I'm a mining engineer and have been working the quarries for almost 30 years - some of the best fishing in my life has been in the water holes from defunct pits on our (my employer's) properties. The Blue-Green water is from the calcium leaching out of the limestone (very, very typical for quarry ponds) and the fish are healthy and strong. So much fun.
I worked at a marble mine in the 70’s and just outside there was a water filled quarry. At lunch I would go down there and fish. All I ever caught was these chunky albino catfish. Time has faded my memory I can’t remember what kind they were but did enjoy the adventure. You brought back a lot of memories
Quarrying is my livelihood - that defunct pit has been idle for a long time. I'd estimate 20 years or more judging by the vegetation on the highwalls. Yes, great haven for fish. But unlikely that they are gonna grow up much more than they already are - much more likely that the population has stabilized.
Beautiful old quarry to fish in. I am now almost 70 and would not try to slide down now, but when i was your age i did it regularly. My grandchildren found a similar abandoned quarry near Cherokee Village in Arkansas. My grandson would perch on a rock about 30 feet above the quarry and off he would go. No self preservation instinct. Earlier, right after they discovered this spot, they emailed a photo of a mystery fish for me to identify. No mystery. It was an old reliable green sunfish that you and I catch regularly. Keep these unusual spots on your radar. Great going and I assume you made it out okay.
I guess the old saying is true that the most beautiful things in life are free, you just gotta go find it and I believe you found it! What an amazing place to fish! Thanks for sharing it with us! Stay safe and healthy out there and tight lines!
Wow brought back memories ..we used to swim in quarry called peach bottom in pa when i was a kid werent allowed to but we did man im 66 years old havent thought about that place in 20 year's lmbo ..
Reminds me of my boyhood growing up in Walker County, Alabama in the 70s. My cousin, my brother, and I would go down to the abandoned strip pits to fish. We'd climb out on a ledge over the water and cast around the corner of the cliff face. Good times.
Beautiful spot! Years ago I completed my scuba diving course at a flooded rock quarry here in TX; however, something in the rock dissolved in the water and there was nothing living in the entire place!!
I'm right next-door to you in Ohio. We have rock quarries all over like this one that I fish every year. The majority of them are private property, but the one's we get permission to fish, are a blast. I've never fished a gravel pit, or quarry that didn't produce quality fish. Big fun!
I drive a 2011 suburban. I bought it after I quit smoking. I use it to haul my boat and my fishing gear. I'm just a beginner . I really enjoy watching your videos. Your verses at the end of the videos are also inspiring. Thank you
Love your channel!! Back in the 90's I did a week-long backpacking trout fishing trip up into the Grand Tetons in Wyoming... In the trek we came across a high mountain lake that looked PERFECT, beautiful clear water, idyllic setting(this was in July but we passed several snow fields) and during the day, the temps were great. The lake? Completely DEVOID of fish! Literally nothing. Once we got to our final camping destination, the fishing was simply glorious! Cutthroat trout in the shallows & brook trout out deep - take your pick. We also saw mule deer & one moose... we saw no bears, but I'm sure the bears saw us. ;0)
You guys had a good time in that old quarry. Brings back a memory. Years back while hitchhiking through Kentucky, was picked up by a bunch of fun-loving kids my age and taken to their skinny dipping quarry. Before we all stripped down and dove in, I saw 3 huge largemouth bass cruising around, and me without a fishing rod. Had a fun time, sure, and yet I was so bummed.
There are a couple of quarries similar to that, but much more accessible, within the city limits of Birmingham that have huge bass and bluegill. They have produced two world record bluegills, albeit in 1949 and 1952. Folks still catch big fish in Ketona Lakes. Check them out on Google Earth. Urban fishing in an old industrial area of town. You have to trespass to fish, but apparently, no one really cares.
Those bass could be stunted from little forage food (few frogs, bugs, minnows, etc), plus mega competition from those healthy schools of boo-gill. You should try to remove 100 or more gills per acre per year to get those bass to grow. I'd eatem.
Good little video John. I know of a rock quarry close to my home that Iv'e never fished. The locals here say it is loaded with panfish, bass and crappie. Maybe some day when you are in the area we'll give it a try. Keep fishin'.
