BASS FISHINGBass Fishing Sports Blog

March isn’t normally a excellent month of business for Karen Bell. as owner of Tri-State Bait and Tackle in Fremont, she’s not used to it. There’s usually still some snow on the ground. The ice typically is still melting away. Anglers are normally tired of ice fishing by now, she said. Boats are usually still stuck on land. That’s most years. most years it hasn’t been 85 degrees in March. This month has seen unusual temperatures. Record highs were set for eight straight days from March 14 to March 21, most measuring in the mid 80’s. The unseasonably warm weather has brought fishermen out in swarms and spiked business for many northeast Indiana bait stores and fishing retailers during a month that’s usually considered slow. “March is normally a horrid month, but it’s a boomer this year,” Bell said. Longtime fisherman Arthur Stahlhut, owner of Thoraks Jigs in Garrett, said he also is seeing business pick up. Stahlhut has tied his own jigs and supplied a few local bait shops for the last three years. “It’s starting to do a lot better,” he said. “It’s time to get those bass boats out.” David Willms, owner of Willms Hook, Line and Sinker in Orland, said business has been slower for him than other area bait shops. his store opens at 5 a.m. every day, and some days, he wouldn’t sell anything, he said. The lack of quality ice fishing really made this winter worse for his store then normal, Willms said. But, business is starting to pick up. “We’re starting to sell more bait lately,” he said. “things are starting to improve.” Fish are starting to bite in several different lakes, he said. Bass, walleye and red ears are starting to become more active in the warm water. Perch and crappies have already started spawning. “all the fish are shallow and in a few feet of water. I reckon they’re sunbathing,” Bell said. George Micah of Kendallville is starting to travel around northeast Indiana with his red bass boat, poles and net. This warm winter has been excellent for him, too. “I’ve had a lot of fun so far,” he said. “Not only is it nice to be out on the water, but the fish are really biting in the shade. I’ve been catching everything. It’s been a great way to get out of the house.” Bell said the weather has made sure everyone is having a excellent time. “The fish are pleased, and the humans are pleased,” she said.

I am fishing for bass, bluegill, sunfish, crappie, other similiar fish.

No matter where you are in northern Indiana, there are hundreds of places to go fishing. I hate using Lake Michigan, to start with but hey,its right there. Moving straight south, Cedar Lake, & you've got the LaSalle FWA, which covers the wetlands of the Kankakee river, and a little further south is JC Murphy FWA (Willow Slough), and moving a little further east will bring you to places like Lake George, in Hobart, further east you have Hog Lake out in Rolling Prairie, & just south of there, you've got the King/something or other, the Grand Marsh, and Horseshoe Bend, all related structure to the Kankakee. And out that way you'll run into Bass Lake, & Lake Maxinkuckee is in the town of Culver, & I forgot all about Pine Lake in Portage. there are simply hundreds, & hundreds of lakes, from the state line of Illinois to the state line of Ohio, & it would take a couple of days (if not weeks) to talk about the the names & locations, of these waters, let alone each one's nuances. there is a county by county guide/atlas of places to fish, hunt, hike, & enjoy the region of Northern Indiana, but I forgot where I place mine, as I don't use it very often.
Most of these are really a one tank (or less) trip, from anywhere to most anywhere, in Indiana.
Goodluck & good fishing

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A winter tackle show returns this week to State fair Park for the first time in four years.

The Oklahoma Tackle and Hunting Show opens Thursday as Claremore promoter Vance Montgomery tries to recapture the audience once held by the well loved Oklahoma Tackle Show that ran for 29 consecutive years.

In its heyday, the Oklahoma Tackle Show was one of the best of its kind in the Southwest.

It was started in 1984 by the late Hue Wiersig who brought the savvy he had used for 34 years at TG&Y’s National Sales Promotional Manager to the tackle show business. he quickly grew the Oklahoma Tackle Show into the event that kicked off the spring fishing season in Oklahoma.

Don Wallace, the legendary outdoor television host in Oklahoma City, called Wiersig the best promotional man he ever knew.

At its peak, The Oklahoma Tackle Show was attracting as many as 30,000 visitors. Always there was a long waiting line of exhibitors who wanted on the floor.

Wiersig died in 2006 and the show was taken over by an Indiana promoter who canceled the event in 2009 and 2010, citing the poor economy as the reason.

