COFFEEN FISHERMEN

[bkirch]

Those of you who fish Coffeen regularly already know that the fishing has gone totally to hell. Tournament results, and therefore attendance, has been unbelievably bad. It's been about six weeks since the plant was shut down, and for a couple weeks after, the fishing remained pretty normal. Since then, it's like somebody stole all the fish. I'm not aware of any credible stories about seeing a fish kill or anything like that. I can only guess that the consistent lack of current and the early cold temperatures (small ponds had a skim of ice in mid November) have the bass and the bait totally confused.

I'm wondering if anyone has any other knowledge or thoughts on the situation.

[STRETCH1]

I am sure the fish are still there but everyone fished the spots depending on the power plant. It now should fish like a regular lake which will take some getting used to.

[stratosjoe]

Deeper water, smaller baits, slower presentation. Warmer clothes hotter coffee.!

[stratosjoe]

Deeper water, smaller baits, slower presentation. Warmer clothes hotter coffee.!

[Outdoorsman76]

I think the biggest worry is the shad dieing off. If you remember back at the end of the really good years, they shut the plant down and all the shad died off when the water got in the thirties. Gene moved all his tourneys to sangchris it was so bad. If that happens I think it's gonna be a lot of years before it gets better. Hope Im wrong.

[bkirch]

I can believe all of these theories and explanations. That shad kill may have been before my time of fishing Coffeen seriously. Last I heard, temps are still in the 40s, so I don't think that's the problem now, but could well be after the winter freeze. I don't doubt that the fish have re-positioned some with the new conditions, but it's hard to imagine why they'd leave places like Cemetery Cove. They were in there pretty good before the shut-down and I don't really think that is in the current loop.

Just to show how drastic and abruptly the fishing deteriorated, I did some research. I calculated all the tournaments from Gene Cailey, Bass World Sports, and USA Bassin. Keep in mind that the plant shut down on or around Oct. 15. The results are really pretty damn scary.

October 6 thru 26 5 Tournaments
70 boats caught 178 fish... 19 limits...12 blanks... average WINNING weight 13.50 lbs.

November 3 thru December 1 7 Tournaments
58 boats caught 42 fish... ZERO limits... 32 blanks... average WINNING weight 6.50 lbs.

Loss of current, early cold temps, shad kill, fish kill.. who knows. We just have to hope that it's a short-term problem.

[Outdoorsman76]

Right now I believe it is. Fish are probably just out swimming in the middle right below the shad like they do in the summer. I really expected this but I thought there would be a good bite right before freeze up ,maybe there still will be. The fish are still there for now, this summer was one of best I can remember. The biologist even said he didn't know what to expect but thought it would be a crappie lake goin forward. Im really gonna miss the winters out there. Maybe they just need a rest from all the pressure and this will help in the long range

[jkirch]

If I remember correctly the shad kill rear was when the catfish were feeding on the surface and people were catching them on jerkbaits . If shad kills were a serious problem then all the non power plant lakes should have no shad in them . I would like to thing that more shad is better than less shad but as long as all of them don't die things should be fine .

[Outdoorsman76]

I rode around with the state when they shocked the lake a few years back, and they were saying that all the shad you see out swimming around in the middle is actually some other type of shad. They called them something like red shad or something, and they are only in power plant lakes due to inability to survive below 38 degrees. When I talked to them a month or so ago,that was the main concern.

[jkirch]

If that is the case I would hope they would stock some other kind pretty quickly . If they don't the bluegill population might take a hit .

[Buzzsaw]

I rode around with the state when they shocked the lake a few years back, and they were saying that all the shad you see out swimming around in the middle is actually some other type of shad. They called them something like red shad or something, and they are only in power plant lakes due to inability to survive below 38 degrees. When I talked to them a month or so ago,that was the main concern.

Might be some truth to this. Could be threadfin or hickory shad rather than gizzard shad.
https://fisheries.tamu.edu/pond-mana...hreadfin-shad/

[bkirch]

There's still a Bass World and a USA Bassin' tournament coming up this month. Maybe they will show some improvement in the fishing. We're ready to sit tight til spring and see what's going on by then.