PATOKA *****

Apparently, Embrey is a "man of few words" LOL!!!!

I have to fish with my friend before I catch fish at Patoka. When I go up there by myself I don't catch nearly as many fish.

He knows the lake. He has the best maps and has been fishing the lake since it opened in 1978. He lives up there during the spring, summer and fall and only comes home when they turn the water off at his camp.

When you fish a lake for 30+ years you get to know the lake well.

That's the secrete to good fishing. Fish the lake and learn it well.

Evidently Embrey has not put enough time into fishing Patoka Lake. Give him some more time and I am sure he will figure it out.

If I lived closer to the lake I'd be fishing it more often. But to tell you the truth I get tired of fishing at times. I use to fish KY lake for a week straight and after a trip like that I was ready to rest. I am what some would call a fair weather fisherman. I like to go out on the water and fish when it's 70 deg to 80 deg and sunny. If it's raining I'd rather stay home. So I am not that good of a fisherman. Although I have brought home limits of crappie over the past years. But those fish were caught on a smaller lake that I fish a lot and have learned where to fish.

Patoka Lake filled up a year ahead of schedule as there was a lot of rain back in 1977/78 when they damed up the lake. The lake level rose so fast that the corp didn't have time to cut all the timber down in the upper reaches of the lake. The section of the lake from the 145 Bridge (Osborn Ramp area) to Kings Bridge and above is full of submerged trees and brush.

Those folks that are lucky enough to have a Side Scanning Sonar unit on their boat will attest to the fact that Patoka Lake is still full of submerged brush even after 30 years.

If you were to follow any of the major creeks channels you will see these brush pile and you can even see the fish schools. Fish that school in open water will leave shadows on the Side Scanning Display that are visible and will show that the fish are above the bottom. Fish that are hugging the bottom will have no shadows or the shadows will be very close to the fish signal itself.

I noticed that the Humminbird 1197 Side scanning unit when placed into the 2 D mode at 83/200 combo mode will show my lead sinker. I figured out the depth of my bait just by watching the sonar screen. I could place the bait right on top of the suspended fish. Before I always had to count the reel turns up from the bottom to get the depth figured out and that's not always accurate. If you are using a ten foot long rod and the fish are ten foot deep it's a lot easier to get the bait down to the right depth. You want the bait just above or even with the fish's level when going after suspended crappie.

Sorry that Embrey didn't catch any fish. Perhaps if you fished the lake more and leaned the lake better you would catch more fish.

But even the best fishermen can't always make the fish bite.

We found fish one day but had a devil of a time getting them to bite on minnow or jigs. We caught fish but didn't' set the house on fire that day.

Some days the bear gets you, and some days you get the bear.

Everyone have a happy Thanksgiving Day and enjoy your holiday.

[QUOTE=Moveon;433796]I have to fish with my friend before I catch fish at Patoka. When I go up there by myself I don't catch nearly as many fish.

He knows the lake. He has the best maps and has been fishing the lake since it opened in 1978. He lives up there during the spring, summer and fall and only comes home when they turn the water off at his camp.

When you fish a lake for 30+ years you get to know the lake well.

That's the secrete to good fishing. Fish the lake and learn it well.

Evidently Embrey has not put enough time into fishing Patoka Lake. Give him some more time and I am sure he will figure it out.

If I lived closer to the lake I'd be fishing it more often. But to tell you the truth I get tired of fishing at times. I use to fish KY lake for a week straight and after a trip like that I was ready to rest. I am what some would call a fair weather fisherman. I like to go out on the water and fish when it's 70 deg to 80 deg and sunny. If it's raining I'd rather stay home. So I am not that good of a fisherman. Although I have brought home limits of crappie over the past years. But those fish were caught on a smaller lake that I fish a lot and have learned where to fish.

Patoka Lake filled up a year ahead of schedule as there was a lot of rain back in 1977/78 when they damed up the lake. The lake level rose so fast that the corp didn't have time to cut all the timber down in the upper reaches of the lake. The section of the lake from the 145 Bridge (Osborn Ramp area) to Kings Bridge and above is full of submerged trees and brush.

Those folks that are lucky enough to have a Side Scanning Sonar unit on their boat will attest to the fact that Patoka Lake is still full of submerged brush even after 30 years.

If you were to follow any of the major creeks channels you will see these brush pile and you can even see the fish schools. Fish that school in open water will leave shadows on the Side Scanning Display that are visible and will show that the fish are above the bottom. Fish that are hugging the bottom will have no shadows or the shadows will be very close to the fish signal itself.

I noticed that the Humminbird 1197 Side scanning unit when placed into the 2 D mode at 83/200 combo mode will show my lead sinker. I figured out the depth of my bait just by watching the sonar screen. I could place the bait right on top of the suspended fish. Before I always had to count the reel turns up from the bottom to get the depth figured out and that's not always accurate. If you are using a ten foot long rod and the fish are ten foot deep it's a lot easier to get the bait down to the right depth. You want the bait just above or even with the fish's level when going after suspended crappie.

Sorry that Embrey didn't catch any fish. Perhaps if you fished the lake more and leaned the lake better you would catch more fish.

But even the best fishermen can't always make the fish bite.

We found fish one day but had a devil of a time getting them to bite on minnow or jigs. We caught fish but didn't' set the house on fire that day.

Some days the bear gets you, and some days you get the bear.

Everyone have a happy Thanksgiving Day and enjoy your holiday.[/QUOTE]your post is quite off...i fish the lake alot. i do plenty well. this fall has been sub par by far. as have most other lakes anywhere around here and most other states. and mainly...I DONT FISH FOR CRAPPIE...lol. i hate panfishing

I agree Embrey.....you just can't compare panfishing with bass fishing. I always look forward to fall fishing on Monroe, and was disappointed this year as well....at least somewhat.

Last tournament I fished at Patoka, 2 bass won it. I think 3 of us weighed in 2 and the rest of the field either had one or blanked. All 5 tournaments didn't yield many fish at all really. There weren't many that caught a limit. We got second place over all and didn't weigh in anymore than 3 at one time.
Even the times my friend and I fished it through the summer, boating fish were few and far in between.
Hopefully it will be better next year.