baits ties one (lipless, jerkbait, spinnerbait, and jig.)

The water temperature was up to 70 here last week and the bass were on the beds big time, but now that the water temperature is 56 and falling they seem to have temporarily moved off of the beds but are staying nearby.  Look for small coves without a feeder creek (they are bring in a lot of cold, muddy water right now), and try to we establish a pattern.  Here they are sitting tight to the edges of docks that also have a large rock or a transition of bottom types or something.  They are also stacked up on small amounts of water coming in threw drain pipes or something in the back of said coves, caught five bass in five casts from a two square foot area in front of one last night.  I would recccomend the Ned rig, small shallow running cranks (bandit 100), smaller shatterbaits fished slow, slow rolled spinnerbaits, and a finesse jig.  Remember to fish slow, the huge cold front and all of the cold rain has slowed them down considerably.

On 5/5/2017 at 9:24 AM, IndianaFinesse said:

The water temperature was up to 70 here last week and the bass were on the beds big time, but now that the water temperature is 56 and falling they seem to have temporarily moved off of the beds but are staying nearby.  Look for small coves without a feeder creek (they are bring in a lot of cold, muddy water right now), and try to we establish a pattern.  Here they are sitting tight to the edges of docks that also have a large rock or a transition of bottom types or something.  They are also stacked up on small amounts of water coming in threw drain pipes or something in the back of said coves, caught five bass in five casts from a two square foot area in front of one last night.  I would recccomend the Ned rig, small shallow running cranks (bandit 100), smaller shatterbaits fished slow, slow rolled spinnerbaits, and a finesse jig.  Remember to fish slow, the huge cold front and all of the cold rain has slowed them down considerably.

Well we weighed in 23lbs. 3 fish over 18 inches and 3 under (tournament rules). Big bass was 7lbs 2 oz. Caught it on a 10.5 inch straight tail worm. 2nd place

Headed down to KY Lake with my dad today to fish with a guide tomorrow. We don't have a boat or our kayaks with us, so does anyone know any good bank fishing lakes/rivers/state parks between here & there?

where are you leaving from? Bluegrass fwa, Hovey lake, sugar ridge, prides creek, glendale, huntingburg lake. Theres some that are all north of kentucky.

We're leaving from the muncie area, heading down through Terre Haute & Evansville.

Bluegrass will be along the way for your trip. Also turtle creek just south of terre haute. Bluegrass is off of interstate 69 north of evansville. and turtle creek is just off Highway41.

Thanks, those both have decent bank fishing?

 Check out chinook fwa. It's over by Brazil/staughton. Should be just a few miles out of your way if you're taking 70. Decent bank fishing, just watch for snakes 

Of course they are better if you have a boat. But both have plenty of bank access. Bluegrass has 3 or 4 laks on it. Bluegrass pit, otter pit, and loon pit. 

Thanks guys, we passed right by chinook & thought it looked decent

20 minutes ago, BrianMRetter said:

Thanks guys, we passed right by chinook & thought it looked decent

That's the stump jumper pit, caught the my first bass on an artificial bait there. Good luck on Kentucky lake!

Funny, I found Chinook strip pits over the weekend.  I didn't fish it yet, I was out scouting.  Man, one of those lakes look super clear.  The water looks clear enough to drink.  I thought the strip pits I fish at were clear, that one Chinook lake, at least from the bank, blew my strip pits away as far as clear water goes.   I hope to take my canoe or kayak to Chinook next weekend.  

 

 I tried talking with a few of the local fishermen there but they all acted stand offish or something so I didn't get much info from them.  Are there big bass in Chinook?  

4 hours ago, hoosierbass07 said:

Funny, I found Chinook strip pits over the weekend.  I didn't fish it yet, I was out scouting.  Man, one of those lakes look super clear.  The water looks clear enough to drink.  I thought the strip pits I fish at were clear, that one Chinook lake, at least from the bank, blew my strip pits away as far as clear water goes.   I hope to take my canoe or kayak to Chinook next weekend.  

 

 I tried talking with a few of the local fishermen there but they all acted stand offish or something so I didn't get much info from them.  Are there big bass in Chinook?  

I don't know about big bass, I'm sure they are there, finding them is going to be the trick. I haven't been on them in years in a boat, but I was always amazed at how deep and clear the water is. It really is a beautiful place. I can't wait to get my little bass raider out there!

Had a blast catching bass on topwaters this afternoon.  Caught 25 bass in two hours, and fourteen were keepers with the best five weighing 12-13 pounds.  Also caught my first smallie of the year out of this lake, a nice 18.5 incher on the whopper plopper 90.  Most of the fish were caught on the whopper plopper 90, some on the pop x, and a few on half of a zinkerz used as a follow up bait.  All shallow today, in less than 6 feet of water around points and inside small coves.  Love it when I can put the trolling motor down and cover a ton of water with the plopper, with plenty of nice bass blowing up on it.

 

Had a blast catching bass on topwaters this afternoon.  Caught 25 bass in two hours, and fourteen were keepers with the best five weighing 12-13 pounds.  Also caught my first smallie of the year out of this lake, a nice 18.5 incher on the whopper plopper 90.  Most of the fish were caught on the whopper plopper 90, some on the pop x, and a few on half of a zinkerz used as a follow up bait.  All shallow today, in less than 6 feet of water around points and inside small coves.  Love it when I can put the trolling motor down and cover a ton of water with the plopper, with plenty of nice bass blowing up on it.

Still need to invest in some of those ploppers, just can't bring myself to do it. Dont really enjoy fishing topwater, but I bet they be killer on a lake where one has never been thrown.  

 

Still need to invest in some of those ploppers, just can't bring myself to do it. Dont really enjoy fishing topwater, but I bet they be killer on a lake where one has never been thrown.  

They're a great bait when you think a buzzbait would work, but the buzzbait is just a little to fast.  They are pricey, but you shouldn't ever lose a plopper since they are a topwater.  I more readily invest in more expensive topwaters than other baits because i should have them for a very long time.  A loon colored 90 and 130 is all you really need, no sense in buying multiple colors off the bat.