I fished Patoka yesterday and caught some small crappie but saw another guy catching them good up right next to the shoreline. He was fishing a minnow only about 2ft below a bobber and he was using a long pole to get away from his Bass Tracker Boat. He fished this one stretch of shoreline for about three hours.
I was told were a good spot was but I missread the email and fished in the wrong area. I may head back up there today if it don't rain and storm. If I do any good I'll write up a report when I get home.
Water surface temps in 10ft deep water were running right at 70 deg F. Creeks are stained with some floating debris in the back of the creek bays.
Water level was 539 last I looked. It's going to rain for the next few days until Sat and clear up Sunday. But that's the forcast today. I'll be it changes by Saturday!
Another Idea is to go to the CrappieUSA web site and look at where they caught fish on Patoke the last few tournaments there.
Last few years I fished Patoka in Sept and Oct we caught them in about 10ft to 15ft of water along a intersection of a couple of ditched in a cove right on the main lake. Anytime you can find shallow water areas right next too deep water you have a potentially good crappie shot. Throw in a brush pile along the ledge or edge and it's got great potential.
You will find that most crappie fishing guides put out brush piles to attract the fish. If you put these on drops, long points or the inside curves of a looping underwater stream cut you have a good chance of attracting and holding some crappie.
If you are camping at the Newtwon Stewart area ask them how long they will remain open this year. I wonder if they are going to have to shut the water off to prevent the pipes from freezing up?