bank crappie fishing in southern IN

[daniel240]

Well I have always had good luck fishing bass and bluegill at bluegrass, although I never fish the big pits, I always stick to the smaller ones. I ushually go with my friend who has a boat but he is in Colorado for the week. I thought I would give Otter and Loon pits a try since moose said he has good luck there and I havent fished them in a while. Ive always heard that Oakland city lake was good fishing but Ive never tried it. I didnt know you were allowed to fish at the golf courses. I also thought about trying scales lake in boonville. I used to fish there years ago and always did ok. Has anyone fished there lately?

[Moose1am]

Let me clarify some information about my fishing on Otter Pit. Fish are not always in the same spot every day. There are ten different calendar periods according to the In-Fisherman Crappie Wisdom Book. Crappie is what I fish for so I'll just address this fish and where I find them in Otter pit. Each lake is different. And each lake will have fish in different areas at different times of the calendar year. Calendar year is based not really on the Gregorian Calendar. The cold water period may vary by a month or two up north and a week or two down south. It's based more on the weather changes and the water temperature.

You can go fish otter pit without knowing the exact spot and not catch a thing. Otter pit have very little structure. It's better than most Strip pits though. Most strip pits have a steep bank and very little shallow water shelves. Just a lot of open water. Crappie need some shallow water areas to spawn. Also Otter pit is Hydro logically Connected to the OHIO RIVER via ditches, and two creeks, Bluegrass Creek and Pigeon Creek. Pigeon Creek is better than most rivers in other parts of the country. And Bluegrass Creek is as big in some places as Blue River in Southern IN. So Fish from the Ohio River can swim up stream and reach Otter Pit when the Ohio River and these two creeks Flood. Back in 1996/07 this entire area was underwater and fish were free to swim from the Ohio River into Otter Pit. Otter pit and Loon Pit and Bluegrass pit are all Hydro logically Connected at times of flooding. So any fish that swims in the Ohio River can potentially be in any of these three pits. That makes these pits much different than most strip pits in Southern IN or any other parts of coal country.

Most people fish for crappie only in the spring time. That's because at this time of the year. (water temps reaching 60 to 65 deg F in the shallows) is when the crappie go into shallow water to spawn. Most bank fisherman can only fish the shallow waters near the bank. So during the spawning period they catch more crappie. Thus the spring crappie fishing phenomena.

But crappie don't vanish after the spawn. They are still in the lake and can be caught. You have to follow them to find them. This takes a lot of work and time. One good thing about fishing Otter pit is that it's big enough to hold lots of crappie and small enough to get to know well. But you can't fish it three or four times and expect to find the fish every time out.

I found some spots by watching other fishermen catching fish. This is by far the easies way to figure out a good spot. But still you have to do some work even after you know the general area and time of the year where the fish are. Like I said there are only a few structural elements in Otter pit that I have found. There are more there but I have not found them yet. I'll find a lot more of them this coming year hopefully. But one needs a boat, depth finder and a way to mark the spots Accurately. That's where a good gps comes in handy. You can triangulate spots and that works but the GPS is more fun.

You can eliminate 90% of the water using knowledge of where crappie like to hang out at different times of the year. Spring time they will be in the shallows mating. After that they move out into deeper water and will be found SUSPENDED about 10 ft down over deeper water. They frequent the part of the lake that I call "Confided Open Water". This is the area of the lake that's about 100ft away from a sharp drop off. Find a drop that goes from shallow water down to deep water and then slow troll the area off this drop out over the open water during the daylight hours in the hot summer months. Remember that during the hot summer months there is normally a thermocline. This prevents Oxygen from reaching the area of water beneath the thermocline. Thus the fish are trapped above the thermocline.

During the Coldest water period the crappie are found in the deeper waters close to the bottom. When there is ice on the lake the warmest water is found at the bottom on the lake.

In March the crappie are getting into prespawn areas. These are areas that are closer to the spawning sites but in still deep areas. The big drop off near the shallow water spawning areas can hold big crappie. When the water conditions get just right the males will head to the shallows and start building nest. When the water get just right the females will come to the shallows and drop their eggs. This may take a week or two weeks or more. Not all the female spawn at the same time.

As the water temperatures transition from the cold water period to the warm water periods the fish will move into the warmer water.

This time of the year March 7th I would look for areas of the lake that have shallow shelves with any wood. Areas on the North End of the lake that have shallow water in close proximity to deeper water would be prime areas. This applies not only to Otter Pit but any lake in the Midwest. Water temperature is the key. Stable water temperatures are needed for the eggs to develop and hatch properly. So the crappie will want a nice calm day with stable weather conditions. A cold front can drop the water temperature in the shallows a few degrees and that may chase the crappie out of the shallows for a few days.

