Patoka water temps?

Anyone been to Patoka recently? I see the water is still about 3 feet above summer pool. Anybody know about what the temperature is up there right now? I am going to be fishing a tournament up there in less than 2 weeks and will probably only be able to pre-fish for 4 or 5 hours the day before. Anything working particularly well right now?

I fished the Walls area Friday afternoon. The temperature was around 70°F. We were crappie fishing and it was not all that great. Spoke with one guy who was bass fishing and he was fishing a ledge near the channel and said he caught a few. We bass fished in the shallows a little bit and did not see a fish.

Good Luck in Your Tournament!
Bublebee

Thanks Bumblebee...do you think the largemouth have spawned up at Patoka already? Any areas you might be able to suggest for mid-May? Patterns?

I haven't seen any sign of a bass or crappie spawn and I'm up above walls ramp almost every weekend. Most fish are still in a pre-spawn mold waiting for the right weather conditions to bed. May should be a good one to fish if the weather will get warmer and the rain stop for awhile. Every crappie we caught(10"/14" fish) last week were on creek channel ledges 6' to 8' deep suspended above or near cover. The smaller ones were just about everywhere else in shallow water and biting pretty good. Used four different color combinations of 2" tubes on a 1/16th and a 3/32 ounce head. Caught 2 keeper bass on tubes also while crappie fishing. Lots of fun on light tackle.

The water temp is decent right on the very top but when you start going down several feet in starts dropping in a hurry. Some of the crappie we caught felt like they had just come out of the fridge. We need some more days with the temps in the upper 70's and 80's to get things in full swing.

Having fished Patoka since it was first impounded and having a camp there for the past 8 years and fishing almost every weekend all year that's my take on the situation.

I run a Crestliner with a 150 EFI Mercury and my little ShiuZu dog is always with me. Stop by an we'll shoot the schitt and I'll tell you if I'm doing any good or not.

The best fishing is yet to come. The weather and water temps are the key. Looks like this weekends weather is going to be decent.


Larry

Looks like we're going to hit Patoka this weekend targeting crappie and maybe bass if we have to. What/where would you suggest? (not looking to steal your spot, lol)

Thanks,

BB

If you have never been above walls ramp be carefull, lots of stumps just under the surface.

Larry





>Looks like we're going to hit
>Patoka this weekend targeting crappie
>and maybe bass if we
>have to. What/where would
>you suggest? (not looking
>to steal your spot, lol)
>
>
>Thanks,
>
>BB

looks like we will put in/camp in SW corner - near lick fork

Larry - The tournament we're fishing is taking off from Newton Stuart South...do you think it would be wise to fish up river or would bigger bags come from the main lake? If we would go up river we'd probably stay there most of the day, due to the slow travel back and forth. On a side note, I have a shih tzu as well but I've never had him out on the boat with me while I fish. He did go with me when I tested the boat out before I bought it, I thought he was gonna jump in trying to get a drink. Does yours do well in the boat? I've always been afraid of him wanting to get overboard and having to try and get him.

Are you fishing the same tournament? If so can you drive the boat and trailer to another launch ramp after the launch time or do you have to launch from a specific ramp? If not then it may be faster to drive up to King Bridge or Walls and launch from those ramps. But King is not a concrete ramp from what I understand and also parking is very limited at the King Bridge Gravel parking lot. I have not been there before by car. I have been close enough to kings bridge to see it from a short distance from the water. We were fishing just downriver from that bridge once spring.

As for PL's dog riding in his boat. His dog is very smart. If larry goes too fast the little dog curls up by Larry's feet under the steering wheel column we he is out of the cold wind. If Larry is going slow the little dog usually is right up on the bow facing into the wind. He's a good little dog.

I fished with Larry a few time in his boat and have fish with him when I took my boat up to Patoka Lake.


Regards,

Moose1am

Hey Larry:
I think I have the boat all ready to go this weekend. I finally got tired of working on my old tiller. I was trying to get the garden tilled so that I could plant some of my tomatoes before they outgrowt their containers. All the rain has keep me out of the garden. Well today I tried to till and the tiller stalled on me. I tore it down and found a broken bronze bushing that caused the gear teeth to get all torn up. This caused me much dispair. LOL. So I ran out to Lowes and got me a new tiller tonight. I finally put the old tiller in the trash where it belong and got the new one started and finished the tilling up. Now I can get ready to go fishing finally.

I keep getting the disconnected message when I call your camp old phone number.

I may just come on up this weekend and fish some if it's nice. I caught 8 fish the other night while fishing for a few hours. That was my first time out this year with the boat.

Got a tear in my frogg toggs and sent the bibs back to the factory to get them replaced with a new pair. Hope it don't rain before I get them back.

I did some bank fishing in the rain while wearing them and they kept me dry. But they are not worth $80 IMHO when they are so easy to rip or tear. I would prefer a sturdier rain suit made out of gortex and something that will last longer than a day.

Broke one of my favorite ultra light cabelas rods and had to replace it with a new shakespeare rod (microGraphite) It's a nice fast action short rod that I think I will enjoy. The tip ID is larger too. So it should let the bobber stops pass though the tip easily. I hope!

Good fishing. I guess this weather has the crappie spawn all messed up. I would have thought that all the crappie would have spawned by now.

I guess the lake level is still way up there.


Regards,

Moose1am

I'm not sure about any other tournaments but the one I'm fishing in a week launches from Newton Stuart South. I don't think we're going to head up river, but we might. Heard of any productive areas, baits, techniques on Patoka right now?

was up there on tuesday night. water was 68-70 deg. did not do good on bass until dusk. caught several crappie and some stripers on jigs. bass came off texas rigs...