Fishing the Patoka Jumps

I would appreciate help with at least one thing about Patoka fishing. My oldest boy and I spent the last hour of decent light last Thursday chasing jumps in the wide basin just east of the 145 bridge. In these jumps no fish were jumping up and through the jump where we could see them but the shad were obviously panicking. We did a great job of shutting off and floating within casting range - the shad were still boiling. We both were throwing Husky Jerks in shad colors past and through the boil, and along side of them. Not one hit. I really expected that whatever they were, whites or stripers would have given us at least one hit. Any thoughts? Maybe something proven like a silver minnow with split pork trailer? Or does my sh*&^y luck just continue? BTW I drive a new blue and silver Tracker 175 / 50hp Merc. Big guy at the helm. If you see me swing by and say hi. I'd enjoy meeting any of you. God Bless you and the bites.

Tracker Jon

Sometimes the fish are so keyed in on what they are feeding on that they will not hit anything else. I have had that same situation several times on different lakes. The worst was at Santee-Cooper a few years back. We had 3-5# bass jumping everywhere and it lasted for almost an hour. We did not hook a single fish the whole time. Talk about going crazy. All you can do is try to "match the hatch" as close as possible.

Joe

Try throwing something totally different, and bigger than what they are feeding on. They will go for something bigger.

I fished this way down on Lake Wilson, on the Tennessee River and what was feeding on the shad driving them up was unfortunately big shad.

We caught a bunch of them, they were about 20" long and fun to catch, but we were hoping for stripers.

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Oct-20-05 AT 04:47PM (EST)[/font][p]Hello, follow Tracker boat owner. In my opinion if you are not seeing any fish clear the water, the chances are good the boils are caused by stripers. I would throw a jointed Rapala Shad Rap, one that dives about 7-9 ft. If it is a clear day I would toss out about a 3" silver casting spoon, the brighter the better. It sounds to me like you are going about it the right way. Slow the retrieve down to a crawl, and if that doesn't work, a lot of times a 2-3" white curly tail gub on about a 3/8 oz. white jighead retrieved real slow will do it. I think the secret in in the speed of the retrieve, and the slower the better, no matter what the time of year is. Finally, try a small in-line spinner like a Foxy Jig in silver or white. That's what often works on Brookville but not on Monroe; maybe it will produce on Patoka.

The other thing I have noticed at Brookville and Monroe is that the shad are skitterish. They jump with the slightest provocation. On Brookville especially the shad are so thick that even the carp think they stand a chance at an easy meal. They wallow up toward the shad and the shad wait until they're sure they're under attack, then they spring from the water and get out of the way. If you're fishing fairly thin waters, there's a good chance you're seeing this. If this is the case, cast out a Yo-Zuri Pinn's Minnow, a small and bright silver one, and finess the thing. Carp will take it, and they're a lot of fun for about the first three minutes. Then they just give up and go limp on the line. Their best selling point is that they are not slimy like a catfish. They're not a bad fish to handle and when you pull them out of the lake, their eyes are almost popping out of their heads and are entirely focussed on the lure that's hanging from those puffy lips. They're a scream to see. There's not a fish in any lake with more facial expressions than a carp.

At patoka, especially near the dam, you will find mixed schools of Stripers and Largemouth chasing shad. If the shad schools are big enough, which they are right now, you won't see any fish breaking water, but they are there. try to get a fluke to suspend or even throw a white/blue spinnerbait. Good luck!