Big Indiana Bass

Trying to take advantage of every day on open water I can get, weather permitting. With a high temperature of 48 degrees today, I really wanted to sneak out again for a few. Did brunch with the family in the morning, then got a pass on doing family house hopping during the day...but there was a catch, as you'll see.

I was a bit concerned about the wind forecast, and it turned out to be about exactly as predicted. Hit the ramp at 1:30, and no surprise, but I was the only rig there. At that time, winds were steady at 16-24 mph from the west, with gusts to 32. Air temp had just peaked for the day, and launching wasn't a problem given the direction. Temperatures would continue to drop from there, down to 40 degrees when I called it at 5:30 and headed back for Christmas dinner with the family. Barometer had just bottomed out at 30.13 and would start rising all afternoon from that point. Water temp was 41 degrees.

The other concern was water clarity. As expected, I never found anything clear enough to get bit on a jerkbait. But what I did find was that the lake seems to have stabilized for the most part clarity wise, and the bass have made the adjustment and started biting again in many parts of the lake. Even areas with a decent bit of stain, as well as spots I hadn't been able to get bit off of just days ago, were producing a few fish. Everything came on jigs today, both black and brown/orange. Never tried the crankbait, though I might later in the week. Finished the day with 26 bass, and you've probably figured out the "catch" by now. Wife said if I was going to go fishing, I had to show some holiday spirit by wearing a Santa hat today, so I did. Got a few honks from people passing by in cars, and a few waves from people out on their decks. Guessing there were many others I never saw who wondered who was crazy enough to be out running around the lake on Christmas Day, fishing in such a festive manner. Tis the season, and a small price to pay for fishing open water on December 25th.

Winds finally died down as the evening came on, becoming a more manageable 10-12 out of the WNW. That's pretty much what they're calling for most of this week, so hopefully a bit more of the lake will be fishable in the little aluminum.

Got home just in time to catch a great sunset on the Morse Lake webcam.

Thursday was going to be touch and go. According to the weather forecast, rain was supposed to move into the area around 1:00. Detailed analysis put the chances at 37%, meaning there was a 63% chance we wouldn't get it. By noon, after I had gotten a lot of my chasing done for the day, the air temps had hit 40 degrees, skies were completely overcast, but no rain yet. In fact, the radar showed most of it still down toward the Evansville area and moving slowly. I hooked up the boat and made a run for it, figuring any time on the water was better than none at all, the great part about living close to a decent fishery.

Wind was a non-factor as there simply wasn't any. That meant go anywhere and fish anywhere as boat control wouldn't be a problem. The bigger question (or problem) was going to be water clarity. Most lakes and rivers have been trashed by this last rain. Even the crappie guys are struggling mightily right now. It's that double-edged sword thing again. The rain has been partly responsible for keeping all the lakes open and ice free. If air temps had been just 8 or 10 degrees cooler last week, we'd be dealing with several FEET of snow just like those poor people down in the Southwest Plains (NM,OK, TX, AK, MO) got.

Launched the boat at 12:30 and water was stained. Started fishing a few close areas on the lower end of the lake and things were slow. About the best clarity I could find initially was marginal 2' vis. Tried throwing the jerkait but couldn't draw a strike. Did start picking up a couple on the jig, but it was just one per bank. Started moving around and heading midlake. Water clarity started getting worse in most places. Finally rounded a point to a large creek arm and hit mud. No sense in going any further. Turned the boat around and started fishing my way back toward the dam looking for little clear water coves or pockets that might have missed the brunt of the stained water. Actually did end up finding a couple small areas of better clarity, and managed to catch a few more bass off each - still, it was a grind all day. Called it just after 5:30 and only had 13 bass to show for it. Rain started falling 10 minutes after I parked the boat back in the garage - good timing.

Friday was going to be colder, with highs only reaching the upper 30's. Clouds were supposed to start breaking, but I'd never see sunshine for more than a couple minutes. Still, I thought after figuring out the better clarity areas on the lake yesterday, I'd have a better shot by being able to go right to the holes. Wind finally picked up a bit, turning into a light breeze overnight, just 3-5 mph out of the NNW. Wasn't in a hurry to launch, so waited until air temps climbed to about 37 before hooking up and going. Got to the ramp at 1:00 and was the only rig there. Actually had one other guy launch at the same time as me yesterday, but he left early, I presume after not doing well fishing wise.