We fish old bauxite and calcite mines down here in south Alabama. They're almost always loaded with healthy fish that just can't wait to jump on a hook. Great video. 👍
We have several old quarries where I live. And yeah, there's some great fish in them! One we went to, we caught the first fish, a perch... And it weighed 2.5 Lbs!!! 2 and a half pounds! And the water was filled with them and crappie, and largemouth bass that were like submarines going by! You could see them, several feet down in the water. They looked as long as my forearm, at least! They are very aggressive, because they have to compete with eachother, for everything that hits the water! A bug won't stand a chance!! That bass you caught, looked to be a pound or two. And it was a baby... So momma and pops is in there somewhere!
@@jokervbatman5023 I heard a couple different stories... Where I live, at least some of the quarries are said to actually be connected to one another, by tunnels. I don't know if that's true or not. But the story is, fish are put into one quarry, but over the years populate and migrate to other quarries. Another story is, (maybe more plausible), that birds, like herrings, ducks, geese and others, catch fish in the river, which isn't so far away. And then they drop the fish into the quarries. Some get dropped as eggs, which survive the 'flight." While others may be just small fish, that are regurgitated by birds into the quarries and survive! Some of the quarries aren't so deep, while others don't see to have a bottom to them! Maybe they were stocked there, by guys that went fishing and just released them into a quarry...
Good video bud. I really enjoy these reminds me of when me and my buddies were kids exploring the ponds along the railroad tracks lol.. lots of rocks and snakes... man I hate snakes lol.. keep it up
I fished a rock quarry in Alabama once when I was a kid. The fishing was ridiculously good. It had all sorts of different species in it. There were huge gar, catfish, monster bass, crappie etc. There were so many big bass you would see groups swim by, all big, multiple 5 pounders, some looked to be 8+lbs. They were easy to catch as well, whatever lure you had they would inhale it as soon as it touched the water, a dream of a place to fish, I'll never forget it!
I saw one of your videos a couple of weeks ago and in your description it had a link to one of your artificial bait suppliers. It seems that it was owned by a ex military person. If anyone could help me on this I would sing and dance at your next wedding, or not. Thanks for these videos. I busted my ankle 3 weeks ago and have bought several of the items you fish with and send them to my grandson. He is fishing for me and sends pictures of the fish he catches. Loves the hellgrammites
i live here in Indiana and those lime stone quarries are very, very fertile. Micro organisms feed off of the calcium, then insects feed off of those. If he would of fished deeper with those bluegill or creek chubs for bait and used fluoro carbon line he might have caught some really nice fish! also that's not really a small hole, unless you're comparing it to lake michigan or something. These stone quarries are often over 100 feet deep. The fish are always fat
Linton Indiana strip mines, best fishing around. Huge gills, crappie, bass and catfish as big as power wheels. Those old limestone quarries and coal pits are hard to fish sometimes but so worth it. Depth is nyts
This place reminds me of a sand pit that we have here in Pensacola, Florida. Super clear-blue water. and loaded with life and fish. I hear they are looking to make it a public park since the property is up for sale...I sure hope so! Great Video! Keep em comin! -D
Amazing looking place man! Your thumbnail was very crisp and clean too! I'm so happy for you and the success you've had! Keep em coming!!! Tight lines man🎣
Hey man, this is my first comment, I sub and like ur stuff. I have been creek fishing for about 17 years and I could comment for days about it. I got the brown hellgramite a few weeks ago. I pulled about a 3 pound smally on it after missing it on a spinner and a swim bait.i got a little 1 on it yesterday plus a couple rock bass, which is my middle name.😀anyway I also pulled a 1 pound coosa bass on the last cast with a 3inch cut junebug sinko style yum worm with a eagle claw half round black jig hook.i hit a 3 and a 2 pound smally on the matzuo prehooked rig last year and a 2.5 pound spot.The matzuo May the best but it’s not as tough as the yum or z-man purple worm.i like it over the hellgramite.A junebug hellgramite could be real serious though. Anyway, God bless u and keep spreading the Word, I talk to u later.T.W. out
Another awesome vid. Thanks so much. That was a beautiful place. There are some quarries like that in Illinois too, but I'm not sure exactly where. I remember going there with my dad when we were kids. He said that one of them was spring fed. The people digging the quarry hit an underground spring and they had to abandon the quarry because there wasn't any way to stop the water from coming in. Happy fishing.
What line are you using john? Btw me and my wife love your videos we live in your area and we get inspired to fish watching your videos, thanks for all the great content
John. This is in my neck of the woods. I live between Bloomington and Bedford. The dimension stone for many important buildings came from this area. I’m a year late but hey, it’s cool you fished it. Didn’t get your car towed did you.
