Bluegrass F&W Otter Pit Report

Fished Otter pit from 11 am to 5 pm. Caught most of the fish from 1 pm to 4:30 pm. Caught about 35 crappie and culled those down to a limit of 25 as I went. These crappie are getting a little bit bigger than what I caught this summer. It seems that every fall the crappie have grown a lot during the summer or else the bigger crappie start to bite better in Oct. LOL Anyway it was a good day to be out on the water.

It was calm this morning but the winds picked up to around 10 mph this afternoon. It was pretty cloudy all day long. The wind and waves and clouds would hopefully bring the fish shallow. But I caught most of my fish in 18 to 20 ft of water. Some right on the bottom and some about 10ft to 12 below the surface over 20 ft of water. All were caught on minnows tight lining around sunken brush piles. These are natural brush that was once growing along an old haul road from what I was told by some locals.

All these were white crappies. Biggest was around 12" long. Most were 10" and a few were 11" long. All were pretty fat little crappie which is a good sign. We have a lot of flooding of this area this spring and maybe some fish came up though the creek from the river into Otter Pit. It's a known fact that lots of river fish swim from the Ohio River up Pigeon Creek and then up Bluegrass Creek into these pits.

I did catch a few in about 6 ft of water near a submerged brush who's tops just touched the surface of the water. Water is still up so it's covering a lot of the brush that once was visible on the surface at otter pit in the NE section.

Surface water temps were 72 deg F today. It's been warming up this last week. Winds were out of the SSW most of the day then switched to the SW later in the afternoon. Water clarity was not bad to day. I could see three of four feed down into the water. But the water has a green color to it.

Pressure was dropping down to 29.54 most of the day. That's expected when you get a front coming though and as much cloudy weather as we had today.

I used 2" shiners and some 1.5 to 2" long Rosy Red minnows. Rosy Red are a red or orange version of a chub minnow. They are shipped up here from Arkansas. I always try to add a chartreuse crappie nibble to the hook even when using minnows. It makes the minnow appear to be eating something and adds some color to the bait. I think that bright yellow/green (chartreuse) makes it easier for the fish to see the bait in deep water. ie water deeper than 15 ft.


Regards,

Moose1am

I fished Otter Monday from 5 am to 10 am and caught 2, granted, I fish from the bank but the first one I caught was my all time high, 5 Lbs 20 Inches on a Buzz Bait then turn around and caught it again today (Wendsday) after work and caught the same one again on a jointed Red Fin. Hope to get my boat finished before spring so I can hit the spots not availible from the banks. :7

Monday was not a good day for me. I fished Blue Grass Pit on Monday and my favorite spot didn't have any fish there. Either that or I had gasoline on my hands or something. I only caught a sunburn on Monday. Well I did manage to catch one small crappie, one warmouth and one 6" bluegill. Not what I call a stellar day of fising. But I did get to be outside and I did see a couple of deer along the bank that day.


Regards,

Moose1am

A really good spot to fish the banks at Otter is where the canal runs into the small pit. The water running though that small shallow 10ft wide by 150 to 200ft long ditch or canal flushed critters out into the small lake on the West side of that canal. Fish like to hang out there waiting for morsels to drift their way.

I talked to a young man fishing that spot a few months ago and he had a 5lb bass, a 2lb bass and one short bass which he released after I told him about the 14" size limits on Otter Pit. He would not want Gorden Woods to catch him with that short bass on the stringer. The young man was catching some nice big fish there with a bobber and a minnow on a hook. This pattern works best when there is a lot of water flowing though the canal. So if we get a good rain that fills up the Three Big pits the water will run downstream from Blue Grass Pit under Boonville New Harmony Rd, then through Loon Pit and under Kansas Rd and into Otter Pit. From there it goes though the canal to the SW part of Otter Pit and then under Euler Rd and then west though the farm field towards Blue Grass Creek. From there it flows south to Pigeon Creek and then down Pigeon Creek to the Ohio River. At times of flooding Pigeon Creek and Bluegrass Creek will flood that same farm land and enter Otter Pit first. There are 36" culverts under Kansas rd and Boonville New Harmony rd that connects all there of the main pits on Bluegrass Fish and Wildlife area.
Regards,

Moose1am

Well the fishing on Otter Pit picked up this last week. We have a few days where it got up to the upper 50's and the winds were not blowing too hard and the skies were not crying. No rain is good.

