Brookville Lake

[idbefishing]

are the grass beds scatter all over the lake or is there a certain area? all the grass I've ever seen before were in the back of creeks. I've not been over there at all this year. Man, I would love to hook up with one of you gurus for a couple of outtings.

[lov2fish]

Craig, the last couple years I have noticed grass in places where I had never seen it before. It is definetly a major bonus for the smallie lovers. I was pulling up chunks of live grass from 25ft. of water Sunday:7 I knew where a couple scattered grass beds were and they usually always produced fish under tough conditions, but now it's growing in alot of places, SWEEEEEEET!!!

Lance, give me a call sometime, i'll be your Huckleberry........

[DSPCHAMY]

I was impressed with the structure and the grass. The lake really excites me, and Ray I would love to take you up on your offer sometime. I have the ability to cut out of work if nature calls, so let me know when you want to give it a run, I would prefer to hit it on a weekday if that works for you.

I ran into grass beds where I did not expect grass to be, i.e. 20-25 ft of water on steep banks. You don't see that at Monroe or Racoon, the lakes I fish most often.

[Fishhead]

There are small grass beds at various spots on the main lake now. There are some beds in the lower section that are in 10-20 ft of water or more, they are mostly small but are growing each year. And there are a few spots where the beds first established themselves that are getting to be pretty good sized. I've seen some grass that is 4-6 ft long too!:9

Some are easy to spot and others, especially the deeper grass, you have to find on your sonar or pull it up on a lure. When I pull some up on my bait I always go back and check the spot with my sonar to see how big the grassbed is. And Ray is right, some of these beds hold some real toads. For the past couple years the grassbeds have been growing and showing up in spots that I didn't remember there being grass before, only a matter of time now until they really take off, unless the state decides to poison them.;(

[Fishhead]

Same here Ray! I have a couple spots that have grass that is 2+ft tall in water 20+ft deep, what an awesome combination, rock, wood and deepwater grass! Definately a recipe for big girls!:9

Now you've gone and done it! I'm all worked up for B-ville smallies and can't go until Saturday. Its gonna be a long 2 days. ;(

Ray let me know when your planning to go next time and we can try to hook up. I have somethig for you to look at regarding Brookville, a little project I've been working on.

[lov2fish]

I prefer weekdays as well. My schedule is extremely flexible. I fish Geist on Tues. nights and the White on Weds. nights If we went one of those days I would have to be back in time for the tourneys to start. If we go Mon.,Thurs. or Fri. I can stay sunup to as late as I like.



Ray Rigby

[Cullin]

I'd say the idea that the smallmouth are outnumbering the greenies is right on. There have been more brownies weighed in this year in our tournaments than ever before. You guys are right on about the grass over there too. This lake is only gonna get better and there are some real toads over there. All worked up just thinkin about it. I still remember a tournament a few years back when we were checked by DNR and they asked if we had any fish. When I pulled out my 4 1/2 lb. brownie, the guy almost !@#$ his pants-and I quote " I didn't know there were smallmouth that big in this lake!" Amazing.

[dac]

I too agree this lake is improving. The smallmouth are really taking off, and it does really seem like the smallies are outnumbering the greenies. I think the number of quality keeper fish is up, but I think I used to see more 4 pound/5 pound plus fish(greenies and brownies) in years past, but there are definately plenty of hogs still in there now. I am sure the number of toads being caught will come back soon, as it is all cyclical. What really gets me is the number of quality smallies showing up in the northern part of the lake, from fairfield causeway to dunlapseville causeway, in relatively shallow water. I like the fact that I can get away with fishing a bit shallower in water slightly less clear during the dog days of summer and still get a mixed bag. Lets just hope the powers that be let the grass do its thing.

[Fishhead]

Your right the smallies are showing up in the North end of the lake more frequently. While I wasn't surprised that they are up in the shallower end of the lake since the water temps in the upper part are still relatively cool and deep water can be found up there, I am surprised at the numbers that are being caught up there. I fished the No Wake zone 2 weeks ago and caught 6 smallies off the rocks up there, again more smallies than greenies.

Not sure about the numbers of bigger fish though. I've kept a log for the last 4 years at B-ville and so far this year is pretty close to prior years. However, the late summer/early fall night bite has been pretty good to me that past couple years and that big bite in the late summer/early fall hasn't started yet, well at least for me it hasn't started. Hopefully the last couple of nights with the cooler temps will turn them on, I'll find out Saturday night!!!

But the big fish are still there. However, I think the bigger fish can stay deeper for longer periods than they had to before. With the increasing grass in the deep water the bass can stay out in that deeper water longer and perhaps do less roaming. The smallmouth can suspend over and around the deeper grass beds, then come up to hit schools of shad or move in to the shallows at night. Before the grass started to expand and increase those bigger fish had to roam more and move into the shallows more often to feed.

Another thing I try to keep in mind is that before the weeds started to increase most of the deep water fish I was catching came off of creek channels, steeper rocky dropoffs and points, flats where the creek channel ran close, etc. Now with the grass showing up in other areas some of the fish may be re-locating to these newer areas and not frequenting my old haunts as often as they did before. That’s why I try to keep my eyes open for new areas, like when I pull up grass on my bait in an area that did not have grass before. I check it out, see how big the grass bed is, how tall the grass is growing and look for other types of structure within the grass like brush piles, wood and/or rocks. Never know when your going to stumble on a new honey hole!!!