# Brookville 3/27/11



## CincyFisher (Nov 12, 2010)

Cold day on the lake this afternoon. Water temps in the mid forties and water level somewhere close to summer pool I'm guessing. No crappie bite at all for me on jigs. Caught one small musky, one large carp (foul hooked with jerk bait) and one keeper bass on T-Rig. North of Hanna.


----------



## 1johnb (Nov 9, 2009)

I would like to hear more about the muskie. I plan on putting more effort into the brookville muskies this year.


----------



## NLC25 (Jan 21, 2008)

1johnb said:


> I would like to hear more about the muskie. I plan on putting more effort into the brookville muskies this year.


Take this with a grain of salt---and I don't want to deter you---but I have honestly never heard of someone targeting muskies at Brookville. I am not sure the population is big enough to justify it. For whatever reason the Indiana DNR does not consistently stock the lake; they only stock muskies if there are leftovers after stocking the rest of the lakes in the state (they did stock them last year at Fairfield boat ramp). This is not to say they are not caught, I've seen a few caught, but it might be such that the fish of a 1,000 casts would become the fish of 50,000 casts.


----------



## treytd32 (Jun 12, 2009)

I saw that also that they stocked them only as "overflow" or whatever.. the left over after other lakes are stocked. When do they stock the lake if it does get stocked on a given year? Would be interesting to catch one of those on crappie gear lol


----------



## 1johnb (Nov 9, 2009)

I have checked the stock reports dont have the info handy. The numbers may not be great ,but some's better than none. I can be on brookville in 45min twice that for cc. It only takes 1 cast notice my avatar. Beginers luck?


----------



## 1johnb (Nov 9, 2009)

I not trying to be arrogant but i have limited time to spend on the water and want to use it wisely. If iwere after numbers i would go to the cave or webster. But also would be nice to pull a fifty out of brookville. I also dont expect to catch one every time i go


----------



## dac (Jun 24, 2004)

No expert here, but I will tell you what I know. I believe there are a few big muskies swimming in Brookville. I fish for bass there a lot, and over the years while bass fishing I have caught a few, lost a few, and had more than a few follows. Most of the musky I have caught have been under 24 inches, but I have lost a few much bigger, including a monster ski a few years ago in November in Big Salt Well. I have considered spending time targeting them, but just have not got around to it because I love to bass fish at bville. I think the population overall is pretty small. With 4 bass tournies a week over there, you would think more would be caught accidentally if the population was very healthy. I spent a lot of time at the Cave growing up, and that is definately where I would go to catch them. As far as my own experiences, if I were after musky at Brookville, I would look for them suspended around the standing timber in the creeks most of the year. I have caught/lost them in Big Elly, Big and Little SaltWells, Wolf, Templeton, and Striper. I have also caught a couple behind the sailboats in Hanna and in Kent's Harbor in the early spring. I believe I read years back that a musky hunter spent a summer looking for them and found them suspended 20 feet deep over 60 plus feet of water near the dam trolling in the hottest part of the summer. I would think it would take a lot of musky only trips to ever really figure anything out over there, but if you ever got on to anything you would have it all to yourself. Nobody musky fishes there.


----------



## 1johnb (Nov 9, 2009)

Thanks for the reply dac. Ever bit helps. I am suprised you havent got the bug . Their is nothing more exciting than a 4 foot long followong ,and more heart breaking than watching them swim away you ask why dont they eat. That is why i fish for them i go for the one's i dont catch.


----------



## imalt (Apr 17, 2008)

1johnb i sent you a pm


----------



## NLC25 (Jan 21, 2008)

1johnb said:


> I not trying to be arrogant but i have limited time to spend on the water and want to use it wisely. If iwere after numbers i would go to the cave or webster. But also would be nice to pull a fifty out of brookville. I also dont expect to catch one every time i go


The biggest I've seen caught the weighed around 14lbs. Haven't heard of any 40 or 50 inches other than the one that was caught in the tailwaters years ago (no reason why there would not be). Again, I don't want to deter you--just giving you fair warning. I figure you would hear about people targeting them if there was a good enough population in the lake. I don't know why they don't stock more of them...maybe because they worry about the muskies and stripers competing.

I think they stocked the fingerlings in July of last year. They were not but 4 inches or so, not worth messing with.


----------



## imalt (Apr 17, 2008)

I have just now started targeting them there. I dont know about last years #'s but in 2009 there were 2951 minnow fed musky stocked and they were 8-10" fish. I think all there stockings are bigger minnow fed fingerlings becasue idnr figured out they do better. There has also been many years where there was more than 15000 musky stocked. that is three fish per acre for an overflow lake. That is more fish per acre than ohio stocks. I believe they are there and have been told by people I trust that they are there. I think once someone got on a pattern for them there they would really be on to some big fish. And like another poster said there arent many people trying to musky fish that lake. I just like it better than cc and its closer to my house. I dont see alot of reports on brookville anyway I think somethings are better kept a secret.