I found a new drop off that held much better crappie. The crappie were full of shad too and active. Again there was a flat area with plenty of submerged weeds growing on the flats. And the flat is pretty extensive. There is a drop off all around the flats. It's more of a long underwater point as well as a flat. There is lots of underwater brush along the drop off and that was where I caught the fish. The fish were also up on the flat. I fished Bill today. He joined me at the launch ramp at the last minute. I always purchase my minnows from Bill at the Evansville Worm Ranch out on Old Boonville Road. He has all types of bait there for sale and does a great job in keeping me in minnows all winter long. This was the first time we have fished together and we did good. We got to the spot that I had found earlier and had already marked in my Garmin eTrex Vista hand held GPS unit. I showed bill how the Depth finder worked and how to find the fishing spot using the GPS map. We got to the spot and there was another boat there fishing the same area. They were fishing the flat and went North while we fished the drops and went to the SE. Both boats caught nice fish and good numbers this day. I think they said they had about 15 fish when we were back at the launch ramp that night. We only fished for about 2 hours before it got dark. Bill was hanging in there even though he got cold. We caught the fish down about 8ft deep below the surface. I went up over the flats and then let the wind blow me back out over the drops. I was fishing with my drop shot rig and bill was fishing with his slip bobber setup. We ended up with a good mess of fish. I put them on ice and went back the next time to catch a few more. I then had to clean them all the next day. I should have cleaned them inside as it was cold the next day. It took me forever to get them all cleaned. The American Angler 12 V DC fillet knife was having trouble cleaning the larger crappie. I think my battery pack was too cold to give me enough juice to run the fillet knife fast. The slower blade speed made cleaning the fish harder. The knife kept getting hung up when I was taking the skin off the fillet. That's only happened to me one time before and that was due to the new blades that I was using. When I went back to the old blades the knife worked much better. These fillet knives use serrated edges on the blades which really helps in cleaning the fish. I should have use the 120AC American Angler Fillet knife but instead I just stuck my battery pack inside the back door and ran the long cord out to the deck where I was cleaning the fish. After the battery warmed up inside the house the cleaning went much faster. I cooked up the fillets last night and put some away in the freezer. I noticed that I had butchered a lot of the fillets. I guess the cold made me not care. I do know that I hate cleaning fish when it's cold outside. Getting the hands wet when it's cold outside just makes the job harder. I stopped several times to go back inside and wash my hands in warm water to get the blood flowing again. LOL.

I didn't weight this last catch but I did measure a few of the larger crappie. They were all about 11.5" Long. There were only four big fish. The rest were a bit smaller. Most were 9.5 to 10" long. We threw a few small crappie back into the lake. Normally I fish them out and keep them to help those that are left grow bigger. The fisheries biologist wants to lower the population in the lake so that the rest of the fish can get bigger. There are just too many crappie in this pit. They multiply too fast and can over populate the lake and get stunted. That's only produced a lot of small fish. By removing the smaller fish you allow the rest of the fish to have adequate food in order to grow bigger. And as I have been removing limits of small crappie from this 90 acre pit for the last two years it appears that the Biologist is right. The fish this year are much larger than they were last year. Not only are they getting bigger but there are more big fish being caught now.

I noticed that the game warden has been fishing otter pit also. He said he was catching some nice crappie as well. He fishes the submerged weeds and some underwater humps that he found.
Regards,

Moose1am

Moose - about cleaning fish I always wear disposable rubber gloves for that chore , they keep your hands from stinking and dry to boot . I fished Otter pit Tueday 10-24 but only managed to catch a bass and a gill . Had the place to myself until noon , fished the cove with the beaver lodges and then went over by the road but someone had beaten me to it . My sonar has been on the frizt so after I get my new trolling motor { 50 pounder ! } and put on a new DF I hope to get on some of the drop-off's you are talking about . Of course it will have to wait until early waterfowl is out . I plan trying for some rainbow trout up at Sugar Ridge sat. , called the DNR and they stocked them on the 25th .
Tight lines

Hey Bassmanic1:
That sounds like a good idea. Never thought about using disposable gloves. That will sure keep the hands dry.

I may fish tomorrow if it's not too cold. I am more than likely to just stay inside where it warm if the football games are any good Saturday.

