I am fishing the IMC this year and was just wondering if anyone could give some tips on Indiana fishing in late May. I have only fished Indiana in March so really don't know what to expect a little later in the year. From all the videos and articles I am planning on fishing suspended so hopefully I can mark some baitfish in the holes to give me some confidence. The biggest question I have is about the Barbee chain; I love fishing Kuhn, but are the other lakes a better option at this time during the season? Any help is appreciated and feel free to PM me if needed. Also, I have never fished Tippy so was wondering if anyone had some general fishing info on that lake. Thanks in advance for the help!
One of my favorite lakes to fish in the Barbee chain is Sechrist. It is very clear compared to the others. Some nice fish in there and small twitch baits work good. Small white bucktails have produced for us there. It has been a long time since I have been on the Barbee chain. I like the lesser pounded lakes in Indiana. If its a dark day with some wind chop this would be a good lake to fish for the contest. The brighter it is the more stained lake you should fish. Mike
"Kingfisher" said:
One of my favorite lakes to fish in the Barbee chain is Sechrist. It is very clear compared to the others. Some nice fish in there and small twitch baits work good. Small white bucktails have produced for us there. It has been a long time since I have been on the Barbee chain. I like the lesser pounded lakes in Indiana. If its a dark day with some wind chop this would be a good lake to fish for the contest. The brighter it is the more stained lake you should fish. Mike
Do you normally fish the shallower weeds or over deeper water?
Those lakes can be real tricky. You know the drill man. It all depends on where the fish are. Sechrist is not real big . If I remember right there is structure element right after you enter the lake. It is down a ways and to the right. There is house there that has something to do with it I cant remember exactly. It was like a cut with a little point on both sides of it. We pulled a real nice fish off that little spot on a white Mepps bucktail. Most guys dont bother with this lake. I would bet small dawgs, small bucktails and some twitch baits fished on drops would produce there if you had some wind and cloud cover. Its Gin Clear that is for sure. At least it was several years back. If it were me I would start fishing it shallow or position the boat where one guy is tossing shallow to the weeds and the other is fishing out into deeper water.
However our best lake for numbers has to be Webster. We get quite a few trolling 4 and 5 inch shad divers over open water. I also hear rattle traps work good there in early season. Mike
"Kingfisher" said:
Those lakes can be real tricky. You know the drill man. It all depends on where the fish are. Sechrist is not real big . If I remember right there is structure element right after you enter the lake. It is down a ways and to the right. There is house there that has something to do with it I cant remember exactly. It was like a cut with a little point on both sides of it. We pulled a real nice fish off that little spot on a white Mepps bucktail. Most guys dont bother with this lake. I would bet small dawgs, small bucktails and some twitch baits fished on drops would produce there if you had some wind and cloud cover. Its Gin Clear that is for sure. At least it was several years back. If it were me I would start fishing it shallow or position the boat where one guy is tossing shallow to the weeds and the other is fishing out into deeper water.However our best lake for numbers has to be Webster. We get quite a few trolling 4 and 5 inch shad divers over open water. I also hear rattle traps work good there in early season. Mike
Thanks for the help! I am definitely going to try a lot of different things and am studying the lake maps as we speak. It is a three day tourny so I will be fishing webby, barbee, and tippy on consecutive days. The info really helps and hopefully I can have some action.
That clear water really messes with following fish. Sechrist is or at least it used to be ultra clear. We had a real fun day there a few years ago early in the season. I think it was just barely post spawn, temps in the 50's and spitting rain mostly cloudy. We had about a 15 mph wind and the fish were not boat shy. I have fished it on clear bluebird days and not raised a single fish. That day we moved a dozen (three of them right where you enter the lake) Michelle was throwing a mother of pearl Little claw, I was tossing a White double #8 indiana blade bucktail. Ill bet a 1 ounce spinner bait in pearl white slow rolled down the break would produce as well. Bigger baits could be really effective there in the fall(september and October). Vince Werrick is the guy to ask. He really has a handle on multiple fish days on those lakes. He told me to concentrate on all of the chutes or entrances to the lakes. There is current in these places making them predictable holding spots. You could just run and gun all of the choke points 
. Mike
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