----------



## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

1johnb said:


> I have checked the stock reports dont have the info handy. The numbers may not be great ,but some's better than none. I can be on brookville in 45min twice that for cc. It only takes 1 cast notice my avatar. Beginers luck?


Is that avatar fish from Bville? If so, holy cow! The beauty of it is even if everyone & their brother knew about it (Caesar's Creek) they'd still flourish because they are not easy to successfully target. I love Bville and fish it frequently & would love to know if there are indeed trophy musky hidin' out in there. I know there is a large portion of the lake that is shallow & full of timber... sounds like the right recipe.


----------



## uncadave (Nov 4, 2010)

Great report. I was out there Sunday as well. Fished just north of first causeway, caught 1 LM on a jerkbait. I hope the water warms up with all this sunshine, but the wind is a killer for me on my hands/face.

Re: muskie/pike, had 1 run-in years ago at B'ville. Got a 32" in the boat that whacked my shallow crank. We catch many fish up at St. Clair...what a rush when one unloads on a Zara Spook.


----------



## imalt (Apr 17, 2008)

what kind of water temps are you guys getting? I know last weekend I was only getting up to 42


----------



## NLC25 (Jan 21, 2008)

I will say the handful that I have seen caught were at the back of the main lake coves during early spring or late fall.


----------



## uncadave (Nov 4, 2010)

47F was the warmest I saw, with color in the water from dam to first causeway (not muddy, but stained, with approx. 1' visibility).


----------



## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

Love to hear about bigguns being caught years ago... that's all I needed to hear.


----------



## imalt (Apr 17, 2008)

This is the most anyone has talked about brooville since I have been on ogf I am glad to see it.


----------



## CincyFisher (Nov 12, 2010)

I've only seen one big musky caught at bville and that was 2 summers ago just south of Fairfield ramp. It was a 36" musky caught on a crankbait during a bass tournament. Good luck...


----------



## treytd32 (Jun 12, 2009)

They used to stock Acton with musky as my grandpa used to go out and catch them. I saw a picture of a huge one that he and my uncle caught.. Always wondered why they stopped. Found this after a little digging last year. Food for thought.. if your a lm

https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream...d=F633C44205F0D008283E4564FCC24E73?sequence=1


----------



## imalt (Apr 17, 2008)

I cant access the link what does it say?


----------



## treytd32 (Jun 12, 2009)

it is a study on the survival rate of stocked muskie in both Acton and Stonelick. They also tested survival rates in a pond under various conditions as a base. Mostly what the study showed was that nearly all of the fish stocked died from thermal stress and those that did not die were preyed upon heavily by lm bass (unless over 250mm when stocked). They found that releasing fish at night vs day made no difference and that releasing them in november or septemeber (after turn over) caused the fish the least stress. Its a pdf if you don't have adobe that may be why you cant open it.


----------



## NLC25 (Jan 21, 2008)

treytd32 said:


> it is a study on the survival rate of stocked muskie in both Acton and Stonelick. They also tested survival rates in a pond under various conditions as a base. Mostly what the study showed was that nearly all of the fish stocked died from thermal stress and those that did not die were preyed upon heavily by lm bass (unless over 250mm when stocked). They found that releasing fish at night vs day made no difference and that releasing them in november or septemeber (after turn over) caused the fish the least stress. Its a pdf if you don't have adobe that may be why you cant open it.


The fish I saw stocked last year gathered up in a school at the top of the surface....I figured a lot of them would be toast rather quickly. They looked like especially easy pickings for birds.


----------



## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

The fact there's not a huge population of them makes them even more alluring.


Not only is a 50"+ very possible @ Bville, it'll be very rewarding when you land it. 

I'll definitely be on the lookout next trip!


----------



## cincinnati (May 24, 2004)

now the word's out & there'll be new fishermen sitting on all the secret spots!!


----------



## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

cincinnati said:


> now the word's out & there'll be new fishermen sitting on all the secret spots!!


That's just fine & dandy. After they've put in their first 200 hours without a fish, they'll thin out.



They always do.


----------



## TRC3 (Mar 19, 2011)

There was a picture hanging at 52 pickup last year of a nice musky some lady caught at Brookville. I think it was in the 40" range. 2 years ago I had a pretty small musky break me off on a Zara Spook puppy (8lb mono...)


----------



## imalt (Apr 17, 2008)

I guess I dont understand the study because there is lm in stonelick, cc, alum and so on and they do well there. I am not at the 200 hrs yet but I am close. And like fallen said the 50"+ will be that much more rewarding. I am not giving up on it everybody else can go to cc with all the other musky hunters.


----------



## treytd32 (Jun 12, 2009)

I was just throwing it out there for anyone interested but it seemed like a lot of the fish stocked in stonelick died pretty quickly, thats not to say that there isn't a healthy population of them there (they mentioned there being a small reproducing population in Acton, nothing about SL). You stock enough of anything and it is bound to take hold at some point. Something like 30% of fish stocked in a predator free net died within 2 days from stress at stonelick and 10% at acton. What I took from it was that environmental/temperature related stress affected the fish more than anything else. I feel like this bodes better for brookville rather than acton or stonelick although they are stratified. One of the largest problems that stood out to me was the lack of aquatic vegitation at both Acton and Stonlick during the study.