A couple of weeks ago I launched the boat and was heading West from the launch ramp and tried to turn on the humminbird LCR 8000 and didn't hear the familiar beep sound when the unit turns on. A small wire on the inside of the unit had broken off it's solder point. That was the wire that powered the unit. I said a few choice words and turned around and went back home. I felt like I had left the house without any pants on. I could not fish without my depth finder or my GPS. LOL. I got lucky and was able to find the broken wire and repair it. Now the Unit's working like it's suppose to.

It pretty hard to zero in on a brush pile without the Depth Sounder working.


Hope you get yours fixed.

I didn't fish much this week as it was cold and windy.

Got to get new ball joints on my truck and then have three new tires put on the thing and then have the front end lines up. That's going to cost me plenty. But it's got to be done. I can't afford to wear out the new tires with the front end out of alignment. And they can't align the tires without replacing the two ball joints. There goes the new shotgun I was hoping to get this month.

Beware tomorrow the 29th of Oct is the start of early waterfowl season. It lasts for just this weekend.

If memory serves me right they only can hunt until NOON each day. I recommend calling Sugar Ridge before anyone tries to fish Blue Grass's Main pits this weekend. You can't fish while they hunt waterfowl. Maybe the DNR will allow fishing after Noon. But we better call to make sure before making any plans to fish this weekend.

We are in the Ohio River zone here in Warrick County. Anything south of I-64 is the Ohio River Zone in Warrick County. North of I-64 is the South Zone.

Regards,

Moose1am

November 4th 2006 Bluegrass Fish and Wildlife Otter Pit report.

Fished Otter Pit today. Got a very late start. It was in the 50's air temp wise and the water surface temp has dropped down to 50 deg F. Didn't check any other temperatures at any other depths. It was calm when I arrived around 4:00 pm. The sky was cloudy but no rain. The clouds will hold the temps tonight. Saw that the moon was almost full as it peaked though the clouds before I left the lake a little after it got too dark. I would have stayed longer if the sky had let the moonlight though.

Went to a drop off that had been good to me the last two times out. Found Zero Fish there this evening. To be fair I only fished for about 30 minute or so but I did locate the brush that I found last time out and had marked on my gps unit. Still not fish there. Maybe I fished the wrong depth or something but last time the fish were letting me know they were there right away. This time zilch. That's why they call it fishing.

Went back to my normal spot and managed to catch one crappie that went 10 1/2" long and 8 ounces. It was a keeper and that was why I went fishing this evening. I did catch another small crappie before I left the water. Got home and with the two fish I got out my new Rapala ProGuide Deluxe Electric Fillet Knife Set.

I have to report that I like this new fillet knife. It comes with an AC/DC converter that can be plugged into an 110 Volt AC outlet and then converts the power to 12 Volt DC at a female plug. The cord on the fillet knife itself ends with a male 12 V DC cigarette lighter type Plug. So you can run the knife off a cigarette lighter outlet on your boat or vehicle or from a portable power supply like the Vector Battery Jumpers. Tonight I ran the power from the AC/DC converter as I was out on my back porch and there is an AC outlet that's has ground fault protection built into the circuit breaker for this outlet.

I fillet the larger crappie by cutting into the fish behind the Pectoral Fin (gill cover) and then when I hit the backbone I rotate the knife blade 90 deg and then slide along the back bone toward the tail cutting though the rib bones. Then I flip the fillet over and then run the knife between the skin and the fillet to get the skin off the meat. Finally I cut the rib bones out of each fillet when I am done.

The Rapala Fillet Knife Set comes with two blades and I used the short knife blade and it worked very smoothly. The blades were sharp and easily cut though the 10.5" 1/2 lb crappie. The motor is smooth and quiet on this unit. The blades snap in and out very smoothly as well. And the trigger switch has a good click when it's engaged to let you know that it's turned on. Also the safety lock has a loud click to let you know it's engaged or disengaged. There is a Battery Connection composed of 12 V Clips that attach to a battery post that you can plug the knife power cord into on the other end.

The power cord is 18 ft long which is more than enough reach. The entire kit comes with a plastic carrying case that stores everything neatly in place.

Overall I really do like this knife. I think it's better made than my other American Anglers fillet knifes. They work well but this one seems to be a little bit stronger quality. I would recommend it to anyone that wants to clean a lot of fish fast.

Next time I go out and have some fish to clean I will give the longer blade a try to see if it's as smooth as the shorter blades.
The short blade is 6" long while the longer blade is 7 1/2" long.

Regards,

Moose1am