Crappie biting ?

[Moose1am]

I have been talking to several guys that fished the Patoka Lake Crappie USA tournament this last Saturday.

Most of the big fish were caught in the warmer waters of the lake. There was one fish over 2.5 lb caught and another that went about 1.74lbs.

Now those are nice Patoka Lake Slabs.

I heard that there were a few boats up above Kings Bridge fishing the Old River section of the lake above this bridge. The lake is 14 ft above summer pool and about 18 ft above the guide line for the lake in early April.

Reports of big fish being caught up on the banks where the buck brush is flooded to 6 or 7 ft depths.

Crappie USA should get the information about the results posted on their web site but the guy doing that has ISP problems right now and can't get the report uploaded to their sight. Hopefully that will get done and we can read the details and find out all the results.

I know it was one cold day and I heard it was windy as well.

Water temperatures and small portable boats to get upriver may have been the key to catching the big ones.

But remember that not all the big fish are up river. They may be there now but not all the lake warms up at the same time. And not all the fish are in the early warming water. There will be big fish spawning later in the clear and deeper parts of the main lake. The various crappie may spawn over a two week period. I have found fish with eggs in them in JUNE before. I have heard some say that the crappie reabsorb their eggs if they don't spawn. Well I think that they expel their eggs and then either the eggs don't get fertilized or they may even eat their own eggs. But I don't think that it's physically possible for the eggs to be absorbed inside the body of the fish. It would be easier to just eat the egg and absorb the nutrients though the stomach and intestines as they do with any other food source. But in reality I think that they just expel the eggs and leave them to mother nature. Remember the females don't attend to the eggs. That is the male crappies job. I have read that females will lay eggs on old logs or other horizontal surfaces if the right bottom material it not present. I have also found crappie in November in Southern IN with smaller egg inside them. But these are eggs that are developing and will be with the crappie until the next spring when they are expelled.

[raporter]

Moose I was at the weighin and heard several say they fished above Walls but didn't hear anyone mention above Kings bridge. You are right about using a small boat as you couldn't get a boat under the bridge. The local team from Birdeye and Ferdinand won the semi pro with a catch of over 8 pounds. There were 70+ teams entered and only 30+ weighed in their catch. You had to be tough to stay out there all day as it was a really miserable day.

[Moose1am]

Those local boys almost won last spring but one of their big fish died before the weigh in. I try to keep an eye on those two guys to see where they fish. I go though Birdseye on my way to the lake. I wish I knew were they live as I would stop by and see if they want to go fishing with me. LOL
Must be nice to live so close to the lake and be able to fish it often without spending a fortune on gas.

One of these days I am going to get motivated to drive up to the Kings Bridge by road and see what that place is like. I have seen satellite views of it.

I wish I could see the lake from a birdseye view above.

Maybe one day I can hook up with Larry and we can ride up there. I feel very uncomfortable going up in that part of the lake with my boat. I almost turned my boat over one time as I ran the port side over the top of a tree. I got stuck on that tree and could not back off. So I had to give it a lot of gas and take a chance of tipping over or getting off the tree. My engine kept kicking up and I could not back off the tree top. That tree top was about 3" below the surface and I ran smack up on top of it. I was stuck with the tree about midway down the lenght of my boat and starboard of my boat's centerline. I don't want to have to go through that again. Not only was I endanger of flipping over sideways but I could have torn a hole in the bottom of my boat. Luckly the tree top was rotten and it didn't dig into my boat's bottom.

Now if I knew that all the trees were at least 5ft below the surface that would be great, but there will always be one or two taller tree tops that are just below the surface.

I have been up there when the lake is at 532 ft or winter pool and then you can see the old river channel as it curves though the area. But even then it's hard to follow the channel without getting out of the channel and onto the flats surrounding the channel. That channel is very narrow and twisting as you head upstream from Dumpling Creek.

Moose I was at the weighin and heard several say they fished above Walls but didn't hear anyone mention above Kings bridge. You are right about using a small boat as you couldn't get a boat under the bridge. The local team from Birdeye and Ferdinand won the semi pro with a catch of over 8 pounds. There were 70+ teams entered and only 30+ weighed in their catch. You had to be tough to stay out there all day as it was a really miserable day.

[Moose1am]

Anyone know about where the local guys fished on the lake this time?

[raporter]

Sorry I didn't ask them. We wondered the same thing after we left. DUH. The ramp at King's is just a dirt ramp and there is limited parking there. It is better than it used to be as several years ago I was backing down and ran a stump down the side of my truck. When the lake is at normal pool we don't have any problems following the old channel. Still I would be hesitant to go into that area without a stainless steel prop.

[Moose1am]

The Guys at CUSA finally posted the results on their web site. See the Region 3 Patoka Lake tournament results

Looks like most of them fished out of Walls ramp.

[raporter]

Don't understand the results on the big fish. There was one over 2.5 before we got there and we watched a 1.65 being weighed.

[Moose1am]

Not sure I understand what you are asking? There was one big fish prize awarded I think. And I think that they gave an award or prize for the second biggest fish caught during the tournament.

Here is what I found on the CUSA web site:

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Big Fish Award

Taking big fish of the event was the team of Craig and Steve Money of Fort Branch, IN with a 2.35 pound Patoka Lake crappie which netted them $609.00. Second place in the big fish contest was the team of John Bledsoe of Noblesville, IN and Randell Walker of Arcadia, IN with a 1.72 pound crappie and receiving $261.00.
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I would love to have seen that 2.35 lb fish. Even the 1.72 lb fish would be a huge fish. I once caught a White Crappie at Patoka lake that weighted 1.5 lb on my dads old deliar scale. That's the spring loaded scale with the tape measure inside it. I forgot that it had a tape measure inside it and failed to measure the lenght of my fish. But it was one of the nicest crappie I have caught on Patoka Lake. It was the biggest crappie that I have ever caught on Patoka Lake. but I have caught as big or bigger crappie on KY lake or Barkley Lake in the past. But back in those days we just put them on a metal stringer and cleaned them when we got back to the boat dock. We only measured and weight the big 4 lb and bigger bass. Catching crappie was for food not for tournaments back in those days. But then there was the time they have the Crappie that had a tag on it that was worth money if you caught it.