There is a part that mentions the fish immediately after being stocked during the day would school up on the surface and be breaking the surface, a stress related response, also the ones stocked at night would slowly go to the bottom but the next day rise high in the water column in close proximity to the shore. Which one sounds more accurate for what you saw at brookeville NLC25?

Keep in mind that a study is grain of salt in the big picture.. just interesting to see how these fish react in similar environments on different bodies of water.


----------



## I'll go in after it (Feb 5, 2011)

Good article Trey after reading the whole pdf I have come to the scientific conclusion that they have found the best bass bait ( and the most expensive )


----------



## Dan21XRS (Nov 4, 2007)

I caught a 41 incher accross from the dam ramp on a jerkbait. He hit with about 10ft of line out, scared the crap out of me.... Dan


----------



## NLC25 (Jan 21, 2008)

This was a few hours after they were stocked.


----------



## treytd32 (Jun 12, 2009)

a picture's worth a thousand words lol those do look like bird bait


----------



## nitsud (May 22, 2010)

Ouch! I wish I could tell them to go deeper or find some vegetation... but fish never listen to me anyway.

Neat pic in any case.


----------



## NLC25 (Jan 21, 2008)

nitsud said:


> Ouch! I wish I could tell them to go deeper or find some vegetation... but fish never listen to me anyway.
> 
> Neat pic in any case.


I can't take credit for the photo, I swiped it from someone who was there the same day. They really do not have anywhere to hide on the main lake. There is practically no cover. Maybe they should release them at the Mounds.


----------



## TRC3 (Mar 19, 2011)

yellow20xd said:


> I caught a 41 incher accross from the dam ramp on a jerkbait. He hit with about 10ft of line out, scared the crap out of me.... Dan


For what its worth to anyone looking to fish for them, this is where I had my encounter as well.


----------



## imalt (Apr 17, 2008)

It is a good idea that they should change the location. Maybe go to the gar hill ramp or templeton at least they would have some timber. You would think that someone smarter than us would choose the fairfield ramp for a reason though. But maybe I am giving them too much credit. For what its worth I think they release them at the welman ramp at caesars creek and that is the deepest part of that lake also so maybe there is some theory behind that.


----------



## 1johnb (Nov 9, 2009)

I have been told by a few people that they had caught them near the dam also . Thanks for the info . Maybe some day another state record will come out of brookville. I would pay to see imalt catch it in his kayak:Banane51::xena_banana::Banane51::Banane35:


----------



## treytd32 (Jun 12, 2009)

imalt said:


> It is a good idea that they should change the location. Maybe go to the gar hill ramp or templeton at least they would have some timber. You would think that someone smarter than us would choose the fairfield ramp for a reason though. But maybe I am giving them too much credit. For what its worth I think they release them at the welman ramp at caesars creek and that is the deepest part of that lake also so maybe there is some theory behind that.


I'm not all to familiar with the areas you mentioned but when they released them in Acton and Stonelick there were very few predatory fish in the proximity at Acton and there were more predatory fish where they released them at Stonelick and they saw more muskie eaten. Might have something to do with that. I know I wouldn't want to be sharing a stump with a 20" largemouth if I was a cigar sized muskie lol


----------



## Hillbilly910 (Jan 6, 2009)

ive have seen the the little guys(like NL25 posted) numerous times, and i can tell you as a bass fishermen, get the biggest stick bait you got and tie it on...the bass absolutey destroy those figerling muskie. Poor little fellers will even jump up on the bank to get away, then flop around, and do it again...caught some big bass under the baby muskies...
saw a muskie in the back of bonwell as the ice was coming off, probably 14" id guess, ive never seen a big one, and have never caught one either, big or little from brookville.

HB


----------



## imalt (Apr 17, 2008)

i heard a rumor the old state record that was caught in the tailwaters at brookville was actually snagged. The rumor is the water was really low and the person snagged it when they saw it. Who knows the fact that it was there is still cool. I know the smallmouth fishing is really good in the whitewater so I am going to try to kayak fish it for musky some time this summer and see what happens. I have a hard time thinking that indiana would waste the time and money stocking brookville if they thought they were just putting food for the other predators in the water. Hopefully one of us on this thread can come up with some definite answers one way or another. I do know there is some guys in the ky musky club that fish brookville so hopefully those guys know something.If nothing else at least there is finally some people on here talking about brookville. I do


----------



## Mason52 (Aug 21, 2009)

I do know that the DNR has released muskies at Wellman and also at the North pool ramps. When you think of thousands of fish being released the photo doesn't seem like quite as many fish as it does just looking and not thinking about the number of fished released. One thing I do know is that after release they move through the lake fairly quick. I recall one year after they released them in C C at the Wellman ramp I saw one caught 1 or 2 days later close to the 73 bridge by a boy crappie fishing with his dad on a jig. A member of our club has several photos of the newly stocked fish with shad not much smaller then they are in their mouth trying to swallow them.


----------

