Patoka Lake Info

[Hoover28]

Heading down to Patoka (first time) in a few weeks for a weekend trip. You guys have have any tips that I can take with me before I go. Help give me an edge over the other boats. Thanks

[bassmanic1]

Hey ,
First thing , dress warm . 2nd , fish main lake points with a jig . There is a real nice one out from the swimming beach with a fast drop . Good luck !

[Hoover28]

Hey ,
First thing , dress warm . 2nd , fish main lake points with a jig . There is a real nice one out from the swimming beach with a fast drop . Good luck !

Great, I'll remember that, Thanks!

[raporter]

Most of the early fishing on Patoka is done out of Walls ramp. That would be the upper end of the lake. Shallower water = warmer water.

[Moose1am]

I agree but it's not just because of the warmer water. There the upper end of the Lick Fork Area that has shallow and warm water.

And there is the Little Patoka River section where there is both new water flowing into that part of the lake and some shallow warmer water.

But Walls and Kings Bridge Areas are special in that the Main Patoka River flows into that area. The river brings in more nutrients into this area. The water up in this area is not only warmer and shallow but it's full of timber and stumps.

This area is full of underwater stumps and submerged trees. You have to be very careful up in this area. The lake filled up in 1977/78 before the Corps could cut all the timber out of this area. That's what they use as an excuse. The Corp of Engineers could have easily opened the gates to keep the lake from filling up and they could have delayed the lake filling up in order to cut the timber out of those flooding valleys up river. I'll bet they just decided to make that part of the lake a Submerged Timber Forest. LOL

But that's water over the **** now or water past the bridge. All I know is that there are good big fish up in that area during the warming months of early spring.

I caught my biggest crappie up in this area. It was a 1.5 Lb White Crappie that was as big as any Crappie I have caught on KY lake. I caught one Male White Crappie off a friends boat dock on night back in 2004. Went fishing all day out on the lake and when I got back to the dock I ended up catching this fish within 2 minutes of hitting the dock. It was a very nice fish too.

I didn't get a length measurement on my Patoka Lake Crappie that I caught in 2002 spring. But I did weigh it on my DeLiar Scale and it showed 1.5 lbs on this spring type scale. I later check the accuracy of this scale by tying some weights to it and seeing what it read and it tested out to be pretty accurate. And I know that the crappie was huge.

I learned on thing by catching this fish. Take your time. I had set the pole down and left it in one spot while I got into my lunch box and started to make and eat a sandwich. It was after a few minutes that I finally noticed that the bobber was no where in sight. This fish had hooked herself and took the bobber under the boat. I picked up my fly rod and hauled the fish in. I know exactly where I caught this fish and could go back to this spot pretty easily.

There must be a lot of big crappie up in this area of Patoka Lake. But there are thousands of smaller crappie up there too. In May I went up there and caught over 100 small crappie that year. 2002.

According to the IDNR fishery Biologist the Patoka Lake Crappie are getting bigger every year. If only we had threadfin shad in this water that could survive the winters the fish would grow even faster.

Fishing Patoka Lake is fun. It's what I would call a Highland Lake in some aspects and it's also a lowland reservoir in some ways too.

I wish that I could fish the middle areas of the lake without interference from all the boat traffic and I wish I had a bigger boat that could take the waves and ruff water. There are some spots out in the main lake that have some huge crappie. These fish are located in 25 ft of water and are said to be slabs. I know where they are on a map but translating those maps into an accurate GPS waypoint is not easy to do. Not with the Paper Maps from Fishing Hot Spots or even the FHS digital maps.

But the maps that Larry Southern IN or PatokaLarry has one could with some work figure out the exact spot on the lake where the old river takes a turn or the exact spots where the old creek runs into the old river bed.

But today with the new Humminbird Side Scanning Sonar units like the 997cSi anyone can find those fish and those structures. They can find the old bridge abutments too. I have to get me one of them some day. I am taking donations for the fund. LOL

$3000 is a lot of cash to pay for a depth finder. I keep waiting for the price to drop, but as long as no other company competes with Humminbird in this category the price will remain high. Humminbird has a monopoly on this type of retail side scanning fish locater.

