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you ate that?
Yesterday was horrible. I threw a Pop R, Frog, deep crank, craws, and shallow cranks and caught nothing. This lake gives me a love hate to even go there. Being in Evansville it is equally close to go to Barkley were I normally fish. But I want to figure Patoka out.
It takes me 1.5 hours to get to Patoka Lake's launch ramp. How long does it take to drive from your house to the launch ramp at Barkley or KY lake? Anyone can answer this.
It takes me only 10 minutes to get to the local fish and wildlife lake. With gas prices over $3.30 a gallon I'll be doing much less fishing at Patoka or Barkley. But I do miss fishing these lakes. If I were to go there I'd have to go for a week or two at a time to make it worth the long drive and the gas I'd use.
When I went to Barkley it was never just for a day as I always rented a cabin and spent the weekend or at least 6 days there. But I'd often drive up to Patoka and fish and then drive back home. Actually I'd let dad drive home as I was always falling asleep on the way back home. It makes for a long day when you drive up to Patoka and drive back home all in one day. Just being out on the water in the hot sun makes me tired.
[QUOTE=drjochum73;493226]Yesterday was horrible. I threw a Pop R, Frog, deep crank, craws, and shallow cranks and caught nothing. This lake gives me a love hate to even go there. Being in Evansville it is equally close to go to Barkley were I normally fish. But I want to figure Patoka out.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Moveon;493229]It takes me 1.5 hours to get to Patoka Lake's launch ramp. How long does it take to drive from your house to the launch ramp at Barkley or KY lake? Anyone can answer this.
It takes me only 10 minutes to get to the local fish and wildlife lake. With gas prices over $3.30 a gallon I'll be doing much less fishing at Patoka or Barkley. But I do miss fishing these lakes. If I were to go there I'd have to go for a week or two at a time to make it worth the long drive and the gas I'd use.
When I went to Barkley it was never just for a day as I always rented a cabin and spent the weekend or at least 6 days there. But I'd often drive up to Patoka and fish and then drive back home. Actually I'd let dad drive home as I was always falling asleep on the way back home. It makes for a long day when you drive up to Patoka and drive back home all in one day. Just being out on the water in the hot sun makes me tired.[/QUOTE]
It takes me about 1.5 hours to get to Mineral Mounds. I don't mind driving down and driving back. I like Patoka just need to be patient and put the work in to figure them out. That's the real problem. I have very little patients for what Potaka offers. I can get to Blue Grass in 20 minutes or so but I have fish the pits in southern In all my life so now try to spend all my time on the bigger lakes. Nothing wrong with Blue Grass just over crowded and not wanting to put my boat in it. I have actually been spending more time on the river.
I'm not familar with Mieral Mounds but if it' only a 1.5 hr drive that would be about the same as going to Patoka Lake for me. I guess that's somewhere near the dam at Barkley as opposed to being at the headwaters somewhere.
I went to Prizer Point on Barkley years ago. But I camped out using a pop up camper when I did that.
Went to KY lake but went down to the KY/TN boarder area on Cypress Bay. Went to Paris TN area a few times but that's a long dive down there from my house.
Bluegrass's water has something in it that stains my aluminum boat really bad. But it's close by and if I get the urge to take the boat out and fish I can be there fast. But you are right as it's so crowded now days. Sometimes it's hard to find a parking spot. I have not tried the river much. I use to take my boat on the River when I was younger and it was ok if the water was calm. But my particular boat doesn't do well in choppy waters. It's designed for calm backwater mostly.
[QUOTE=drjochum73;493233]It takes me about 1.5 hours to get to Mineral Mounds. I don't mind driving down and driving back. I like Patoka just need to be patient and put the work in to figure them out. That's the real problem. I have very little patients for what Potaka offers. I can get to Blue Grass in 20 minutes or so but I have fish the pits in southern In all my life so now try to spend all my time on the bigger lakes. Nothing wrong with Blue Grass just over crowded and not wanting to put my boat in it. I have actually been spending more time on the river.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Moveon;493247]I'm not familar with Mieral Mounds but if it' only a 1.5 hr drive that would be about the same as going to Patoka Lake for me. I guess that's somewhere near the dam at Barkley as opposed to being at the headwaters somewhere.
I went to Prizer Point on Barkley years ago. But I camped out using a pop up camper when I did that.
Went to KY lake but went down to the KY/TN boarder area on Cypress Bay. Went to Paris TN area a few times but that's a long dive down there from my house.
Bluegrass's water has something in it that stains my aluminum boat really bad. But it's close by and if I get the urge to take the boat out and fish I can be there fast. But you are right as it's so crowded now days. Sometimes it's hard to find a parking spot. I have not tried the river much. I use to take my boat on the River when I was younger and it was ok if the water was calm. But my particular boat doesn't do well in choppy waters. It's designed for calm backwater mostly.[/QUOTE]
Mineral Mounds is in Katawa north of Eddie Creek. I usually would go to Blue Grass late in the year most weekend fishermen are gone and the lake is left to the die hards like myself. The river has been better then in the past. I wish the state of IN would develope the bass fishery better instead of using our lakes and rivers for just flood control. I know a lot guys who give KY a lot of money fishing their lakes.
[QUOTE=drjochum73;493226]But I want to figure Patoka out.[/QUOTE]that only works until you go again...
[QUOTE=Embrey;493253]that only works until you go again...[/QUOTE]
I plan now to go more often. Especially, I had to buy the ramp fee tag. What I enjoy most is trying to figure it out. Think I might start going on Sundays and just try different techniques. Maybe if I do well I do even better on other lakes. LOL.
Patoka starts getting real civil Sunday afternoon and evening. I live near the lake and wont even consider going on a Saturday.
[QUOTE=raporter;493267]Patoka starts getting real civil Sunday afternoon and evening. I live near the lake and wont even consider going on a Saturday.[/QUOTE]
Yeah this past Saturday was crazy on the water from about 10:00 am on. Glad we went out of Painter's Creek Ramp. Prob will continue to use this ramp until water levels come up and get better.
Dan
I like to fish patoka on weekdays. It's the best time to fish that lake. Years ago when I went to Patoka to Camp I'd just take the water skies and tube and get wet. I leff the fishing poles at the house. Only in the past 9 years did I start fishing at Patoka Lake again.
I got a call from my friend who fishes the lake a lot and he said that he's catching nice bass in the grass in the shallow water.
You have to be out on the water early, before the sun's up, to really catch a lot of bass. Well, that's how my dad taught me to fish. He caught a lot of big bass over the years. I use to catch most of my shallow water bass early in the morning. After about 10 they would shut down and stop biting. Probably because they moved deeper to avoid the sunlight and we didn't go that deep. Today people who fish deep structure may catch bass all day long.
I remember when the lake first opened and Bill Dance did a TV show at the lake. He caught enough bass in just one day out on the main lake to do his fishing show. Normally he'd have to fish for a week to get enough footage to do his show. He fished in an area that was 40 to 50 ft deep and only about 15 ft deep right next to it. Drop offs are a key fishing spot. That's why having a really good topo map can help you learn to catch fish.
[QUOTE=raporter;493267]Patoka starts getting real civil Sunday afternoon and evening. I live near the lake and wont even consider going on a Saturday.[/QUOTE]
Decided to pass on Patoka Monday and went to the strip pits. Couldn't keep the bass off of most baits we used. Was really fishing for gills and while it was tough going we still managed 50 or so which we released since we have enough in the freezer till fall.
The one we wanted to fish was to low to get our boat in.