I snorkeled around a decent sized quarry lake. The rock shelves around it were covered in bluegill beds. They’d peck at my mask when I’d swim near them. Crystal clear water, it was pretty cool. I remember looking down and seeing huge carp down below me.
That is onr awesomr spill way. O got a chance to fish an old one I used to fish a lot when I was younger. Lot of green sunfish bulkhead one big channel mad 14 bass about a pound. Fish on and keep doing what ya love.👌👍😊 Oh my rover spill ways flooded right now so if you wanted to try it it'll have to wait. Miss above flood.
Hehe, there are a bunch of quarries around here. Grew up swimming and fishing in them. Hoosierback has probably heard of Bluehole. I was fishing just north of you on Monroe Lake when that storm rolled in.
Very much enjoy your channel. It has inspired me to fish the creeks the creeks and streams around my area in northwestern IL. It would be a big help if you would show and describe the lures and baits you use and why you use them. Keep up the good work
good job man,That was such a beautiful area and the fish are just a bonus maybe some monsters in there if you throw some bigger bait you never know about spots like that
I was raised in Oolitic IN ,grew up swimming,fishing in all the holes in Bloomington , Oolitic area. huge Bass hard to catch due to water so clear and they can see and here you coming
Yessir! Me too. I lived at the corner of Peerless Rd. and old 37. Just moved to Williams last November. I knew that is one place I had to take John to see. Worked out really well. Lol
Seeing this makes me think what happened to the fish at the rock crusher where I grew up. It's been drained and used again. Sad to think all the fish died. Being a aspie makes me think about dumb stuff.
I definitely did enjoy the views my man, nature’s so beautiful, love the vids bro, thanks for sharing with us, keep catching fish for us to see we’ll be here waiting to watch!
They also used to be popular swimming spots, but pretty heavily enforced these days. I mainly went to another quarry not far away called Stack Rock. But a lot of people used to go to Empire as well. There's also Ice Box. It would make for some impressive fishing/swimming if anyone ever put in the work to turn it into a destination.
@@Binaryfarto Birds. Birds land on different bodies of water; they deposit fish eggs, etc., when they land on enclosed, 'man-made' bodies of water- like rock/gravel quarries. XO!
There was a gravel pit near me when I was a kid, it was loaded with big bass, caught a few 5lbs fish and a 6lb bass. The water crystal clear. But damn were they strict about fishing there. As a kid you could get off with a warning. If you were older you were getting a trespassing ticket for sure! I always thought they should have made it a pay lake, not like they ever did anything with the property
That clear green water,get ya an original Zara spook,frog pattern,best top water lure ever,the bass just kill it at spawn and early fall,if ya gotta good rig,and got yer drag set right,some of the best fishin you’ll ever experience,when that water explodes,almost scares ya,and the lure stays in the strike zone til you move it,walkin the dog,learn it, you won’t be disappointed.Take a tough inflatable or Coleman crawdad down there,holy cow!
A friend of mine and I used to fish old strip pits in NE Oklahoma. Only these were coal pits. We would fish them out of our fishing inner tubes. Man we caught a lot of fish. Never caught anything more than 3 pounds or so, but had so much fun. Lots of times it was a little tough getting in and out, but worth every single bit of it.
Rock quarries are so beautiful and the fish that can be in them will amaze you. Awesome video again my friend. Would love to meet up with you sometime and do some creek fishing or small mouth river fishing up here in NE TN.
I love fishing quarries sometimes theres big fish there if you can get to them.there was one near a falls that i fish at .i went up there around sunset and a large school of largemouths swimming in the back area and most were pretty big and very shy towards lures in daylight.i came back after midnight and my ledgebuster spinnerbaits would lure them right in in deeper water,25ft or so.lots of big older sunfish.never kept any bass.because they were trophy sized fish but the sunnies were great eating.never told anyone how I would catch the bass and i never took anyone fishing up there the guards didn't mind me because i was quiet and always picked up a bag of every one else's trash.
swore I was subscribed to you but then realized I wasn't. Omg my youtube feed is gonna be so much better now. subbed right now and your videos are always amazing!!!!!
you got to slow mo and add some audio to the rock slide - you all managed - just throw a 8" (or bigger) worm out into the middle of some places like that - no weight just a non texas style weedless - the rubber worms slay but give them 5 seconds to run with it - the gold line really helps, i also really like the no weight - bigger worms catch bigger fish, probably same with crawdad and hellgramite
You have my husband laughing at me, because,now...after watching your channel, I want to stop at every body of water to fish. I always have a rod,reel,and my box with me.