I don't really understand why Lowrance can't duplicate these units and compete and help bring the prices down. I guess it's a thing called a "patent". Maybe in a few more years the patents will run out and then the competition will enter this market and bring the prices down to where you don't have to be rich to own one of these.

I paid $800 for my current Humminbird LCR 8000 unit but that was back in 1985/86. And that was a lot of money back them. It was when they first started using LCR screen vs paper for the graphs. My screen is still huge in display size when compared to a lot of modern depth finder screens.
I just wish it was a side scanning unit and had built in gps like the new 1197csi unit.

Most of the early fishing on Patoka is done out of Walls ramp. That would be the upper end of the lake. Shallower water = warmer water.

[Moose1am]

Wear your life jacket and take some extra warm cloths and a blanket and something to heat you up in case you fall into the lake.

And know how to get back into the boat. You fall out of the boat in that 40 deg F water and you will be so cold that you won't be able to easily get back into your boat even if you can catch it. Do you have a ladder on the back of your boat? If not it would be wise to have one. Or you can step on the motor to help you get back into the boat. there is a flat area right above the prop that you can stand on.

Remember that it's almost impossible to swim while dressed in layers and layers of clothing and while wearing boots. So a life Jacket is a MUST in this time of cold water

And the big foam type life jackets can help keep you warm too. The new light jackets that inflate automatically when you hit the water are comfortable and will help hold your head above the water. They may be expensive but your life is worth more than $100. So there is now no excuse to get into a boat during the winter months without a life jacket on.

The life you save may be your OWN.

[roadrunner]

When you are standing on the motor reach down and trim the motor all the way up and crawl in the boat.

[GeoFisher]

Just a HEADS UP about Walls RAMP..........

I've had my truck broken into 2 times.......once at Little Patoka and Once at Walls. Not trying to discourage you, but there is NOTHING around, and the SOB crooks have little deterrance to DESTROYING your crap there.

I'd use a ramp on the Main lake, maybe the new one off of 145........I've used that a couple times, and NEWTON stewart.........It will take you 30 minutes to get to walls from there, going 10 mph, but WORTH it.

Later,

Geo

[Moose1am]

They should set up a surveillance system at Walls to catch those thieves.

I wonder if a trail camera would work? Put in in the nearby trees and set it toward the parking lot and check it every hour.

This happened a few years back and they caught those thieves but I guess new ones have taken their place.

I hate to see this happening again, but thanks for the heads up.

Just a HEADS UP about Walls RAMP..........

I've had my truck broken into 2 times.......once at Little Patoka and Once at Walls. Not trying to discourage you, but there is NOTHING around, and the SOB crooks have little deterrance to DESTROYING your crap there.

I'd use a ramp on the Main lake, maybe the new one off of 145........I've used that a couple times, and NEWTON stewart.........It will take you 30 minutes to get to walls from there, going 10 mph, but WORTH it.

Later,

Geo

[skeeter sf150sx]

I heard from the game warden the crooks that were breaking into trucks were arrested year and half ago. there has not been much of a problem since. I just leave my truck unlocked and remember not to leave anything of great value in my truck.

Moose - I heard a rummor that Lowrance is working on a side image unit that will be out in year or two.

[Moose1am]

Jeff:
That is exactly what I heard too. Maybe those were the same thieves that Geofisher is talking about.

I sure don't need my only truck to be broken into. It's barely holding together now!

[Hoover28]

Just a HEADS UP about Walls RAMP..........

I've had my truck broken into 2 times.......once at Little Patoka and Once at Walls. Not trying to discourage you, but there is NOTHING around, and the SOB crooks have little deterrance to DESTROYING your crap there.

I'd use a ramp on the Main lake, maybe the new one off of 145........I've used that a couple times, and NEWTON stewart.........It will take you 30 minutes to get to walls from there, going 10 mph, but WORTH it.

Later,

Geo

THANKS, WE WILL REMEMBER THAT. THATS A SHAME THAT THAT KIND OF STUFF GOES ON.