McNeely Lake and other small lakes near louisville. Lookin for crappie spots too

First off I was wondering if anybody knows any info about Mcneely Lake. If not does anyone know anything about any of the small FINS lakes in louisville(Watterson, waverly, tom wallace, cherokee, fishermans park etc....) Im lookin to catch some crappie. Does anyone know anywhere near louisville to go this week? Thanks alot. Newt

I used to fish McNeely quite a bit, when I wanted to get out a few hours after work, and needed a close drive from Valley station. I have never really done very well for crappie, but the lake used to be loaded with quality redears. May is usually best along any of the weedy banks with a shallow flat.

McNealy has been predicted as "excellent" for redear this year by KDFR, but only Fair for crappie. Supposedly it has good numbers of 12-15 inch bass, but i havent found them. I live in walking distance from the lake and fish it quite often, never caught more than a few bass. I will say that this lake is a lot of fun for fly fishing for pan fish though. The only other lake i have fished around teh Louisville area is Tom Wallace. It has some ok size bass in it, bt never seen a crappie there. I hear Long Run in the east end is a good crappie lake.

Bigest issue is that these FINS lakes are massively pressured lakes. Try to find the spots that dont have beaten down walking trails to the bank and try to do something different than what these fish see every day. I am no live bait guy, but it seems live bait is teh trick to gettin em.... also pay attention to trout stocking schedule for Tom Wallace. The parking all disappears for a week afterward.

[QUOTE=walkeraviator;443693]McNealy has been predicted as "excellent" for redear this year by KDFR, but only Fair for crappie. Supposedly it has good numbers of 12-15 inch bass, but i havent found them. I live in walking distance from the lake and fish it quite often, never caught more than a few bass. I will say that this lake is a lot of fun for fly fishing for pan fish though. The only other lake i have fished around teh Louisville area is Tom Wallace. It has some ok size bass in it, bt never seen a crappie there. I hear Long Run in the east end is a good crappie lake.

Bigest issue is that these FINS lakes are massively pressured lakes. Try to find the spots that dont have beaten down walking trails to the bank and try to do something different than what these fish see every day. I am no live bait guy, but it seems live bait is teh trick to gettin em.... also pay attention to trout stocking schedule for Tom Wallace. The parking all disappears for a week afterward.[/QUOTE]

I used to fish McNeely a decent amount. Biggest bass I ever caught was a 3.5 out of there and it was on the bed (took me 30 minutes to finally tick it off enough). I've caught a handful of bass out of there and it's good to hit it now before the banks get loaded with weeds.

If you don't like livebait, my best suggestion are the Berkley Gulp Minnows. Although pricey, if you get the right jig head, you can use the same minnow for a few fish. I've always had good luck with them.

I was out running the trails last week and people are already out at Tom fishing...so better get there early.

If you want to know why we keep doing all this, a kid caught a legit 10lber in Tom Wallace a year or two ago. I read about it in the paper and saw the picture. Amazing. I'll probably cast lures into mud puddles for years thinking about that pic.

The best crappie spots around Louisville all require a boat. You can rent boats at Guist and Taylorsville for about $40-50 per day. Guist is known as a big bass lake, but it's a great lake for panfish. It's nothing to catch 50 or more. The problem with both of these lakes is that bank access not good.

I've heard good things about Miles. Usually, you can catch bream at Fisherman's Park if you're willing to walk until you find a pond where they are biting. Also, when the river levels are lower, you can fish the falls of the ohio on the Indiana side with just a KY fishing license. Sorry, but I'm no expert on crappie.

Good Crappie spot near louisville is lake jericho does not open til april 1st but well worth the wait live bait or tube jigs works well you can get your limit before check out time,... they also have boat rentals



[URL]http://henrycountykentucky.com/community/LkJericho.htm[/URL]

For those of you who fish at Fishermans Park, is #1 the one to hit for Bass? I know #3 and #4 are stocked with Trout and Cats, but does #1 have a population of anything?

in my opinion out of all the FINS lakes Miles is the best for nice healthy trout,cats and bass ive caught sum big cats in there the last couple of years all catch and release so i know there still in there last years biggest was 14lb blue on bluegill head and ive have caught sum nice 3-4 lbers LMS just walking around the lake casting a worm. Its a Great place to take a kid or just to get out and enjoy the day . Good Luck

Miles is my favorite for cats. McNeely does have some nice bass for its size but I like to chase the fish there with my fly rod. They are however very difficult to catch on a clear day. With a little wind and some cloudy water they get a little more aggressive. The stocker trout are a cinch to catch at Waverly. You won't have to think very hard about where to find them there. Cherokee is ok for the trout and not bad for bass either. Like the others said, try to show them something they don't see very often. Fishing at Wallace is usually pretty decent but it is choked with garbage and diesel. This time of year those legit 10-lbers are munching the smaller trout. Now I do this with Rainbow Clousers but, if a guy was inclined to break the law a little bit, he could catch a few six inchers and let them hang out a few feet off the bottom, see what happens...