Patoka Lake Info

[Moose1am]

GeoFisher:
When did your car get broken into. Was that this last year or this year or a few years ago.

If it's recently then there must be new crooks or the old crooks are back at it again.

I have bad memories of taking the trip up the Patoka River from the Bridge at 145 to Walls. I only did that trip that way one time and right at the last turn in the river bend before I got to the Walls Ramp area I got a speeding ticket from the Orange County CO boys. This was way back when the lake first opened. I didn't go back there way until a few years ago and then it was by truck not boat.

Now that I have a GPS unit that shows where I am located on the lake I may do that trip by boat again. But I only carry 6 gallons of gas for my boat these days. I'll have to put the other 6 gallon gas tank back in my boat. I have been using that space to carry a few other things like my oil and anchor along with a few other things.

I know a few years back (2002 and 2003) IDNR reservoir budget got cut and they talked about shutting down the Walls launch ramp. But some of the locals that lived up there volunteered to maintain that launch ramp and they kept it open.

I have only launched from there about 3 or 4 times total and the first time was during the middle of the week in 2002. April 1 st 2002 to be exact. Even at that time of the year and in the middle of the week there were at least six vehicles with boat trailers. Guys were pre fishing for crappie a week or so before the Crappie USA tournament that year. The guys I fished with that April were the guys that won the Semi Pro division that year. And they won the Spring Tournament at Patoka lake the year before.

And one of those guys won the last Patoka Lake Crappie Fishing tournament. Brian Estridge and his brother won last years Nov Tournament. Brian and Frank Ison won the spring Crappie USA tournaments in 2002 and 2003 if memory serves me right. I saw Frank Ison release at least 10 to 15 one to two pound white crappie one day as he was getting ready to drive back home. It was 2 or 3 pm in the afternoon and he released all the fish he caught that day while I watched him release them. He held up each one of the fish to show me right before he released them back into the water. Those were some of the biggest crappie that I have seen at Patoka Lake since the lake opened. I have seen lots of 8" black crappie but those were 14" to 16" fish that Frank released that day. I was fishing right near him that day and could see each fish he held up before releasing it.

But you can do the same thing at Lick Fork if you hit the shallow water areas where the fish are staging before they spawn in April.

Late March and Early April when the water's 60 deg F these big females will be in prespawn and you can catch them if you fish for them quietly and slowly. These big fish spook easily in the clear waters of Patoka Lake.

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 deterrence 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

[GeoFisher]

October 2006..........I think................BUT then had some SOB steal my spare tire...........Cut the **** cable.............and that *****.......Not only do I have to replace my rim and tire, but also need to replace the crank mechanism........which is about 300 bucks........FUN.

I tell you.......if I EVER catch someone in my truck, I will SHOOT them and ask questions later......I REALLY hate THIEVES......

Later,

Geo

[Moose1am]

I understand how you feel. I use to live next door to a few thieves that stole stuff out of my boat at night. I had a life jacket taken from my boat one night while the boat was parked in my driveway over night. Normally I put the cover on the boat but that day I was trying to dry out the boat and the life jackets so I have put the jacket out in the sun to dry that day. That afternoon the thief walked right by me as I worked on my boat and made a comment to me. He said "you playing with your boat". He was much younger than I and I really didn't know him. But he saw my life jacket laying on the boat's bass seat and he must have come back to steal it that night. Years later I saw the life jacket in his big brother's boat while visiting his house one day. The older bother and I worked together years later so that's why I was going to his house for a visit one day. The life jacket was a sterns camo and that's the same one he has sitting inside his boat as I walked past the boat in his garage. It was then that I figured out who stole my life jacket. I finally remembers his little brother walking past my boat that day. And these boys had stolen stuff from people in the neighborhood in the past too.

[Hoover28]

So what presentation/Lure is best in late April on this Lake? Im getting some good info from you guys..

