Quote Originally Posted by Moose1am View Post
Crappie start spawning when the spawning areas water temp gets to around 65 deg f. It sounds like it's time for the crappie to start spawning again at Patoka Lake. I'll be that the shallow water areas in the back of the bays are around 65 deg F in the daytime. The weather service is predicting warm air temps this week and coming weekend. There will be rain Wed, Thur and Friday but Saturday and Sunday look nice. Water should be warming up now.

Did you check out the shallow water areas for crappie? Did you check any mid depth drops near potential shallow water spawning areas? That includes a lot of area at Patoka. Some may be used by the crappie while others that look good may not be used.

By Stripers are you talking about the hybrid that grow really big? These fish roam the waters from what I understand. I am not that familiar with their habits but they do sound like a fun fish to fish for. I've added some rod holders to my boat for trolling crank baits out the back of my boat. I've caught crappie using this method. Just get the crank baits to hit the 10 ft to 12 ft depths and you can catch suspended crappie on Patoka Lake. My first time trying this I caught three nice sized crappie in less than 1/2 hr. But I had some clues as to where the fish were before I launched. I noticed a boat fishing as I approached the launch ramp. I got lucky as before I launch this boat returned to the ramp to leave. I got to see their catch and it was a good catch. So I had an idea where they had just finished fishing which was a huge advantage. It always helps to have good information on where the fish are being caught the day you go fishing. I got lucky. There were three guys in this boat and one guy had a particular hat that stood out from long distance. I didn't recognize their boat or anything else but the guys hat. So when I saw this boat coming back to the launch ramp I saw the guys hat and knew it was the same boat. It pays to pay attention when driving around the lake. LOL Now I have a new fishing spot for the fall of the year to add to my 4 or 5 other hot spots. But there are many more spots on Patoka Lake where you can catch crappie year round.

I did check the shallow areas and did not find anything except a couple very small LMB. I ran into some other fishermen who had caught some crappie at 6to 8 ft deep over 20 ft of water and that is where I was fishing when I caught the few crappie that I did catch.

From what I understand their are no Hybrid stripers in Patoka, they are all stripers (rockbass). I would love to learn to catch them.