Crappie biting ?

[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.