Reply With QuoteAnyway, my old standby spots for this time of year havent been producing as well as yerars gone by. The water is still low and very clear. If anyone is having any luck other than on main body drop offs , would love to hear about it!!
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The last couple of years the heat and low water has taken its toll on Patoka, just curious if anyone is getting a consistant bite this month??
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Anyway, my old standby spots for this time of year havent been producing as well as yerars gone by. The water is still low and very clear. If anyone is having any luck other than on main body drop offs , would love to hear about it!!
Senior Member
When you have very gin clear water the fish can see your bait much better than if the water is really muddy or turbid.Originally Posted by Thermodude
I'd go ultra light during the heat of the day. Bill Dance fished the old River Channel out by the main lake's two Islands and caught over 100 bass in just one day for his fishing show about Patoka Lake. I wonder if that episode is now on the internet? I might try to find that. This happened back right after the lake opened up. My God Father who lived in Indianapolis, IN sent me a copy of an news paper article that appeared in the Indianapolis star. That's how I learned about this feat.
I've used heavy jig heads and paddle tail baits at Patoka to catch Northern Pike and Bass in that spot. But I'm not that good at detecting the bite when the jig is falling throught the water column. You have to have a tight line to feel the bite or be able to see the line twitch when a fish inhales the jig while it's falling. That is hard to do for me. I don't see so good. LOL
I wonder if using fluorocarbon lines that have the same Refractive Index as water make a big difference in the bite? I fish a type of fluorocarbon line in P-Line Floroclear.
Also if you fish before the sun comes up it helps. Dad and I fished KY lake all the time in years past and we always got up at 4 AM to get the early morning bite.
I know a guy who used to fish the strip pits at night with short rods and crank baits. He has a lot of big bass stuffed and hanging on his basement walls.
I've been know to fish with 2 lb test strene when fishing for crappie. I started fishing ultra light gear many years ago and noticed that I caught a lot more fish.
A fish's brain is more devoted to SMELL than sight. The part of the brain that processes smell is larger. But fish still have pretty good eye sight. They also don't have eyelids which means that they can't close their eyes to get away from the bright sun. A calm summer day on the lake allows more sunlight to filter down into the depths. And clear water allows even more light waves to reach deeper into the water. Fish response to this by going deep and suspending during the hot summer dog days of summer. Follow their food at Patoka and you will find the bass when they are feeding.
It's been shown that shad make daily migrations out of the back of bays in the morning and back into the bays at night. Bass follower their food just like wolves follow the caribou.
I've not heard from my friend who fishes Patoka all the time. I'll have to give him a call and see what his been up to. I called him and found out that he has not been fishing as he took a new job back in April. He's working in a Sheet Metal Shop now. He was going to retire early an fish the rest of his life. LOL. But baby needs a new pair of shoes and momma wants more money.
Good luck up there. at Patoka. If I were up there right now I'd be trolling crank baits for bass and crappie. You can eliminate a lot of water using maps of the lake and trolling helps to find the fish ever faster.
These are two of the LM bass I've caught while trolling crank baits on some stripper pits.
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these all came last year...nothing wrong with the quality of fish in Patoka...just the numbers are low sometimes
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Yes, I would have to agree that the quality of fish continues to be good, however the overall "fishing" aspect has suffered. Daily fishing pressure along with extreme water level flucuations, extreme surface temps..................over time this takes a toll. I live on the lake and have for many years, I try to fish at least 2-3 days per week. I do catch decent fish, however as I said earlier, paterns that have worked for a very long time arent near as effective this year and I was curious if anyone was getting a consistant bite.
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I've decided to finally read this book that my Dad had for years. It's been sitting on my book shelf for ten years or more now and I started reading it last night. The guy is very opinionated but was once considered the father of bass fishing. Long before I heard of Buck Perry of Fishing Facts Magazine. Jason wrote for Sports Afield Magazine for many years.