Launched the boat into the 42 degree water, warmed the engine while fishing a couple points next to the ramp, then rolled out to my first area. Started with a jerkbait but immediately saw a problem. What was clearer water yesterday wasn't so today. That slight breeze blew stained water right into the protected areas I had found the day before. Again, no bites on a jerkbait.

Had a friend call me at the ramp as he was ready to launch. He thought he'd have the lake to himself. Instead, we laughed that I was just as crazy as he was when it came to fishing. This was one hour into the day already and I only had one bass to show for it. Today was shaping up to be tougher. The more I moved, the more I realized that all those areas had become really stained overnight. It was looking like it would be another grind.

Ran into my friend on the water an hour later and they hadn't had a bite, not even a white bass - bad sign. Two hours in and I was now up to 3 bass - not pretty. Still, we agreed it was better than working. He said they were going to throw in the towel if their next spot or two didn't pan out. Saw them run for the ramp half an hour later - guess they never did start biting. I hit a stained but decent spot in the mean time and picked up three more; total now 6 in 2.5 hours. Grind on, alone on the lake.

Ran to a new spot I found 2 weeks ago that I'm nicknaming "the money hole". Haven't not caught a fish there since finding it on any trip, sometimes catching as many as 10 or more in this little area. The spot didn't fail me today, even in the murky water giving up a 15" bass on the jig. Jerkbait had long since been retired, but I had been trying a small crawdad crankbait along riprap banks given the stain, but the bass weren't buying it either.

Moved a bit further uplake into some water I hadn't tried the other day due to the stained water. I wanted to see how bad it got in a couple areas that are normally cold water guarantees. It wasn't mud, but it was heavily stained. Graphed a bunch of nice fish stacked up in 15'-17' of water in this area. Threw the jig on them a few times and never got a bite. Probably white bass, but I would have taken a bunch of them just to get some action.

Almost fired it up to head back down lake toward the dam and tough it out in less stained waters, but decided to pop over to one last deep water spot and check on some crappie that had been stacked in this area. Threw the jig in there a time or two and caught a small bass - I'll take it. There were still a few fish around sitting in the hole, but no large groups of crappie like what had been in there just a week or two back. I started moving down the bank a bit and the water seemed a smidge clearer than most other areas up this way.

I'm not one to believe in magic baits, though I definitely think you can, say, have identical crankbaits where one flat catches fish while the other hauls water. Is that magic? Probably not, but it's about as close as you get in bass fishing, unless you count the Alabama Rig - that's a joke, folks. So the question is, can the same thing apply to a jig? I wouldn't think so, but then again what happened next has me wondering.

Don probably has a name for all his jigs. He's the tier, he calls them whatever he wants, but I just renamed this one particular tie of his "Don's Magic Craw". I'm guessing it was some combination of a really good area with lots of fish, combined with a good color for that particular water clarity, and even the proper retrieve if I can credit myself a little. Regardless, it was an hour and 45 minutes of solid winter bass fishing. My measly count of 7 bass grew to 31 before heading to the ramp.

Everywhere I threw, I caught. Nothing giant mind you, but lots of solid pound and a half to two pound bass, along with a fair share of little guys. Every time I hung the jig up, I sweated a little until I safely retrieved it from the hidden object. I checked my knot strength after every fish. As I said, I'm not a big believer in magic baits, but I certainly didn't want to test out another jig on these fish by losing the one I had tied on. Call it superstitious, or probably more appropriate, resistance to change - I'm a creature of habit. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Extended forecast from here on out is back into the low 40's with lots of sunshine. I think I might be able to entice a jerkbait fish or two if I could get some light to help flash the bait better - we'll see. Next day or two will be Holiday gatherings with the family, but I'll be ready to sneak back out ASAP and keep chasing these open water bass. It's a rarity to be able to launch and fish this late in the year - haven't been able to do it in a long time, perhaps as long as 8-10 years. Might be 8 or 10 more before we get the chance again, so I'm going to take full advantage of it. A couple days of light winds and no rain might even help the lake clear a bit, so I'm expecting good things when I head out next...and I still have Don's Magic Craw jig tied on :)