I could be wrong. I know in the past they award some prize money for the biggest crappie caught during the tournament.

Maybe the second largest fish caught is just bragging rights.

I caught a 1.5 lb White Crappie at Patoka back in 2003 spring. April 2nd 2003 around noon to 2 pm. I was fishing alone side Frank Ison who was the winner of the tournament the year before and he and his partner Brian Ethridge won the spring CUSA tournament again in 2003. I saw Frank fishing as I was motoring out of a cove and stopped to talk with him. He was very friendly and helpful. He helped me learn a system that catches lots of crappie. I have two or three rods and reels setup on my boat ready to go using his system. But I have other systems that I use too. I don't stick with just one system. I carry about 7 or 8 rods and reels in my boat at all times while crappie fishing by myself. I take a few out when I take a friend with me. Have to make some room for his rods and reels. Basically Frank was using the Float and fly method. ie slip bobbers. He gave me some crappie nibbles, some bets foam slip bobbers, a couple of 1/16 oz jib heads and some BPS White Lightning #18 color code plastic Squirmin Squirt Jig bodies. These are the tentacle type hollow plastic jig bodies. That along with some 6 lb test mono and a long rod and reel and I was setup to go. Add a crappie nibble to the mix and you can catch some big fish. Frank has been fishing this spot out of a small john boat. He was sitting up in the front where the bow mounted trolling motor was located and operating the trolling motor with the handle. The speed adjustment was on the long handle making boat control easier in the Patoka Lake winds. We were fishing in open water where there were some submerged trees. This was a flat area but there is a creek and a river bed within 300 yards of the spot. There is one ditch that runs though the area across the bay and into the creek that the bay's named after. And there is a long submerged peninsula that juts out from the shoreline all the way to the river channel. I think that this is a staging area. The fish have many spots to spawn on in this area. And the bottom is full of rotting wood or vegetation. There's lots of bubbles coming up from the bottom. Maybe that was big fish farts? LOL . I fishes this area the month after Frank did and caught over 100 smaller crappie in one day. The place was full of small young of the year crappie. So that tells me that it's a hot spot. You will have to wade though the area's smaller fish to get the big ones to bite.

I caught my big one by having lots of patience. Give the big ones some time to bite and it helps to be really quiet and still. The slip bobber approach or a very long rod helps to get the bait out away from the boat.

I saw Frank throw back about 10 big crappie that day in April 2003. He returned them to the lake and held up each one to give me a good look at each fish. I have not seen that many big crappie at one time on Patoka Lake other than at the Weigh in that year. Back then they weighed in the 10 biggest crappie in the CUSA tournaments. Now they only weigh in 7 fish per team.

Don't understand the results on the big fish. There was one over 2.5 before we got there and we watched a 1.65 being weighed.

[raporter]

Must have posted these fish after I read it. 2.35 is right, somehow I was thinking 2.5. When I read it they had the biggest at 1.5 and caught by the semi pro winners.
I just got in from the lake and it was tough out there. I was fishing the Lick Fork area and could not raise a fish where I was getting them last week. Finally went to one of my deep spots and found them at 20 to 30 feet deep. I really do not like fishing that deep and used a double jig to get down to them. Of course it normally is not that deep there. Hope to get out again Thursday and if I do will be up in the Wall's area.

[bassmanic1]

Hey guys - heard that crappie were biting at Snakey Point last week so I headed up there today . Fished for 3 hours without a bite . 2 boats on the water when I arrived and 3 more when I left , I didnt see anyone doing any good . Started on shallow wood then moved to pads near deeper water , which at Snakey Point is 4-5 foot , no luck . Packed up and stopped at New Lake since I was in the area . With the bluebird skies I fished close to the bottom but no crappie , just 5 small bass . I didnt have any worms just minnows so I didnt bluegill fish . The north wind was cold and very brisk . The lake is very clear considering all the rain lately . The swimming area looks very nice and the campground had a few RV's in it . Its nice to have good fishing close with the price of fuel making trips $$$$ .

[Moose1am]

One of the guys that I ran into as they were leaving and I was arriving said he either fished Snakey Point yesterday or will be fishing it tomorrow.

Now that I know how to get up there I may fish it a time ot two this year. Not really sure that road will work as a launch ramp for my boat. My boat does not slide of the 2 x 4 easily. I was thinking about adding some of the BPS plastic strips to the 2 x 4 's. The plastic is slick and helps the boat slide on and off the trailer's 2x4's. I have my 2x4 on edge.

Hey guys - heard that crappie were biting at Snakey Point last week so I headed up there today . Fished for 3 hours without a bite . 2 boats on the water when I arrived and 3 more when I left , I didnt see anyone doing any good . Started on shallow wood then moved to pads near deeper water , which at Snakey Point is 4-5 foot , no luck . Packed up and stopped at New Lake since I was in the area . With the bluebird skies I fished close to the bottom but no crappie , just 5 small bass . I didnt have any worms just minnows so I didnt bluegill fish . The north wind was cold and very brisk . The lake is very clear considering all the rain lately . The swimming area looks very nice and the campground had a few RV's in it . Its nice to have good fishing close with the price of fuel making trips $$$$ .