Hopefully my speed reading class that I took in College as a Freshman can be put to use as this it not a physic or chemistry or math text book but should be some easy reading for me. Most of my reading is technical reading materials or the news paper.
Perhaps after I read this book I can give you some more insight on where the bass are suppose to be. Jason once fished 365 days in a row and 8 hours each day. That guy was a fishing fool or a liar. LOL.
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I've noticed that bass at this time on the year like to suspend out over the deepest parts of the lake at about15 to 20 ft depths. Use your depth finder and look for the depth of the thermocline if there is one at Patoka lake now. Fish above the thermocline or else fish the submerged vegetation. Both will have plenty of cool water or dissolved oxygen which all fish need at this time of the years.
Bass can be in both places. They move around. Early morning before the sun's full above the horizon fish the back of the bays in shallow water and look for bass chasing shad. Later in the day the bass will migrate out into the deeper waters to suspend. They are more in a neutral mood when out there but will strike at a fast moving lure if you get it near them. Reaction strikes they call them.
The last two years I've been trolling crank baits about 10 ft to 15 ft deep trying to catch some big crappie during the hot summer months but all I've been catching is bass in the 1 lb to 2 lb range. And I've caught a lot of them trolling cranks. I've only caught six crappie and they were caught this way back in April.
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Fish deep and slow and look for deeper holes that may hold larger bass. Don't fish too deep or below the thermocline if there is one. Most thermoclines are around 25 ft deep in the lakes around here in IN. But that can vary to some degree. So fish the 18 to 20 ft depths. If you find an underwater hump that had the top of the hump above the thermocline then I'd check that place out thoroughly. Use a stop and go retrieve. Let the bait hit the bottom and sit there for a while. They flip it up about 4 to 6 ft and let hit settle back down on the bottom. I'm talking about using a 3/8 oz jig and pig with a pork rind on the hook. Dirty brown and white colored jigs work good in the deeper bottom water areas. You can fish plastic worms along the bottom and rig them texas style or Carolina rig style. Both will work good. I like using a "Motor Oil" colored plastic work with BPS keeper hooks. I've caught a lot of Largemouth bass on this worm setup. The key is to find the area where the big bass hang out in the hot summer months.
If you insist on fishing the shoreline then go early in the morning before the sun's up. Or fish at night when the sun's not shining hard on the water's surface. A night with a full moon might be more productive and make it easier to see.
Or you can do like I do and troll cranks though the mid depths during the hottest part of the day when the bass are suspended out over the deeper parts of the lake.
Senior Member
are you sure youre at the right lake, cause the water has not been low at all...
Senior Member
managed to get out on the lake friday 6/28 and was able to catch 6 bass. tried out a whole new area on the east side of the lake so i wasnt too dissapointed. fishing was just really slow. all the fish i caught were on soft plastic creature baits. None of them had any size though. As far as shad and small bluegill go, there are millions of them. I see no reason why the bass population shouldnt grow a lot and make better fishing. anyway it was still good getting out.
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Louisville District > Missions > Civil Works > Recreation > Lakes > Patoka Lake
http://lrl-apps.lrl.usace.army.mil/w...plots/prr.html
Please not that the "Thermocline" I should call it the Oxicline instead is around 15 ft now. That's where the amount of dissolved oxygen drops off down to 3.1 ppm from 5.x something ppm. Most freshwater game fish need at least 5 ppm of dissolved oxygen to survive and be healthy.
This would suggest to me that the bass may not be as deep at I thought and may be using the weeds more than usual. Weeds or Submergent Vegetation provide dissolved oxygen into the water when the sun is shinning. And they also provide cover for the bass to hide in and ambush their prey. The weeds also protect them from birds of prey above and helps to hide the bass from these birds.
I'd fish the heck out of the weed edges and pockets that go into the weed line with weed-less baits that sink very slowly into the water.
Senior Member
like i said,....not low
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