Quote Originally Posted by Thermodude View Post
Its been a rough year for Patoka so far with all the rain, constent cold fronts.......on and on. Bottom line is the lake is high, and the back water is muddy, the bite has been on again off again but the surface temps are up in the 60's and this should help to stabilize the bite. My advice for this time of year and the conditions that you are going to find right now is to stay west of the 145 bridge working the shallow waters of Flemming, Painter Creek and Southlick...........throw the basic springtime combos of spinnerbaits, jigs and creature baits...................good luck!
Find structure around the warm shallow waters with darker bottom and you will find the active fish. That's where the food will be and the fish follow their food supply.

Water in the depths is still pretty cold compared to the shallow waters and life slows down in the cold dark waters. Therefore the fish will be found in areas with long periods of sunlight. These area heat up faster in the Spring. This means areas with good exposure to the Southern Sun that's protected from Northern winds. North winds help cool off the surface of the water. So you get sun to warm up the water and cold winds cool it back down. It's a tug of war game and some area get and stay warmer longer than others. Think sunshine, calm areas and dark bottom with the right type of bottom material for fish to spawn in/on and crayfish to live in. Remember that Crayfish need to eat too. So think about what they eat and where they go to find their food. Dead fish sink to the bottom and collect in certain areas with slack current in moving river systems. In a lake the type of bottom might be more conducive to life as a crayfish. Think rip rap structure that not only helps the crayfish to hide from predators but the rocks collect sunlight and help warm the water up. And algae will grow on the limestone rocks.