Patoka Stripers

[motalot]

What can you tell me about Patoka Stripers. According to Fish and Wildlife it is underutilized. I saw 15 boats striper fishing Sunday.

[Moose1am]

Check out the www.infisherman.com web site and read the science doc section on thermoclines and preferred water temps of the various fish species.

Those stripes are out roaming the main lake's deeper waters searching for big schools of shad. That is their main forage I have read.

According to the US Army Corp of Engineers web site for Patoka lake the thermocline was around 16 ft on Patoka Lake on June 26th 2006. That was the last temp profile that I found on the COE web site.

You won't find too many big stripers below the thermocline where the oxygen levels are depleted at this time of the year. Hot summer months. So the key to catching big stripers is to put the baits where they are hanging out.

Down-riggers or planer boards and baits that can be set to go to 17ft deep are the key. Baits that mimic the gizzard shad that the stripers feed on should work best.

You will have to control the boat's speed, the type of line, the amount of line out behind the boat while trolling, and the type of bait trolled to put the baits at the right depth and at the right speed.

Use a GPS unit to measure your boat's speed. Use line counting reels to determine how much line is out behind the boat. Vary the type of baits and boat speed and amount of line out in known depths to determine if the baits can reach certain depths. Keep records of the variables and the depths reached for each bait and line type etc. After a while you should be able to put your baits and the right depth and at the right speed.

I would think that using small down-riggers to put the baits at the exact depth would be the best setup for stripers. With the heavy and streamlines cannon balls hanging straight down below the boat at a calibrated depth you can easily hook the fishing line to the ball using the quick release snaps and have the bait and the right depth. Now I am not sure if the stripers would be scared off by the boat's presence or not. If they are then using side planer boats to get the baits out to the side of the boat may be more appropriate. But then you have the problem of getting the baits down to the right depth.

Maybe the stripers are in the upper surface waters and if that's the case then trolling a shallow running crank bait or a Buck Perry small Spoon plug may be the ticket.

Trolling slowly with the big motor is the best way to cover lots of water and to find the fish faster. To slow the big motor down to less than 2.0 mph you may have to put on a trolling plate or throw out some wind socks or buckets tied to the back of the boat to slow you down. Two 5 gallon plastic buckets with a big hole in the bottom of the bucket may work. The drag created by pulling those buckets behind your boat should slow you down when you go to idle speed.

Use the GPS and or GPS digital maps to follow the old river bed while you troll across the lake.

I found some good rod holders at Dick's Sporting Goods Store in Evansville, IN. They appear to be made out of heavy duty plastic that has fibers embedded inside the plastic for reinforcement. They will hold a good bait casting rod and reel with a 300 bandit being trolled.

Regards,

Moose1am

[JBehr]

Second-hand info, but I trust the source. Source is downrigging 1/2 oz white/blue, white/chartreuse, or chartreuse bucktails with contrasting trailers. Baits are run 50'-75' behind boat, 12' deep at 2 mph for starters. Run the boat in a zig-zag pattern instead of a straight line. Keep a close eye on graph to see where fish and bait are and adjust accordingly. Best bite is 1 hour before sunup until about 10 am. This pattern has held for over a month now. Good luck.

Joe

[panfish]

Who is saying the resource is under utilized?

[Moose1am]

I have read others reports on their trolling for fish. I found that they also zig zag while trolling. Just be careful when you zig for the first time and make sure that there is no other boats behind you trying to pass you.

I think that the reason this works and make the fish bite is that by zig zagging you are changing the speed of the baits. The inside baits slow down and the outside baits speed up. Therefore if you are going 2.0 mph you inside baits may slow down to 1 mph and drop down deeper and the outside baits may speed up to 3mph and rise up. That helps ensure that you cover more speeds and various depths. Also a bait that rise up suddenly or drops suddenly and then rises back up can trigger a reaction strike. It's like running away from your dog makes him want to chase you and play.

Regards,

Moose1am

[motalot]

Indiana Department of Fish and Wildlife. They have Ceased stocking program because (it is underutilized)
I would like to campaign for restocking.

[Moose1am]

I support your efforts to get the stocking program back into operation. I thought that the stripers were put into Patoka to help control the Gizzard Shad Populations. Is there any evidence that these fish have reproduced on their own? Being hybrids I would expect not but nature sometimes has a way of doing strange things.

Saw a program the other night were a female fish changed from female to male in less than a week. Seems that most of the fish on this artificial reef were female except for one male. When the male was removed from the reef one of the female fish too over the males role on the reef and changed sex within a week. I have also read where some rivers that had high levels of female hormones dumped into the river via human waste had fish that changed sex. Nature sure does some strange things.

I saw a guy fishing at dress plaza in Evansville who had a nice striper on his stringer. There was an article in the paper last Sunday that was written about the Stripers that got into the Ohio River. Seems that KY and some other states stocked them in KY Lake and Cumberland and the migrated down the TN river and into the Ohio and from the Cumberland into the Ohio River.



Regards,

Moose1am