Taking the son to Patoka?

Taking the Son to Patoka Sunday morning and haven't been up there in a Month. Have the bass started their move into the creeks yet or are they still on the main lake. Thanks in advance.

Jerry Cole

Just got back. They are starting to move. Water tps in the low 70's. Bass very hard to pattern right now. Scattered fish everywhere.

Once the thermocline breaks up the bass can be found anywhere in the water column this time of the year.

But before the thermocline breaks up the shallows get much cooler at night and this will allow the shallow water to hold a lot more oxygen. Colder water holds more Dissolved oxygen. More Oxygen means more activity and more critters ie food for the bass to eat.

Now you know why the fish migrate into the coves when the water cools down.

You'll find the shad swimming in the back of the bays this time of the year and the bass will follow the shad.

Water as shallow as 2ft deep along the banks and on top of submerged humps can be cool enough to hold fish and their food sources.

Grass is still alive and producing oxygen during the daylight hours. Weed edges that produced all summer long should still be productive now.

October is a great month to go fishing for bass.

Bass are eating now to stock up for the long cold winter months. Shad born this spring have grown and in the case of threadfin shad the second or third generation are a great food source for the bass. Too bad that most of the lakes in IN don't have threadfin shad and only have Gizzard Shad. Although I read that Hovey's lake has Threadfin shad from the Ohio River. Perhaps that's why Hovey was famous for it's crappie in past years before the dam was built and the drain was closed off. Thread fin shad are edible for even smaller crappie and increase the growth rates for crappie.

[QUOTE=mybentrod;428392]Just got back. They are starting to move. Water tps in the low 70's. Bass very hard to pattern right now. Scattered fish everywhere.[/QUOTE]