Good day at Patoka catching crappie

[Guest Author]

A friend of mine and myself went out today around noon and came off the water around 5pm. We kept 27 decent size crappie. All were caught around 25' to 30' deep using minnows tightlinning on my spots near the channel. Water is cold(mid 30's at best) air temp was 42 most of the day but the fish were biting pretty good all day. We anchored all day on different spots. We threw back probably as many as we caught. Not a bay day considering the time of year. These spots we fished have many many fish on them right now. If the weather is decent we'll go again next weekend. Hands got a little cold several times after putting minnows on but after a while you got use to it. This was our first fishing trip of the year and it wasn't too bad I'd say. Sure in the hell beat sitting and home watching the colts get beat....again.


Larry

[trackerjon]

Larry,

Alright!! Good man!! Amen on the Colts - you definitely took the better course of action. When I was younger I could take the cold better, but now I need at least 50-55 deg. Won't be long. I've been trying to learn more about crappie - been all over the web asking and learning. I pretty much came up with your pattern as the place to look in 30-40 deg. water. Brush around the deep channel, that and marinas. So I feel not just happy for you, but a little more confident myself. One question: were you tightlining hooks or tipped jigs? Good luck next time.

Jon Hughey
Indy

[Moose1am]

Jon:
I fish with Larry and know how it fishs for crappie. He tightlines while moving the boat very slowly. <.5mph most times.

The trick is being at the right spot at the right time and at the right depth and speed.

A plain gold hook #2 though #4 size (gold aberdeen thin wire) with a minnow works best.

Regards,

Moose1am

[WaubeeCharlie]

When the fish are away from shore I fish for crappies and gills this way. I like to tight line with a lindy sinker and fish two hooks at different depths and drift if there is any wind with three rods. I like to start out with a minnow on the top hook and a beemoth or wiggler on the bottom hook and let the fish tell me what I will change to. Crappies, perch maybe minnows on both hooks and if I start picking up keeper gills I wil go to beemoths or wigglers on both hooks. I will start with a smaller hook on the bottom hook. If I double up I will drop the ancor and throw out rigs with slip bobbers for awhile, then move if need be. Way to go on picking up a nice mess of fish this time of year. Charlie

[trackerjon]

Moose and Charlie,

Thanks for the extra info. I can see using those nice bendable gold hooks, especially drifting through brush. Just got a look at the next week' temperatures. Low to mid forties. Not quite warm enough, at least for me to get out. Probably some medicine I take but I get these darned chills sometimes and they get so bad I shake so hard I can hardly breathe. Time was a big thermos of coffee, cream, and Irish would fix that up just fine. But not with the med. I take. What the heck - couple of reports like Larry's every few days will keep us going I guess. I really miss biscuits and gravy at the Hey Jude diner and the smell of Mercury juice on the water!! Guess I'll just have to go beat the dogs and try to get to feeling better! Catch you all later.

Jon

[Moose1am]

It's suppose to get up into the mid 50's tomorrow. Thursday. But winds are going to be strong out of the South as 20mph.

I still need to winterize my boat. :(. It's been so warm this winter I have not fogged the cylinders yet. I need to also change the lower unit's gear grease/oil. I fished in November a bit so the boat has only sat for a couple of months since I last ran the engine.

Your talking about biscuits for breakfast and the smell of the engine on the water brings back good memories. I may get my butt up tomorrow and go fishing for a little bit. I have one spot that I can fish even if the winds are blowing. As long as they blow out of the south that is.

Yea Larry's post always get me thinking.

Regards,

Moose1am

[Guest Author]

>Larry,
>
>Alright!! Good man!! Amen on the
>Colts - you definitely took
>the better course of action.
>When I was younger I
>could take the cold better,
>but now I need at
>least 50-55 deg. Won't be
>long. I've been trying to
>learn more about crappie -
>been all over the web
>asking and learning. I pretty
>much came up with your
>pattern as the place to
>look in 30-40 deg. water.
>Brush around the deep channel,
>that and marinas. So I
>feel not just happy for
>you, but a little more
>confident myself. One question: were
>you tightlining hooks or tipped
>jigs? Good luck next
>time.
>
>Jon Hughey
>Indy


I used a plain No.2 hook with a minnow. I was using a B'n'M' Sam Heaton Super Sensitive 12' rod with several split shots around 18" below the hook and 6lb Stren Magnathin line. Most of the fish were just mouthing the bait and you had to watch the rod tip constantly cause it would move downward about an inch when one took the minnow in its mouth. Sometimes you could feel the thump in the rod but most of the time it was watching the rod tip. Heck if I was in 30 degree water I wouldn't move very fast either. The fish had very bright colors for this time of year something I didn't think they would have considering how cold the water is. I don't know if I will make it up there this weekend, I have to work sat. and it looks like rain for sunday. I bought that SHSS rod just for fishing when its cold. I haven't run across a rod that can match it for sensitivity yet. My outlaws rods are pretty close and the richard williams rods are very good also. I started out using 2 rods but the SHSS rod caught most of the fish so after awhile I put the other one up and held the one the rest of the time.

Moose knows the area I was fishing and the exact spot. I have probably a dozen or so spots like this one I can fish depending on boat traffic or which way the wind is blowing. If you hit enought of them in a day of fishing most of the time you can get a limit real easy. All are from 15' to 32' deep and away from the banks and trees and there's usually fish on them. Caught some big bluegills and redears off of these spots as well in the past several years. Most people I see don't fish offshore structure at Patoka for crappie most head for the trees. I like fishing out there cause the fish usually run bigger and nobody is bothering them most of their life. I've got three more spots I found late last year that I will check out early this year. I bought a new eagle 480 graph for my trolling motor and can't wait to try it out.

Larry

[raporter]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Jan-23-06 AT 06:56PM (EST)[/font][p]

Hello all you Patoka fishermen. I live near South Lick Fork and fish that area quite a bit. Look forward to some info sharing.

[trackerjon]

Greetings Raporter,

You've come to a good place. Most of these guys are pretty darned helpful and generous. It's my take that most who frequent here hit Patoka anywhere from sometimes to more than their wives would like. Just open a new Post with something specific and let her rip! I've been spending most of my time at the other end of the lake. However, years ago before I bought my boat, the boys and I would rent a boat from Marty's Marina (before it sold out) so we spent most of our time at the south end. Welcome.

Jon Hughey

[raporter]

Thanks Trackerjon, I fish the Osborne and Walls areas quite a bit in the late winter and early spring. My fishing buddy and I are just starting to get into spider rigging and we know we have a lot to learn. We also fish the HNF lakes and Sugar Ridge FWA a lot. Next really nice day we plan of hitting Snakey Point over in Patoka NWR. Will post when we go.

[LITTLEFISH]

SOUNDS LIKE YOU GOT THE RIGHT IDEA GOING, GOOD JOB. NOT TO CHANGE THE SUBJECT BUT I HAVE NEVER BEEN TO PATOKA AND AM GOING TO GIVE IT A TRY MAYBE MARCH. ANY ADVICE I WOULD BE GRATEFULL FOR. ALSO IS THERE ANY GOOD CAMP GROUNDS CLOSE TO THE WATER OR THAT YOU COULD KEEP YOUR BOAT IN ALL NITE. THANKS AGAIN

[raporter]

Yes there are campsites in the modern campground where you can leave your boat in. Unfortunately I do not know the campsite numbers closest to the water. Late March thru April should be real good. Good luck.