Beehunter

I fish in old stripper pits left over from the coal mining industry. While out Redear fishing a new pit yesterday evening I noticed two LM Bass cruise by that would have weighed around 9-10 pounds. My problem is I can't catch any bass out of this pit as it is extremely clear and you can see down about 20 feet in some areas.There is limited shallow water and the bankdrops straight down into about 40-60 ft of water so these two conditions cut down alot of my options right away.Itried going down to 4 pd test line but this does not seem to help.Do any of you guys out there have any expert advice on fishing these type of pits for trophy Bass? Am I better off fishing at night with a buzzbait or use live bait?

Phil from Maine

The first thing you would need to do is find out what depth they are at. Are they on top? on the bottom? or down 10 feet or 20 feet? Those would be the first thing that you would need to know. Also any brush piles or rock piles they might be hanging around? You may have some luck by being lucky but, knowing a little bit about the water they are in helps out greatly. I have not fished very much for large mouths as we only have 1 lake in this area that has them. But, I am sure others will chime in and try and help you out. Good Luck.

indianahunter83

Basically my best luck when it gets clear is the lightest line I can get away with and clear tubes with some sort of flecks (salt and pepper or sparkly). I also do pretty well with yamamoto grubs down deep. You are definitely going to need a depth finder to find the deeper structure as well as if the big ones are holding on it. Also an interesting technique I have tried a few times with success is throwing out a suspending or floating lure and letting it just drift behind the boat while I fish. Occasionally a bass will come up and nail it. If you get desperate then you never can go wrong with big shiners... unless said pits have tons of smaller bass in them as well.

Chuck7

you never can go wrong with big shiners...
Indiana Jones


Amen to that...

Beehunter

I have thought about using shiners also. I see alot of 14 -16 inch Bass swimming down around 10 ft soI trolled a crankbait along the drop off one eveningand had a little luck before a storm blew in then they quit biting. Next weekend I am going to try running a buzzbait after dark and see how that works. Indiana hunter83 I notice you are in Terre Haute I am 40 min south of you in Linton IN, do you ever come down to Greene /Sullivan county state forest and fish or hunt? If you do and want some advice on where to go just let me know. Chuck I am going to try some shiners friday evening I will let you guys know how it goes. If anyone else has any ideas please let me know.

Chuck7

Chuck I am going to try some shiners friday evening I will let you guys know how it goes. If anyone else has any ideas please let me know.

Bee, I plan to fish my best lake tomorrow.I'll be cranking Rapala deep diving jointed crank baits, bumping a worm and will have 3 dozen shiners on board.Remember to hook those shiners through both lips. Run your hook up through the bottom lip first and use one BB shot about 10" above the shiner to keep it down.Shiners have a tendency to swim toward the surface. I use a 6 1/2 foor medium spinningrod and let the bass catch himself..Last week I used a 7 foor med.heavy.Matt ans i lost every fish UNTIL we switched ot a medium rod..then we caught them all. I also use a number 2 ought worm hook . Adjust that drag good.Shiners generally catch bigger fish
Good luck partner and keep safe
C7