Blue Grass Res.

Surface water temps are down into the high 80 s now and the lakes are still lower than normal. Water is clearing up on blue grass pit. Water is dingy as usual on otter pit.

I have been fishing Blue grass Pit for the last week or two. It's hot out there so I am fishing very deep.

Lots of 2 lb bass located in the 18 ft deep water near deep flats that drop off into 35 ft of water. I am catching 10 to 15 bass each trip while searching for any big slab crappie.

I use live minnows on #1 gold hooks using the drop shot method. IE the weight is on the end of the line and the hook is tied up on the main line with a loop knot about 18" up from the sinker.

I sometimes use a 3/16 oz Teezur Lead head Jig with a Squirmin Squirt White Lighting jig Body (Bass Pro Shops has them). I'll tip the jig with a minnow or a crappie nibble (chartreuse color) or both.

The crappie nibbles are a big plus and I won't go fishing without them or my Dr. Juice. Anything that will cover up the human scent on the baits helps. Cod Liver Oil capsules can also be used. It will increase your catches. One crappie guide that fishes in the Hot Springs Ark area uses cod liver oil on his baits and his web site is full of pictures of his clients with huge catches of big crappie. But it helps to put out hundreds of brush piles in know areas to fish and being on the lake year round to follow the movements of the fish.

Remember if you catch a bass in deep water to release it as soon as possible to increase it's changes of survival. The size limit on Blue Grass Big Two pits is 18" for Largemouth bass. Several people have been caught and fined for trying to steal bass that were under 18" long. They will be paying big fines for that Illegal activity. I am glad that the IDNR is monitoring this area intensely and making sure that the fish management plan is being adhered to. If everyone takes short fish out of these pits there won't be any fish left for anyone to catch. Please practice catch and release properly.

I am directing this comment to anyone that reads this post and not to anyone in particular. Don't want to offend anyone in here with my rambling on. hehe.

This summer I have caught more crappie and larger crappie in the grass in shallow water than in the depths.

Now last summer and the summer before I found crappie suspended 10 to 12 ft down below the surface over 25 ft of water with submerged brush growing out of the bottom from 25 ft deep topping off at around 10 ft.

There has to be a good temperature thermocline and oxygen oxycline in the big deep pits. I have yet to take a temperature profile measurement on either of these two large pits.

Water clarity is much improved on Blue grass Pit. I don't like fishing Loon pit due to the poor launch ramp situation. No place to pull your boat up on the bank at the North Concrete Launch Ramp at Loon except for the concrete and the concreted in rip rap on each side of the launch ramp. That ramp needs a floating dock there with a ramp to the shore line from the dock. This would improve the launching of boats into the North End of Loon Pit. At least Blue grass has a shoreline area that's free of rocks. But there is only room for one boat at this spot. Not many people want to pull their boat up onto rip rap rocks that are just inches below the water level at the shoreline

Otter pit is more turbid that Blue grass pit. Some of the surface waters at Blue grass pit flows under Boonville/Newharmony Road into the North End of Loon pit when the water level is high. Then the water at the South end of LOON Pit flows under Kansas Road into the North End of Otter Pit. From Otter Pit the water flows though a ditch across a farm field to the West and into the Blue grass Creek and then into Pigeon Creek and then into the Ohio River.

I saw one fish jump out of the water the last time I went to Blue grass pit last week. I hope it's not one of those flying carp things that got into these pit via the creeks from the Ohio River. God help us if that happens. Those things are natures speed bumps for the water. They fly out of the water as any motor boat approaches them and some have been known to fly into people's boats. Can you imagine the damage that a 20 lb fish could do to a person in a boat traveling 50 mph on the River. Getting hit in the face by one of these flying carp would be disastrous in some cases.

[quote=NFC;303069]Has anyone done much bass fishin at Blue Grass lately? I haven't been in months and was wondering how the high temps and low water was affecting the catches.

God 1st, Family 2nd and everyone else get in line . . .
A bad day of fishin is a day not fishin . . .
NFC[/quote]