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Originally Posted by drjochum73
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Question. I don't get Patoka Marina showing off Walleye for the lake and there seems to be no love for Bass Anglers. If I am not out of place, I believe Bass Fishermen prob spend more money at the lake and little seems to be done to increase the fishery. Would love to hear others thoughts on the matter.
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http://www.fishin.com/forums2/showthread.php?t=94947
Did you see this post above?
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we dont need any love
Senior Member
I've got a good friend that I fish with on Patoka Lake from time to time. He's into bass fishing these days. I think I'll give him a call on the cell phone and ask him how the bass fishing has been this summer and what he thinks about the quality of the fishing at Patoka Lake. He will give me an honest opinion that I can take to the bank.
According to what he has told me in the past the Bass Fishing is pretty good for those that fish Patoka a lot. And he fishes it a whole lot.
He fished it every day this summer as he has a cabin right there at the main entrance to the Newton Stewart Area and is only a few minutes from the lake. He has fished the lake since it opened. So have I. But he's fished it every month since it's been open. I fished it occasionally (like two or three times a year) since it opened in 1978.
As suspected I've never done that good for LM Bass. But I've learned where the crappie are and have caught some limits over the last 8 years. Crappie are easier to catch once you figure them out.
Bass take a lot more work to catch IMHO. Unless you count trolling and then I've been able to catch bass at my little fishing hole all summer long. Until just recently when I started to try to catch fish that are 26 ft deep. They must be carp or something else as they won't hit my crank baits down that deep. But I've been catching bass in the 10 to 12 depths all summer long. They like to suspend over deeper water and travel horizontally to the feeding flats this time of the year. That is if they are not hiding in the oxygen rich water that are filled with submergent vegetation in the shallows.
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I called and talked to my friend Larry who fishes Patoka Lake all the time. He fishes for bass early in the morning just as the fog is lifting off the water. Try fishing the back of the bays in the early morning hours and see if you do better. It's more stained water in the back of these bays and inlets especially after all this rain. The water should have cooled down where the cold rain water runs into the lake from these small streams etc. And the water will have more color allowing you to get closer to the bass without spoking the big ones. Spinner baits, Swimbaits or minus one crank bait works well in the stumps. Those root wads are where the big bass hang out under the big stumps. Once you find a good stump it will be used by all the big bass. If you catch one the next biggest bass will fill that spot. I've caught many bass off the same stump down at KY lake over the years. This one spot on Shannon Creek was always good for me. And there is another good stump on Barkley Lake that's quite productive.
If you fish deeper ledges it may take longer to find the bass. Clear water fishing is tougher and that's why people have trouble at Patoka lake
And as far as the Marina advertising about the Walleye vs the Bass I don't know why they do that. Perhaps the owner just likes Walleye's better?
There is plenty of bass in Patoka Lake and always has been. But it's more a HIGHLAND type of lake than a Lowland lake. And Patoka doesn't have the current like some other lakes such as KY or Barkley Lake as they have power generation going on and much larger dams.
I've moved to specializing in fishing for Crappie since about 2003. But I used to bass fish from 1956 until 2003. I've got plenty of early morning hours on the water fishing for Bass on KY lake and Barkley Lake.
Bass fishing doesn't change that much. The bass are acting today just like they did 40 years ago. The thing that has changed is the fishing equipment. From the little Green Box made by Lowrance to the new SI 360 made by Humminbird the industry has changed big time. From small aluminum fishing boats to the huge 300HP motors that propel the newer, faster and bigger fiberglass bass boats fishing equipment has come a long way. Heck they even put radar and satellite weather reports on our boats these days.
I did notice one thing that could really impact the fishing right now on the lake I fish a lot. The Gizzard shad have hatched another batch of 1 to 2 inch fry. There is a lot of available food in the water for the fish to eat. And if they are not hungry it's hard to get a bite.
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Appreciate all the info. I plan on fishing Patoka heavy in 2013. Patoka will be a fun puzzle to figure out and hopefully add some skill. Good luck to all who are still fishing 2012 and those for 2013.
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One thing I leaned this year is that bass like to suspend out over the deepest water in the lake. I'm not sure why they do this but they do. I'm seeing them on my Humminbird 898 C Si unit in both SI, DI and regular Sonar Veiws. I'm catching them anywhere from 10 ft down to 18 ft down over 50 to 60 ft of water. A lot of the bass I catch are off the points that drop off sharply into the deeper water.
I'm figuring that the bass are staying at a constant water level and after they feed in the 7 to 10 ft deep shallow water areas they simply move HORIZONTALLY out over the deeper water to rest and digest their meal. It's hard to catch these fish when they are already full of shad and in a neutral mood. Sort of like me when I'm taking my afternoon nap after lunch.
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has anyone been to the lake recently?
are the bass biting?
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was the dead sea for me last week
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I did not want to hear that Embrey, my brother will be in town for Holiday weekend and was going to try and sneek up there. Would like to get him on a few for his trip. As long as the weather is nice might still make the trip.
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