Bluegrass FWA tomorrow

[Bragger]

I am headed to the Bluegrass FWA tomorrow. I have never fished these lakes before. I will be launching my boat. If anyone can share any information on which lake to fish or which boat ramp is best it would be appreciated. Also, I thought that I had heard you could idle your gas engine there, but the IN.gov web site says electric trolling motor only. Of course any tips on where the fish would be this time of year would be appreciated.

Thanks and good luck!

[olducker]

YES, you can idle your gas engine there, lots of pressure on the lakes but you can catch some good fish .

I would go to the north ramp . good Luck

[Moose1am]

Head North out of Evansville on I-164 bypass. When you get to the Boonville New Harmony Rd exit get off there and head East for about 2 or 3 tenths of a mile. The Bluegrass Pit will be on your left (north) and Loon Pit will be on your right (South Side of the road). Bluegrass Pits launch ramp area has an information station there and they should have some maps of the entire area. These maps will show you the local roads and the other strip pits locations. Pick up a map and it will help you get familiar with the area.

Bluegrass is easier to fish as Loon has a lot of shallower waters to get though after you launch. There is another shallow gravel launch ramp and parking lot at the South end of LOON Pit. You can take the county line road south to Kansas Road, then go East on Kansas Road for a short distance and look for the gravel parking lot for LOON Pit on your left. (North). If you take a right on Euler road and head South you can drive along the West side of Otter Pit. Otter Pits concrete launch ramp will be on your left as you head South on Euler Road.

All three of these main pits are connected hydrologically via culverts that go under Kansas and Boonville New Harmony Roads. At times of flooding the entire area is under water and connected to Bluegrass Creek and then Pigeon Creek and then the Ohio River. So it's possible for fish in the Ohio river to swim up these two creek and enter any of these three big pits.

Bluegrass pit is about 180 ares. Loon pit is about 210 acres and Otter Pit is approx 90 acres in size. All three pits have very deep water which is typical of abandoned coal mine strip pits. But these pits also have some shelfs that hold fish.

You can find the crappie from 10ft deep to 25 ft deep depending on the conditions. Around dusk you can catch these crappie along the surface over deeper waters where the bottom drops off.

You can also catch crappie in the shallow weed beds on these pits. I have caught then in 7 ft of water in the late afternoons and early evening.

When I fished these pits I would fish the same area for hours at a time. And for a few hours I would catch nothing and then suddenly a school of crappie would come along and I would catch my limit. You have to hit the timing right at all my favorite spots. The fish like to roam around along the drop offs and are harder to catch when they suspend out from the drop offs over deeper water. But the best time to catch these crappie is when they come back into the ledges to feed in the evening.

I like to check my Solunar Tables and guess what? I seem to catch more fish when the solunar tables predicts good fishing. It's made a believer out of me over the last few years. My Garmin eTrex GPS has the solunar tables built into the computer. So I can easily check to see when the best times are for my area. So far it's been predicting good catches. And when I fish the same spot I don't always catch fish. Sometimes they are there and other times they are not there.

Like any lake if you don't know the lake you may not catch fish unless you get lucky and run into a spot at the right time.

I have fished these lakes frequently over the past 3 years and found a few spots that produce good fish. But I had to work at it for three long years before I found these spots. And I went to this one spot several times before I finally started to catch some good sized crappie. Last fall I caught a few that were all around 12" long and that's a good crappie for these lakes.

You might check out google earth and see a satellite view of the area to get your bearings before heading down.

Yes you can idle your engine. But it's Idle speed only. Water is up with all the rain.

If you are looking for Bass remember that the limit is 18" or greater and you are only allowed to keep one bass.

Muskie were put into Bluegrass and Loon Pits but I am not sure how they are growing. It's been two years now since they were stocked in these lakes.

There area lot of 8' crappie in these lakes. They like to school along the edges of the drop offs.

Be careful at the ramps as they can be slick this time of the years with algae.

The South ramp at Bluegrass Pit is concrete. There is a gravel launch area at the North end of Bluegrass Pit.