[GeoFisher]

If the grass is visable...........I like Green Pumpkin or BLACK Grass Frogs.........they are KILLER.........Also........Spinnerbaits 1/4 oz white titanium........AGAIN KILLER.

AND don't forget black/blue jigs.......I really like the area from the bridge up to WALLS.......Deeper bank, close to the creek channel......AND if you find ghe grass, try to target the outer edges.........that seems to work.

I've caught some REALLY decent LM there..........

Another good area is the grassbed just off the Bridge.........145 bridge near the main lake..........About 100 ft off the bank the grass gets REALLY thick, and this time of year, you can use a rattle trap just above those weeds.

I hope this helps.

Later,

Geo

[Moose1am]

Thanks Geo that's good information on the bass.

That same area should hold some nice crappie too. The crappie should be there in the deeper parts of the 145 main lake area and they should be migrating up the Patoka River towards Walls sooner or later. At least some of them will. I believe that there are resident crappie that live in this section of the lake year round as they have evertthing they require. Not all the crappie migrate thoughout the lake. Radio Tracking studies on KY lake have showed that not all the crappie move long distances all the time

Anyway you asked about lures and presentation.

White Lighting Squirmin Squirts 1.5" long from Bass Pro Shops. Put these on a 1/16 to 1/32 or even a 3/32 oz minnow head jig. I use 6lb Stren line. A long 10 ft to 7 ft graphite pole to help get the slip bobber rig out away from the boat. I like the Sam Heaton Super Sensitive Rods form BnM poles. I need a new 10ft rod and that would be my choice. It's lightweight and has a very sensitive tip that allows you to detect bites.

For a bobber I like the foam bobbers from Betts. These are the ones that are about 1" to 1.5" long and oblong in shape. These will sit up and lay over in the water if a crappie grabs the bait and does not swim away.

You must make sure that the bobber is not pulled underwater from the weight of the jig and that the jig is heavy enough to make the bobber stand straight up and down in the water. Any change in the weight of the jig under the bobber means something has the jig in it's mouth. The bobber only goes under water when the fish inhales the jig and swims off. Watch the bobber closely.

I use the Thrill type bobber stops and prefer to use the chartruse colored thread. I can see it better and watch the bobber stop being pulled toward the slip bobber after I make a cast. If the line hangs up in the bobber due to friction between the line and any groves in the bobber I will know. The line being feed though the inside of the bobber makes the jig fall super slow which gives the crappie time to look at the bait. Cold water crappie like a slow falling object which imitates a insect that's fallen into the water and that's slowly sinking toward the bottom. Sometime the jigs drop speed is critical.

And I would not fish this without adding a Berkely Crappie Nibble to the jig hook. This adds scent to the set and is critical in catching fish with a jig or artifical bait. They need to smell the crappie nibble before they will bite. Your bites will be 10 times more with a crappie nibble or some other effective scent or attractant. I use to use Dr Juice and have heard that other scent paste work too.

The White Lighting soft tenticles undulate under the bobber and are hard for the crappie to resist.

Find an area in dumpling creek that's different from the ohter areas. There is a underwater pensulia or island (depend on the lake level) on the North Side of of the Mouth of Dumplin Bay. The South side of Dumpling bay is where Dumplin Creek enters the bay. The area inbetween the mouth of the bay is full of submerged trees but most of them are along the North Side of the Bay. The bay itself sits in a NW to SE line. The old Patoka River Channel swings in close to both the north side of the bay and the south side of the bay. The river channel in this area can be 20 to 25 ft deep depending on the lake level.

I have been studying this area on my maps and have fished it a few times. I would fish it much more if Patoka lake was closer to where I live or if gas prices would drop.

I guess if I can't fish it someone should or will.

All I ask is that you share your results with the group in here.

Note: the fish can be scattered and in different locations at various times of the year.

I took my 80 year old mother up to dumpling creek one day in May 2003 and we caught over 100 small crappie. The area was loaded with 4" to 6" long crappie that warm day in May.

