Crappie at Patoka

I was wondering if the crappie are stating to bite. And if anyboby is cathing any big ones.
Planing a trip the first weekend in May.

They had the Crappie USA tournement today. The two biggest were 2.55# and 2.53#.

Darn it I missed the Patoka CrappieUSA tournament today! Oh well there is always Oct.

Those sound like some nice White Crappie that they caught. Anything over 2lb is big for Patoka Lake IMHO.

Did they say about what part of the lake they caught those two big fish from? I bet that I know a part of the lake that produces those size fish this time of the year.

Crappie can be caught all year round if you know where to look for them and how to pattern them. Once they are found in the winter and in the summer you can fill a live well. May have to fish deeper water though (HINT) try some dropoff and fish them and if they don't produce move off over deep water about 20 to 100 ft away and slowly move around that area looking for fish suspended. Fish that exact depth with some small jigs tied to the line with a palmar knot and leave about 12" of tag line on the palomar knot and attach a 1/4 oz sinker at the bottom of the line. Move slowly with the trolling motor though the area where you saw the fish on the depth finder and go slow enough to keep your line from swinging back too far. Go less than 0.5mph and hold onto the line or rod to help detect those bites. Taps I call them. If the crappie are hungry you will find them this way. If they are suspended and in a negative mood try tipping a 1/32Oz jig with a live minnow 1" to 1.5" chub or shiner.

Fish the drops and look for breaks on the drop off. Anything that sticks up from the bottom along the drop off can concentrate the fish. A sharp bend or a gully in the drop off can do this as well. A drop or ledge can be the side of the old river channel or the side of an old creek channel that is now flooded. Fish these drops too. Find a good spot where the river bends sharp and makes a 180 deg turn and if you are lucky to have a creek intersect this U turn in the river so much the better. Fish all depths. In the winter fish the bottom when the water is really cold and ice is starting to form on the lake's surface. The water at the very bottom of the lake is at 4 deg C and the water as the surface is at 0 deg C. So the bottom of the lake is has the warmest water at this time.

In the summer the fish can be anywhere from the surface to the thermocline. Don't waste time fishing below a strong thermocline. You can see these thermoclines on your depth finder if you turn off all the filter and turn the gain way up. Particulate matter that gets caught up in the thermocline can reflect sound waves. And a sudden change in water temp can also reflect soundways back up to the surface allowing you to see the thermolcine on the depth sounders screen.

Crappie bite year round. They don't just bite in the spring time. But if you are bank bound and without a boat then the spring time is the time of the year when they come closer to shore making them more accessible to the bank fishermen.


Regards,

Moose1am

Excellent read. Great advice.

Thanks for the info. And great tips.