Turtle Creek Res. ( Merom )

[bassman62]

A friend and I fished Merom Feb. 7 th. 10:00 am till 3:30 pm , we fished the hot water all day due to goose hunting on the south end, water temps. 50-65 deg. air temp. 50 deg. mild south wind, despite excellent conditions for early Feb. we did not receive the slightest bump, using spinnerbaits, jigs, crankbaits, worms, if there are any bass left in the lake they are very sparce in numbers despite reports of restocking , it does not seem to be very successful to date

[slowride]

I believe the lake has benn messed up the last couple of years due to lowering it trying to fix the shad problem? Not sure if it's true just a rumor i heard.

[Smooty]

Is there a horse power limit on Turtle Creek? Any boat limitations at all?

[Sore Thumb II]

The last time I was there the limit was either 7.5 or 9 i think its 9hp

[muskyman87]

The lake has a 10hp limit. When I was there in December, fishing off the bank/road by the warm discharge, the water level was actually up. Guys were catching channel cats left and right but no bass. If the lake is being dropped, it must have JUST happened. From what I can tell, the lake is silting in quite a bit due to the creeks that feed into it and the lack of vegitation to keep it at bay. So the lake is shallower than it used to be but not because they're dropping it.

I used to fish TC quite a bit but gave up on that one after hitting Newton in IL one time. No comparison whatsoever! The drive is about the same from Indy and the fishing is way better; not to mention more water to fish so there's less competition for spots. Great lake!

[LJP]

Ii is 10hp limit, and i wouldn't waste my gas to fish it.

[GeoFisher]

Ii is 10hp limit, and i wouldn't waste my gas to fish it.

Back in the day.......it was nothing to catch 100lbs of bass there in a day.

I've Hammered them.........TOTALLY HAMMERED them, but those days are long gone. Late 90's early 2000, the lake was killed off by RECORD heat wave. Cinergy used to generate electricity there only in peak hours, but during that heat wave, they generated 24 hrs a day Nearly ALL SUMMER. Water Temps jumped to about 100 - 110 degrees, and everything worth a CRAP in the lake died...........including all the vegatation.

I fished the lake HARD between 1987 and 1989, before I got married....went pretty much 1 or 2 times a month, and that was TOUGH........driving from Muncie, IN to Merom, staying 30 miles from the lake, because there were NO hotels around, and then driving 4-5 hours BACK the next day..........

I've caught lots of 7's and QUITE a few over 5 there.....but I have not been back there in 3-4 years.

I remember the last time I was there, I took thebassman30 there, and it was pretty much a barren MUDHOLE........what a waste......we caught a couple bass, and a few catfish on JIGS............hahahahahahahahahaha.

Oh well...........the good ole days are LONG GONE.

One other thing..........if you go, don't get caught in a 20mph wind, in a small boat.............**** you think KY is BAD..........With a 10 hp limit, and a small boat, a SERIOUS wind will KICK YOUR BUTT.

Later,

Geo

[cbass]

Oh, those were some memories I will never forget. That place really got me hooked on bass fishing. Too bad to see it go. I guess electrical generation outweighs the anguish of a few hundred bass fishermen.

[slipbobber]

Use to have some huge crappies in their also .Thats what happens to a lake when you have people running the place that don't know what their doing.

[muskyman87]

The old days still keep me coming back there from time to time. Not like the past though.

Still, there are some good fish in the lake,even today, but since the lake has changed so much there are just fewer spots that produce than in the past. This is the part I have a hard time with. Two years ago I caught 30 fish off one 50ft section of bank. I just anchored off it and pitched soft plastics all day. We caught fish but kind of boring when they were all smaller fish and off the same spot.

I keep hoping thing will turn-around sometime and pick back up again. Not going to hold my breath for that one, however.

[Skeeter_22I]

I was there on the 8th and 9th all day. We caught two catfish on the first day and two more on the second day. We were trowing crankbaits, rattletraps, jerkbaits, and soft plastics. Water was 75 at the bouys and around 52 at the ramp. Big disappointment! Three years ago it was nothing to catch 10-15 5 pounders a day. The HP limit is 10, but I used my 300HP all day at idle and was told that it OK.

[GeoFisher]

Use to have some huge crappies in their also .Thats what happens to a lake when you have people running the place that don't know what their doing.

Dude........the lake was PRIMARILY a cooling LAKE and secondarily a fishery. You're LUCKY you ever got the chance to fish it to begin with. MOST cooling lakes around the country are OFF LIMITS........

I'd love to see it get back to the glory days, but BITCHING about the management when it was REALLY NEVER supposed to be an ALL-STAR fishery is wrong, if you ask me.........

Later,

Geo