I get the chance to fish some large strip pits in southern IL this weekend.. I have spoke with the owner and he has seen some monsters caught from them.. Anyone have any pointers on how to fish them.. the one is 2 mi long and 75 ft deep in the middle.. this weekend is supposed to be nasty 50 and rainy..any help would help   darren

A bass is a bass.

Although I have never fished a strip pit before I do know that no matter where you go a bass is the same. Fish with what you know.

Pits typically have a couple 'entrances' these should have slower taper to the bottom and on occasion some drop off on the sides if you can figure which way the road runs down into the pit. As you know a lot of the banks are fairly steep. To be honest - each pit is differnt. I suggest you pay attention to the areas where you do get bites/fish and try to figure out where they want to be and how they want to be fed.

I know, not much help.  We have caught some very nice bass from pits! ENJOY!

Happy Releasing,

H.G.

I fish a few pits here in PA, the thing with them is you have to find what little bit of structure you can, usually a great place has large rocks or timber right at a drop off.

At least it sounds like it will be overcast.  Strip pits usually have very clear water and bright days can make it pretty tough.  A lot of times fishing after dark is key in getting on a good bite.  If you think the water will be warm enough, use baits that you can fish very quickly.  Such as burning a spinnerbait, crankbait, or rattle trap.

When in doubt , panic . Just kidding. Plastics & traps.

Are strip pits like old flooded quarries?

Darren,

I live in Cape Girardeau and fish strip pits in Southern Illinois a lot. A bass is a bass.

The water temps should reach the low 50s this weekend. That's ideal for jerkbaits like an x-rap or rattling rogue.

I caught the fish in my avatar at a strip pit 10 days ago on a senko, fished like a jerkbait (jerk, pause, reel, jerk, pause, reel...) in 15 feet of water. The only fish we found shallow were on the northern most end of the lake.

One last thought. A lot of times we'll troll a minnow behind the boat as we work the lake. It's a great way to locate bass (and crappie)

Good luck!

Dan

Are strip pits like old flooded quarries?

strip pits are large holes left behind by a mining company after they are done mining

they eventually fil up with water and bass are either sottcked or naturally get there

There are hundreds of these former mining pits near me.  They are part of AEP Power and I have only fished them once.  I managed a few small bass out of a couple on a 3" pumpkinseed grub on a jighead.  There are so many it's hard to tell which ponds will be productive or have bass in them for that matter.  I know alot of people around SE Ohio here probably fish them.  I'd be interested in finding out from someone more about them and where to go and what to use.  They seem to have no visible cover here and are pretty much just ponds in open fields.  I do think that fishing with small baits like grubs / beetlespins helps by giving you the best chance at getting strikes on ponds like these.

What everyone else said plus look for springs.  Most of them around here have one or two springs that you can find by bubbles, swirling water and a water temp. change.  Rogue and fluke right now would be my 2 cents.

The Stripping pits In  NE PA, have one side that slopes, if the had to remove the cranes etc, SOME OF THEM HAVE THE CRANES STILL UNDER WATER , like the one at Ginthers, sear Shenendoah PA.The slope side after a long time may actually get a nice weed growth The other side is usually cut in step like ridges, as they removed various layers of coal. Some times a lot of the trees that got knocked down are in a pile on one of these ledges many times huge rocks and boudlers are scattered around. The point is that thses pits are very deep, most only fishable by shore, so walk around look for these structures etc and find out where they are, you will eventually find some nice fish associated with these areas.

I fish strip pits near Chicago, Mazonia to be exact. As others have said they then to be clear but this time of year if heavy runoff is evident they will be quite murky. I would assume in So. Illinois they may be Lime or Sand Stone. If this is the case stay away from these areas as the Bass will. On a sunny day stay tight to the banks as cover sometimes is a problem. Structure tends to be hard to find.

Anyone have any pits that have blue/green water all the time. I always pass them by, but last sept. I saw fish jumping!

Anyone have any pits that have blue/green water all the time. I always pass them by, but last sept. I saw fish jumping!

Around here, those are high alkaline content pits.  Never have done great in these, but have caught fish.  

Darren,

How did you do?

Anyone have any pits that have blue/green water all the time. I always pass them by, but last sept. I saw fish jumping!

acaully yes i fish a strip pit that is almost green, it is really cool

this lake has the biggest crappie in it i have ever seen

consistently catching 1 pounders and usually sum bigger ones

I always do very well with tubes or bait fish.

This might help:

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1158577137

trip got postponed until this weekend....Wouldnt ya know it, it is supposed to turn cooler and rain all weekend..I think we are going to try to give it a go either way.  Every time I have been, with him, someone catches a bass over 4lb.. You are right, structure is a problem, but in one of them, which is 2mi long on GPS,   on one of the steep banks is what appears to be an overturned tree, and it is almost a guarantee to catch a big fish there... Weather will suck ....Fri High of 65 and Sat High of 45 with rain, any help would be great...thanks  darren

DON"T let the weather put you off. Confidence is easily shaken and can do you in, even though there are fish to be caught.

Dress for it.

Fish slower, and maybe a bit deeper. But if front is weak don't be afraid to try faster first.

OK, I'll be bold and offer some more specific suggestions:

Not sure about S IL exactly but your fish should be into pre-spawn. If it were warm I'd be checking the shallows for males and broken up female groups, but with a strong front most may be holding away from shore a bit -likely true of females.

Move around: If female groups haven't broken up yet, (we're late seasonally across the north this year, so, maybe?), you'll need to find 'em. Don't be put off with the cold damp air and an hour or two of few fish. If you find a female group you may get all your big fish in a half hour. Then come back and milk the spot.

Look for a good flat, one that looks like it will hold bass throughout the year. Especially if it is in a discrete cove, end, or corner -more confined that's easier to read and has less real estate to cover, and that you can reach (if you're on shore). Check the shallows -cooling air doesn't always put the bass off too badly. (Try a #11 or #13 floating Rapala, twitched. Easy to fish and very effective if bass are shallow, and willing to break the surface.) If no go, try subsurface. Then start searching further out, away from shore a ways (jig, crank, jerk, spinnerbait). If it's a cove, check out in the mouth of it.

Let us know what you find.

Well the weather ended up being really bad.. High temp of 45 after several days of mid 60's.. High winds and the water was really muddy.   We ended up catching 8 fish with the biggest being 4lb6oz. All were caught on a spinnerbait in shallow water, believe it or not.. I would have liked to get to deeper water but I was in a small john boat and it was real hard to control in the wind so I stayed tight to the bank and out of the wind.  We were real pleased with the fishing taking into account the terrible cold front...thanks for the help   darren