I am headed to the Bluegrass FWA tomorrow. I have never fished these lakes before. I will be launching my boat. If anyone can share any information on which lake to fish or which boat ramp is best it would be appreciated. Also, I thought that I had heard you could idle your gas engine there, but the IN.gov web site says electric trolling motor only. Of course any tips on where the fish would be this time of year would be appreciated.

Thanks and good luck!

[olducker]

oK Bragger do you have us a Fishin report from Bluegrass eH ?//

Thanks
Tim

[Stevens]

Haaa i didnt even bother readin mooses reply there but i bet he covered it well. But bout a fishin report.. Last week on bluegrass pit, the best bass were on the outside weed edge near steep dropoffs. You always know one is coming up because the land jets out into a small point. You can catch them on any irregularity in the weed edge and burried in the weeds(if sunny) but the bigger ones were on those drops. The biggest i caught was just under 5lb. There were also really good fish chasing bedding bluegill on loon, one was really nice, but they wernt so eager to bite, I could get them to bite near wood in the 12ft range tho, nothing impressive tho. I dont know what your fishing for but always keep an eye on your depth finder, theres alot of weird contours in loon pit, someone needs to make a dang topo map of the place, and if you do fish loon i wouldnt run your motor right away til youve trolled around and got a look at it, theres some very shallow humps and points. Look on google earth and youll see what i mean.

[Bragger]

I fished from about 11:30 until about 5:30 on Bluegrass. Just as I was going out I met a boat that told me they had caught all the crappie they could with the 30 minnows they had brought in about 4ft of water - they were out of minnows. They said it was their best crappie day ever on the lake. Of course, I didn't have any minnows. I threw jigs on bank until I found some bedding bluegill which I caught a few that were really nice size. I then moved out around some of the points you were talking about near deeper water and caught several bass, but nothing over a couple pounds. It was a fun day, I probably caught 10 bass or so and a bunch of bluegill. Next time I am bringing minnows. I will probably try a different lake next time.

I am headed down to Dale Hollow Lake for this weekend. I have never been before but I here it is beautiful. Maybe I will get lucky and find a couple of fish down there.

[Moose1am]

I normally stay off Loon Pit because of all the hidden shallow areas. Leaving the Northern Ramp on Loon Pit can be difficult. You have to stay to the East Side until you get further South. Then you have to find the hidden channels that flow though that very shallow water. The West Side of Loon is deeper. I have not ever fished Loon but maybe 6 to 10 times total over the last 4 years.The launch ramp on the North End had rip rap on both sides that's been filled with concrete and there is not way to pull a boat up next to the ramp without doing damage on those big rocks. As Compared to Bluegrass's concrete ramp where there is dirt bank next to the concrete where you can safely park your boat on the shoreline without damage.Has anyone caught any Muskie yet?PS: I drove over to Bluegrass F&W area Sunday afternoon and it was practically empty. Later that Sunday evening there were three boats fishing Bluegrass Pit and only one on Otter Pit. I think that there were only 3 boat trailers parked in the parking lot on Loon's North End.For a Sunday afternoon with air temps in the low 80's and light winds I would have expected more fishermen and boaters out there.

[Stevens]

I havnt caught any but my buddy says he's seen a couple, theres so many gar in there tho you could easily mistake one for a muskie

[Bragger]

Did they stock Muskie in all the pits or only the Bluegrass pit? Do you know if they are still stocking them? I have been to Minnesota several times on Muskie trips and they are a ball to catch.

[Moose1am]

I am 100% sure that they stocked Muskie into Bluegrass Pit. And I am pretty sure that they also Stocked them in Loon Pit.

But this past spring the flood waters were over the roads between Bluegrass and Loon Pit so any fish could have swam over the road between these two pits. Same with Otter Pit as Kansas Road between Otter Pit and Loon Pit was flooded this past spring.

There could be muskie in any of these three pits if they are surviving and flurising.

I am not sure about this years stocking but you can call the folks at Sugar Ridge HQ and ask them. Dan Carnahan is the Fisheries Biologist for this area so ask to speak to him.

Check out the IDNR web site for the phone number.

Did they stock Muskie in all the pits or only the Bluegrass pit? Do you know if they are still stocking them? I have been to Minnesota several times on Muskie trips and they are a ball to catch.