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Thread: Fishing in strip mine pits

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    ky
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    Default Fishing in strip mine pits


    Hi I am new here and wanted to let you know a little bit about where I fish at. I fish mostly on the Peabody WMA's in western KY. One of me and my sons favorite holes to fish in is a lake about a mile long ( plus/minus). It ranges from 10 to 20 feet on one end to 40 to 50 feet through the center to 5 to 10 feet on the back end. It has three small ( tributaries?) branches, two climb from deep water to 20 or around feet and end at about 2 feet deep. The other rises to around 10 feet before it finally ends at around a foot deep. Now this lakes like most tripe lakes. It is smooth bottomed with very little structure other than what trees have fallen in over time. There are some large pronounced humps on the bottom that appear to be rocks. The two branches have very little in the way of structure in the bottom either. Assorted large rocks and beaver dams around the sides. The large one has dead snags and fallen trees in he back end of it (shallow water) It also has a solid rock wall around the middle of it.
    I know there are crappie in it, I have caught them, but not consistently. My question is, has anyone else fished lakes like these and if you have what kind of experience did you have with crappie spawning activities? Since there is very limited cover in both shallow and deep water, where would you concentrate your fishing activities at right now and through the later parts of the spawn?
    Any ideas would be appreciated. I fish several lakes like this and always fail to figure out where they are.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Western MA
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    I fish a similar rock quarry from shore quite a bit, whenever I have a few hours to kill and I don't want to drag the boat. They produce some nice crappie, yellow perch, bluegill and even largemouth bass. Most times I find the crappie to be suspended about 5' below the surface. Although sometimes they will be deeper. More rarely do I find them really shallow, except during the spawn.

    I use two types of presentations. One is the slip bobber early in the season, with a 1/32 oz. marabou jig suspended beneath it. I vary the depth and use a very slow retrieve back to the bank. After a few fan casting retrieves, I change the depth of the jig and continue casting & retrieving along various points and humps that I know I can reach from shore.

    The next presentation, which is very productive in the warmer season, is casting a 1/16 oz. jig head dressed with a BGBS (straight tail plastic) on the back. This I will cast out and retrieve slowly. I start out right at the surface, fan casting from where I'm standing and progressively count down until I locate active fish. Sometimes a slow rolling retrieve just off the bottom gets me bit, especially with the yellow perch. Hope this is of some help.
    "A voyage in search of knowledge need never abandon the spirit of adventure."

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    TX
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    I too have a similar quarry that is 34 feet deep at the deep end and 10-20' everywhere else except where the banks slope up all around. The water is much clearer than a natural lake. What is the main bait fish in the lake? Mine has shad. I use lures that imitate the shad and get bites often trolling at different depths. I use Kastmaster spoons with the water so clear and they strike them with force! Use some kind of bait that the crappie will attack. I troll the 10-15' areas with the most luck and in the winter they are a bit deeper. There is no structure in this lake either except for a bridge to a small island and the crappie believe it or not DO NOT hang around the bridge pilings as I think they are too small and in too shallow water (9'). I see the fish gather over the softer bottom areas and usually where there is a small "hump" of dirt or rocks.
    If I were you I would make a plan to troll the 10-20' areas for the day and try different depths and different bright colored or shiny lures to entice a bite. If that day fails try the deeper water at the same depths but drop a few a little deeper nd see if they are there. I found that breaking it up into two separate fishing days I can find them easier and see hwat they want to eat.
    Here is a Reefmaster scan I did of the lake...
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    USAF Retired and fishing!


  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
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    ky
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    Thanks for the posts. I am going to try to get a pic of the lake up on here to show you what it looks like.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Location
    Iowa
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    Is it a rock quarry or sand/gravel pit? Are there any weed lines?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Ohio
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    The biggest white crappie have ever personally seen (21+") came from a gravel pit where we sank 300+ "C" trees. There is shad and minnow forage base, pan fish including yellow perch, tiger musky, stripers and walleye including 3 4"- 5' ones personally caught; there has been no stocking there that anyone knew of for 15+ yrs. The majority of the "C" trees were sunk in lines shallow to deep in 8 to 20+ fow. Needless to say, the 15 sets immediately became instant `hot spots`...many bass, cats and stripers were since taken off them. Draw your own conclusions...

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
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    ky
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    All the lakes I fish are 30+ year old coal strip mine lakes. This particular one also has a flooded underground mine shaft. There is a weed line, the depth it starts at and whether there is one varies depending on the part of the lake. I will try to post an aerial photo of the lake.

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