Montgomery, who also produces the Mid-South Tackle Show scheduled Feb 16-19 in Tulsa and the Arkansas Tackle and Hunting Show in Fort Smith on Jan. 19-22, stepped in and brought a winter tackle show to Oklahoma City last year. Montgomery said he did so because people in the outdoors industry begged him to produce a show in Oklahoma City.

“I had hundreds of vendors call me and say ‘we are dying here. We need that show in OKC, it’s the best one we have,’” he said.

but last year’s tackle show was held at the Cox Convention Center in downtown Oklahoma City and didn’t attract the expected crowd.

“That is a great facility,” Montgomery said of the Cox Convention Center. “It’s probably the nicest facility we’ve ever got to do a show in. but there is so much construction downtown, the NBA playing ball there and not enough parking.

“I had people call me and say, ‘we tried to come to the show, but we were not going to park two miles away and walk.’ We still drew almost 10,000 people, but the old tackle show used to draw 25,000 to 30,000.”

So Montgomery has returned the show to State fair Park and its free parking. it opens Thursday and runs through Sunday in the Cox Pavilion.

Montgomery said he didn’t lose any vendors because of last year’s disappointing turnout. The old Oklahoma Tackle Show also was held Valentine’s weekend in February but Montgomery said he had to schedule the show in early January.

“When the show went away for a couple of years the fairgrounds filled that spot. it was really kind of the dates we could get and there are some advantages,” Montgomery said. “If you get too close to fishing season, everybody has bought everything already.”

Montgomery, a tournament bass fisherman who owns a taxidermy business in Claremore, said he focuses on bringing vendors to his show who custom make specialty items so visitors will find lures and other fishing and hunting accessories they might not be able to find in retail stores.

Visitors to the Oklahoma Tackle and Hunting Show can buy raffle tickets to win a prize that will be given away every 15 minutes of the four-day show. The prizes include guided fishing and hunting trips, including African hunts, as well as fishing and hunting gear.

Part of the proceeds from the raffle will go to group called “100,000 Kids in the Outdoor Foundation.” The organization gets kids involved in the outdoors who normally do not have the opportunity to do so, Montgomery said.

“I see so many kids now that no one in their families are hunters or fishermen and they don’t have that to get them started,” he said. “If you don’t get kids between 5 and 15 involved, you are probably never going to get them involved. We are trying to crate the next generation of hunters and fishermen so it doesn’t go away.”

Giving a prize away every 15 minutes also helps keep visitors at the show, Montgomery said.

“I went to a show in an Ohio and they were doing something similar to this,” he said. “The more people stay around, the better it is. it keeps people in the show which helps the companies.”

The Oklahoma Tackle and Hunting Show will feature several seminars by hunting and fishing guides and even an appearance by R. J. and Jay Paul Molinere from the History Channel’s “Swamp People.”

The Oklahoma Tackle and Hunting Show

When: Thursday 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Where: State fair Park in the Cox Pavilion

Admission: $10 for adults and teens; $3 for ages 6 to 12; Free for ages 5 and younger.

Activities: Kids’ Trout Pond, Fetch and Fish Dog Show, Bass Tub Seminar, Joe Martin’s Texas Rattlesnake Show, Kids Archery Shooting, free bluegrass music concerts, wild turkey calling contest and more. The first 500 kids on Friday beginning at 5 p.m. receive a free prize.

Probable seminar schedule

Thursday

6 p.m. — Chuck Justice on Catching Fish on North Wind Days

7:45 p.m. — Charles Jones on Catching Catfish Year Round

8 p.m. — Loren Ferren on Turkey Calling

Friday

Noon — Todd Huckabee on big Crappie Year Round

2 p.m. — Loren Ferren on Calling in big Spring Turkeys

3 p.m. — Jarad Roper on Catching Crappie on a New Lake

4 p.m. — Chuck Justice on how to Catch the biggest Fish of Your Life

5 p.m. — Danny King on Catching big Cats on his World Well-known Punch Bait

6 p.m. — Swamp People live on stage

7 p.m. — Barry Morrow on Locating Transitional Crappie

Saturday

11 a.m. — Kenneth Whitehead on Calling Mallards and Setting Decoys

Noon — Swamp People live on stage

1 p.m. — Todd Huckabee on Catching Crappie Using Your Electronics

2 p.m. — J.R. Oldham on Learning to Use Your Electronics

3 p.m. — Chuck Justice on Locating big Bass on Ledges

4 p.m. — Danny King on Catfishing Deep Water on New Lakes

6 p.m. — Swamp People live on stage

7 p.m. — Catching big Cats Year Round

8 p.m. — Loren Ferren on how to Locate Spring Time Turkeys

Sunday

11 a.m. — Danny King on how to Catch Catfish on Punch Bait

Noon — Kenneth Whitehead on Calling Late Season Ducks and Setting Decoys

1 p.m. — Round Table Discussion with Danny King, Todd Huckabee, Chuck Justice, Barry Morrow and Jarad Roper

