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.
Originally Posted by MsgMills
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