Patoka info??????

[mhall]

I was at Patoka with friends on Sunday doing some pleasure boating. I had never been to this lake and really liked the way it's layed out for fishing. It looked like it would fish alot like Barren to me. Who fishes this lake on here, tell me some stories, and is it worth me buying the 35 dollar out of state and spending some time there. In short somebody give me the skinny on fishing at Patoka lake.

[MsgMills]

I lived in Indiana for some years. Fished a lot of tourneys there on Patoka Lake. If you like fishing ( Grass ) then this lakes if for you. I wish the lakes here in Ky had the grass in them that Patoka & Monroe has in them.

The 35.00 bucks is well worth the money to spend to fish Patoka. Plus now they have gotten the Stripers going in full swing now. The Bluegill and Redear in this lake are huge. Have caught them as big that you have to open your hand up as wide as it will go in ordeer to just hold the fish to remove the hook from their mouth.

Good Luck and enjoy the Rat fishing across the grass mats.....

[Tim_T]

Mills,

When does the grass fishing get going? Is it on now, or coming soon? I have been to Patoka a few times when I was younger for family get togethers, but never fished it before.

Thanks for the info.

[mhall]

I lived in Indiana for some years. Fished a lot of tourneys there on Patoka Lake. If you like fishing ( Grass ) then this lakes if for you. I wish the lakes here in Ky had the grass in them that Patoka & Monroe has in them.

The 35.00 bucks is well worth the money to spend to fish Patoka. Plus now they have gotten the Stripers going in full swing now. The Bluegill and Redear in this lake are huge. Have caught them as big that you have to open your hand up as wide as it will go in ordeer to just hold the fish to remove the hook from their mouth.

Good Luck and enjoy the Rat fishing across the grass mats.....

Thanks, I did not see any grass but have heard that later in the year in will be very present, I just may purchase that out of state.

[Moose1am]

You will have to purchase a "Lake Enhancement Permit" also to be legal to fish on Patoka or Lake Monroe in IN. It cost in state people $20 for the year. This will be in addition to the fishing license that you will have to buy for out of state people.


This new permit was required for the first time just in 2006. This is the second year that I had to buy one for my boat in order to fish Patoka Lake.

Thanks, I did not see any grass but have heard that later in the year in will be very present, I just may purchase that out of state.

[wkerber]

Those costs aren't too bad compared to other states. A non-resident Tennessee license is $41 and it cost $40 for an annual pass to launch your boat at State/TVA ramps. Kentucky's non-resident license is $50.

[Moose1am]

Years ago Pre 1996 when they first discovered Gizzard shad in Patoka Lake during a IDNR fish survey the blue gills grew really big and were more abundant. The gizzard shad compete for the same food as the bluegill and have driven the bluegills numbers and size down. Gizzard shad make up a huge biomass in this lake according to IDNR fishery survey reports by Dan Carnahan.

I hear that the bass fishing is excellent now as the largemouth Bass can utilize the gizzard Shad as food. Gizzard shad grow to be up to 12" or even 18" in length which is way too big for a bluegill to eat but just right for a huge Largemouth Bass. Gizzard shad eat the plankton which the bluegills feed upon in the summertime. So the bluegill are more stunted now than pre 1996. But there still are some big gills in this lake. You will find them in the depths at this time of the year. Even during the spawn the bigger females will spawn deep. As deep as 10 ft or maybe even down to 15 ft depending on the water clarity. I have seen big gills spawning as deep as 25 ft in the Dawson Springs rock quarry. But that water was crystal clear and you could see rocks on the bottom in 50 ft of water on a calm sunny day. Underwater the visibility was over 200ft. I use to scuba dive in this rock quarry back in the early 1970's. Today it's a scuba diving resort and it's all cleaned up. Back when I dove there is was a trashy place and off limits to people. I only dove this quarry two or three times but it was some of the best water in the tristate for scuba diving. If I was still diving I would go there again. It's a huge rock quarry with very clean water today. Cerulean Springs is what they call it now days.

Bass can also be found in the standing timber at Patoka Lake and Upriver in the shallow water stump fields in the very early spring. Late Feb and March you will find a lot of the fish in the warmer waters at the headwaters of the Patoka river area of the lake.

One thing about Patoka Lake is that it's suffers from LOTS of Fishing Pressure. This is especially true during the weekends of summer.

The good thing is there are plenty of 10 mph speed limited areas for the fisherman to spend time in without being run over by Water Lice (Jet Skies or water skiers).

You can still catch bass along the 10ft contour levels or drop offs on main points too. There is a lot of Largemouth Bass in Patoka as well as some Small Mouth bass. And yes the stripers are an under fished resource or they were in the past. You will also find white bass in Patoka Lake. There is a good white and black crappie population along with lots of different catfish too.

The main State Campground is located at Newton Stewart. You can make reservations on line if you wish or just register when you get there. And there are many other private resorts near the lake with plenty of nice cabins to rent. They are not cheap. You can even rent a one the lake house or floating barge that will let you tie your boat right up next to your bedroom. Check out the Two Marina Web sites. Hoosier Hills Marina is the name of one of these two. It's located on the Lick Fork Section of the lake. It's upstream on Lick fork about 3 miles from the **** on the Western Section of the Lake. The other marina is located by the North Launch Ramp at Newton Stewart. This is the one that has the house cabins right on the lake. They are not cheap but they would be the way to go if you want to get up and just have your boat parked right next to your cabin on the lake ready to go fishing.

I lived in Indiana for some years. Fished a lot of tourneys there on Patoka Lake. If you like fishing ( Grass ) then this lakes if for you. I wish the lakes here in Ky had the grass in them that Patoka & Monroe has in them.

The 35.00 bucks is well worth the money to spend to fish Patoka. Plus now they have gotten the Stripers going in full swing now. The Bluegill and Red ear in this lake are huge. Have caught them as big that you have to open your hand up as wide as it will go in order to just hold the fish to remove the hook from their mouth.

Good Luck and enjoy the Rat fishing across the grass mats.....

[ss]

For bass fishing, the best time to fish Patoka has already passed for the year. February-April is prime time on that lake, especially for big fish. The bite right now is pretty tough, but there is still a decent topwater bite early. During the hot weather from now through August, nightime is the best time to bass fish Patoka. In the fall, the shallow bite will get good again, with the best fishing being in November when everyone is off the water and deer hunting. As far as the grass bite goes, grass is always the primary cover for Patoka bass.

[VMAXX]

Patoka is a great lake from the weighin's I've seen it rivals Ky lake however you never hear about it which might be a good thing,their used to be a Thur night tourney that ran for 3 or 4 hours in the summer that usually took around 17lbs to win, pretty good weight for such a short time but you definitely need to be around the grass

[mhall]

Thanks Guys, some great info, I appreciate it.....

[gar]

Check my post on the Ind. discussion board: Patoka Bass. Had a hell of a day!!

[the_donger]

Field and Stream magazine did an article on the hot spots for fishing in all 50 states. Patoka was the first choice for fishing in Indiana.