So you bank fisherman can look forward to catching some crappie in the shallow waters in a few days or weeks. April is generally the time of year where the waters in Southern IN are at the proper temp for crappie to come into the shallows. Some years it may be late March and other years it may be later in April.

Early April is normally a good time to fish. That's when the air temps are just perfect for the fisherman and the fish on some days.

As for bass and otter pit I think I would favor other lakes if I were chasing bass. Not to say that there are not bass left in Otter Pit as there are. But other lakes may have a better bass population. The big pits on Bluegrass F&W are are pounded heavily by bass fisherman every year. And these lakes are small and have slower growth rates due to the water quality. All the pits beside Birddog pit have poor water quality. So bass take a few years longer to reach 18" on these pits. The first few years that BG was open it was raped. Stories of people taking big bass out of these water abound. Now there is an 18" size limit for LMB on BG and Loon Pits. Otter pit has the 14" size limit still.

Also note that you are not going to be catching 15" long Slab Crappie in these pits. If you want big crappie then go to Hovey Lake in Posy County and fish the drain. Or go to Perry County and fish the creeks that drain into the Ohio River. Oil Creek and Deer Creek are two that come to mind. You'll probably find bigger crappie in these creeks.
It's a crying Shame for fisherman that our own PIGEON CREEK that runs though Evansville, IN is so polluted. The industrial discharges and farm land soil runoff have created this mess.

Other lakes that I just thought about. Scales Lake in Boonville. You can rent a small boat for the day and fish that lake. It's got black crappie. Large mouth Bass, catfish and good bluegill populations. (Sunfish).

And there are hundreds of private lakes around this area. Maybe you can get permission to fish one of these. Many a big fish have been caught out of a private pond.

And up by Yankee Town Just North of the ALCOA factory there is a creek that empties into the Ohio River. This is LITTLE PIGEON CREEK. You can fish this creek with a canoe or kayak or a pleasure boat. There is a small parking lot that will hold maybe 10 vehicle and trailer. The ramp is small but adequate. It's about 1 mile from the launch ramp to the Ohio River. Beware of BARGES when you exit the mouth of the creek and enter the Ohio River.

Well I have always had good luck fishing bass and bluegill at bluegrass, although I never fish the big pits, I always stick to the smaller ones. I ushually go with my friend who has a boat but he is in Colorado for the week. I thought I would give Otter and Loon pits a try since moose said he has good luck there and I havent fished them in a while. Ive always heard that Oakland city lake was good fishing but Ive never tried it. I didnt know you were allowed to fish at the golf courses. I also thought about trying scales lake in boonville. I used to fish there years ago and always did ok. Has anyone fished there lately?

[Moose1am]

This past winter I went up to Oakland City looking for Snaky Point. I found the new Oakland City Lake too. I could not figure out where the launch ramp was on the new lake. I found the old city lake too. It's on the way to snaky point. LOL

The new city lake looked very nice. And I think someone above said that the launch ramp is on the South Side of the lake. I saw the campground and found it on the North Side of the lake. I saw a beach area too. But I could not figure out where the road went to get to the launch ramp? I'll have to go back up there again and take a better look.

[daniel240]

Thanks for all the information moose! Im learning so much about crappie fishing from you. I see why crappie are not the most popular fish to fish for. It seems they take a lot more work to find and learn their habits. Im still going to give it a shot this week. If I dont catch any crappie Ill be happy with some bluegill. Anything to throw in the frying pan. It looks like the weathers going to be good thursday and friday so I think I may try Helfrich golf course. I saw on google earth they had a few small lakes on the west end of the course. Friday I may go up to bluegrass or Oakland city. Ill let you all know how I do.

[skeeter sf150sx]

Hey Moose How did you like snakey point. It gets pretty narley in there with all the lilly pads. I have a couple of buddies that take there jon boats out there and have cought some good 7 and 8 pounders in the spawn season. but once summer hits the lilly pads take over. I have always wanted to take my fiberglass boat out there but I just can't convince myself that it is worth the time since I like to concentrate on waters where tourneys are held. - By the way the Okland Cities New lake boat ramp is in the back side (South) it is a rock ramp. Instead of turning into the main entrance follow the rock road that goes past the dam. It makes a 90 degree right turn and then the very next rock road to your right is the road to thier ramp and the City shrub and brush dump.

Went to Bluegrass Monday water temps at 43 I hope they go up by the weekend.
Anyone Know about water temps up at Patoka?