The Structure Cafe

After severe storms and 3/4 inch of rain yesterday, today was north winds at 13-16 mph, rising barometer, and falling air temps through the afternoon. With fairly clear water at 46 degrees, I wasn't sure what to expect. Surprisingly, the fish were moving well, and I managed nearly 2 dozen bass including several that were pretty nice (2>4 lbs., 1>5 lbs.). Thanks Buck!

Well, the last day on the water finally came for me. Had to burn a couple hours of vacation yesterday to squeeze it in, but it was worth it. Temps go downhill from here through the weekend, then we have a forecasted 3-5 inches of snow on Sunday, and finally the polar vortex crap comes in mid to late next week and really chills things down (single digits and below). With 43.5 degree surface temps out there today, it won't take long before ice starts forming.

Today wasn't perfect weather-wise with a high of 43 when I launched, dropping to 38 by the time I took out 3.5 hours later. No sun, just heavy cloud cover. Winds were 15-21 mph out of the WNW with gusts all afternoon between 27-32 mph. Perfect conditions for a Spoonplugger

Finished the afternoon with 20 bass including several "adult-sized" fish to make it even better. Everything on the cast again today. Time to now relax and begin the long winter process of cleaning up the boat and tackle, reorganizing everything for next year, pulling old line and cleaning/oiling reels, etc. It's been another great year on the water. Hate to see it end, but there is always next year to look forward to

Our lakes are getting ready to freeze, bringing to a close another season of fishing. Surface temperatures are now down to 44 degrees. However, by following guidelines for both fish location and lure presentation, nice catches can still be had. The following fish, just a few of the ones among over 50 landed, were all caught this past week.

A few pictures of some nice slabs caught this past week from central Indiana reservoirs.

Here's a sample of the fish we've been catching the past 2-3 weeks locally. By keying on structure, you will put yourself in a position to catch all kinds of fish depending upon presentation.

We've been on a bit of a crappie tear recently... 

Here's a few photos from this weekend's crappie trip. The top is a screenshot of a breakline we were fishing showing fish sitting tight on the drop as it slid off from about 9' of water into 17'-19' of water. The next is what those fish happened to be. The last was our final tally after a good day on the water. Structure situations (structure, breaks, breaklines, deep water) accounted for all these fish.