It's the only area where I personally have actually seen big crappie caught in Patoka Lake. But I don't get up there very often any more. I fished it more often when my dad was still alive and we went together. But we didn't fish the Walls area as it was so far away from the main lake and I didn't realize that you could drive to that launch ramp at Wall. I didn't have access to any good maps of that area until I got my new GPS and my new mapping program. I never did like taking the boat into new areas where I was not familar with the lay of the land. I didn't what to find a dead end and have to try to turn the truck and boat around in a tight place. So I only took the boat into areas that I had scouted before hand. I finally took a ride up to the Walls area of Patoka Lake with the boat in tow back for the first time back in 2002. Once I found out how to drive to the ramp I was easy to get there. But I still am aprehensive fishing that part of the lake by myself in my small boat because of all the submerged trees. I got my boat stuck on top of one of them stupid trees. It was 15 ft deep water and the top of the tree was right under the water. I ran the port side of my boat up on top of a tree top and was leaning over at 30 deg sideways that day. And I had a frightened almost screaming 80 year old lady sitting in the seat next to me. I could not back up off the tree as the motor kept flipping up and out of the water if I gave it too much gas while in reverse. I finally put the boat in forward and gave it enough gas to drive over the treetop. It put a long scratch in the bottom of my aluminum boat. I was lucky it didn't poke a hole in the boat bottom.

Years before I ran across the lake from the North Launch ramp to the area near the 145 bridge where Little Patoka River comes into the old Patoka River channel. I had a friend with me that day. I drove the boat and left him in the back of the boat to fish while I stopped the boat and shut the motor off and raced up to the front of the boat to get the trolling motor going. He asked me if there was suppose to be water in the back of the boat over the flooring. I looked back towards him and saw water in the bottom of my boat coming out from under the bench seat. I had busted a weld in the front edge of my boat and I was taking on gallons of water fast. We finally managed to get the boat started and moving and I eventually was able to get the boat on plane where the boken weld was out of the water and I pulled one of the plugs on the transom which allowed all the water to drain out the back of the boat as long as I kept the boat moving. I almost lost my boat that day. I had a hard time getting my friend out of the boat at the launch ramp and had to run around the ramp area to keep the boat from sinking before I could get it back on the boat trailer. If I had been by myself that day I would have lost my boat for sure. That day I was wishing that my friend weighed a lot more as he was a skinny guy that didn't weigh more than 160 lbs with his winter cloths on. I needed for him to get all the way up in the front of my boat before I could get the boat back on plane. Until then I could not pull the plug and get the water out of the boat. I got lucky as the motor started right away and it had enough power to plow though the water with all that water inside the boat. Try driving a boat and pulling the plug at the same time while not being able to see over the front of the boat as the front end was almost standing up out of the water at the time.

Anyone that got to see this incident had a good time watching the action.

So I am learing of putting my boat into a postition where I get another hole in the bottom.

Note: if the water at Patoka Lake is down below 532 you can see the tops of the trees and see where the old river channel is between the tree tops that line the banks of the river. But if the water is at 535 or 536 those tree tops are below the surface and you can't see where the old river channel is located. I finally got to ride up that way with someone that had a larger and stronger boat and that knew where the old river channel was as the water levels were low during that trip up above Walls ramp.

If the grass is visable...........I like Green Pumpkin or BLACK Grass Frogs.........they are KILLER.........Also........Spinnerbaits 1/4 oz white titanium........AGAIN KILLER.

AND don't forget black/blue jigs.......I really like the area from the bridge up to WALLS.......Deeper bank, close to the creek channel......AND if you find ghe grass, try to target the outer edges.........that seems to work.

I've caught some REALLY decent LM there..........

Another good area is the grassbed just off the Bridge.........145 bridge near the main lake..........About 100 ft off the bank the grass gets REALLY thick, and this time of year, you can use a rattle trap just above those weeds.

I hope this helps.

Later,

Geo