2 p.m. — Jarad Roper on Spider Rigging big Crappie

3 p.m. — J.R. Oldham on Understanding Your Electronics

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so im going river fishing for the first time, so i need help and tips for catching fish, the river has Largemouth, Smallmouth, Rockbass, Spotted Bass, Hybrid and striped bass, Walleye, sauger, Northern, crappie, and Sucker Fish, soo anyone got tips

Ok, so here goes. My Bro In Law and I are coming down to fish Lake Barkley this upcoming Easter Weekend (Early April) and want to know what everyone thinks of the lake? Excellent places to try while were there? We're Coming from Indianapolis and were looking at Eddyville as a place to originate from. Any excellent places to place in around Eddyville? Also we plot on camping in the Land between the Lakes Area and would like input on this area as well. as I have never been there any thing one could provide on LBL or Lake Barkley would be appreciated.

How many of these counties are dry counties? should we stock up before we go? I see that boating / drinking laws are the same as Indiana but what about have a brew by the campfire after fishing all day? Is this permissable?

Bass and Crappie are our primary targets. what kinda results do you reckon we could expect in early April? Water temps are rising and we've already got Spring Fever!!

my grandpa has a houseboat at lake Barkley and i fish there every spring and summer. first i would fish along the canal in between Kentucky lake and Barkley lake.you should expect to catch a lot of Crappie, they should be on their beds.just find brush piles and stick with them all day.I suggest using minnows and jigs. Barkley is a fantastic lake to fish all year round. Excellent Luck!

Check with the locals once you get there. Crappies should be hot and I'll bet the bass are near spawning.
Overall it's a fantastic area to fish and camp. I would get a real excellent map and concentrate on a small part of the lake.

I am a new angler trying to figure out what I should use for bass fishing. I live in indiana and the water here is pretty murky. I would like to have somewhat detailed answers so I can know why I should use that bait and when, Thank you.

If the sun is out, go with a brown jig, the small ones with a spinning tail.
If it is overcast, go with something a small lighter, but not real bright. go with a green jig or worm with a small black on it.

brown jig…google.com/imgres?imgurl=http…

green/black jig….google.com/imgres?imgurl=http…

If the water is like that try something natural like a Chub, Minnow, Worm, or Shrimp but you could always use lures too if you like.

defiantly try the zman chatterbait its an incredible lure the waters murky but the chatterbait puts out so much vibration the bass will detect it from a long distance away

I am going bass fishing in Indiana.

use a jig, they are hard to get used to but they will catch a lot of bass and they are gonna be huge. you can also use spinnerbaits like the other guy said, and use crayfish colored crankbaits, but make sure you keep bottom contact and reel them in slow. Set the hook on anything that feels weird cuz the fish wont really fight, it will feel like you hooked a tire, best way to explain it.

Jigs or a drop-shot rigged 4" plastic worm.

In very cold water, bass are NOT going to be active at all and are not going to be chasing down quick moving bait. A crankbait and a spinnerbait (unless bounced on the bottom like a jig) probably won't work, especially a crawfish colored one, it's a small early in the season for them for bass to be gorging on.

but also for me to do my little bit of shopping kind of like a Brown County Indiana (with all the little cute historic/touristy shops) does anyone have any idea where to go and/or what lake would be fantastic fishing AND have the shopping nearby??

I live in Michigan, and our coastline has receded a LOT. Mackinaw is okay if you have a boat that can take you pretty far out into the lakes. Charlevoix is a beautiful city with a harbor and boating and a main drag with tons of shops and inns. I would go there if I were you.

michigansportsmanmag.com/fish…

I live in Gary but I am willing to drive aways like an hour or so… I just wanna catch some fish I'll even drive to Illinois

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