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Thread: Patoka Crappie

  1. #1
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    Patoka Crappie

    Has anyone been catching any crappie? Has the high water had an effect on them? My dad and I are planning on going tomorrow and putting in at either painters creek or south lick fork. any information would be greatly appreciated.

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    Re: Patoka Crappie

    Quote Originally Posted by King31 View Post
    Has anyone been catching any crappie? Has the high water had an effect on them? My dad and I are planning on going tomorrow and putting in at either painters creek or south lick fork. any information would be greatly appreciated.
    This time of the year with the water so cold the crappie should normally be down near the bottom in the deeper parts of the lake. But since it's been so warm this winter they may be up on the surface suspended and basking in the relatively warmer surface waters or shoreline waters.

    Even though it's 55 deg F outside the last couple of days the water temperatures are still going to be cold.

    If you have fished for crappie in dec before I'd predict that those fish are going to be in the same general area as before. They should be all schooled up together for winter by now.

    Fish slowly and deep would be my suggestion.

    If I were going to patoka in my boat I'd get the Humminbird 898 CSI unit fired up and scan the creek channels for brush piles with fish around them. Then I'd hover over the brush pile and fish stright down into the brush pile with a live minnow or a weedless jig until I found the fish. Add a crappie nibble and see if that helps get them feeding.

    If you fish the Lick Fork Area know that there are plenty of huge brush piles out away from those steep banks. And there is plenty of bush along the creek channel too. Find a big bend in the Lick Fork Creek Channel somewhere and scout it with Side Imaging sonar or with down imaging sonar and look for bait fish.

    if you find the big schools of shad you will find the other fish too.

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    Re: Patoka Crappie

    thanks for the information. we managed to bring home 13 which was better than nothing. wind was blowing so hard, it was almost impossible to keep the boat in one spot.

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    Re: Patoka Crappie

    The thing I have noticed about the Crappie at Patoka Lake is that they may not be long but they sure are fat little footballs. A 10" crappie at Patoka has a lot of meat on it this time of the year.

    Were they deep or shallow or suspended. This warm winter weather could have them confused.

    If it were still cold I'd almost bet that you caught them in deeper water close to the bottom. That's where they are suppose to be according to what I've read about them.

    I've not fished Patoka Since Last November and back then I didn't find many fish. It was windy that day and we could not fish where we wanted to.


    Quote Originally Posted by King31 View Post
    thanks for the information. we managed to bring home 13 which was better than nothing. wind was blowing so hard, it was almost impossible to keep the boat in one spot.

  5. #5
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    Re: Patoka Crappie

    yep these crappie weren't huge slabs but they definitely had plenty of meat on them. they were all suspended around treetops. the fish we caught were anywhere from 3-8 ft deep but it was 15-20 ft to the bottom.

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    Re: Patoka Crappie

    Thanks for that input. They were suspended over deep water. The warmer surface water's bring them up a little bit from the bottom where they would be normally during the winter months. This warm weather has had an effect on them

    I watched a crappie fishing video produce by Bill Dance once. He was fishing with Roger Gant or Grant at Pickwick lake down south during the cold weather period. They said that the crappie will travel vertically along deep water bluffs. When it's warmer the rise vertically in the water column and then when it's colder they sink deeper in the water column. So that's what I thought they might do.

    Your report confirms what Bill Dance said. So thanks for the feedback.

    Glade you caught some fish and had fun.

    I could get use to this warm winter weather. It sure beats snow and ice.


    Quote Originally Posted by King31 View Post
    yep these crappie weren't huge slabs but they definitely had plenty of meat on them. they were all suspended around treetops. the fish we caught were anywhere from 3-8 ft deep but it was 15-20 ft to the bottom.

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