How do you get to Patoka Lake?

[Moose1am]

Ahhhhhh, I am so jealous of you guys now. Which Humminbird Side Scanning unit did he get? The 797, 997 or the new and larger 1197.

Man I wish I had an extra 3 grand laying around. Perhaps I can sell my left kidney.......

Have fun guys and post a report with brush pile waypoint locations.

You guys keep that stuff up and you will know the lake better than anyone, unless they too have a Humminbird side scanning unit and are studying the lake.

Tim Gibson won't be able to hide his secrete brush piles anymore.

I live in the Corydon area. I would advise you to take I-64 East to exit 79 (Tell City). Make a left off the exit and you will be 11 miles from Patoka. They added onto the road so it's very easy to get there. You make two turns but they are clearly marked. My brother and I are going up there tonight. He just mounted his new Hummingbird Sidefinder so we are going to check it out.

[GotHooked?]

He bought the 797. We figured that 1K is enough to invest on new tech. If we like it then we'll probably buy one of the bigger models once the price goes down. We were graphing stumps and fallen trees in 45' of water. It is amazing how tech. could change fishing. My brother and I have a long way to go before we completely understand everything that this unit offers us. It's going to be a lot of fun aquiring this information though!!!!!!

[Moose1am]

Patoka has so much cover in the form of trees and stumps that it may take you guys a while to see it all with the 797.

I hope that one or two other depth finder companies figures out how to make a side scanner sonar unit for the regular fishing guys like us.

Perhaps if there is more competition the prices will drop and more people will be able to afford them

Until then those with the side scanning units have a tremendous advantage.

Have fun with the new tool. Humminbird guys frequent the www.crappie.com web site and answer questions in the electronics forum. And then there is a yahoo web site that deals with the side scanning sonar units. There are many knowledgeable folks on there that can answer questions.

I have three large strip pits in the Bluegrass F&W area that I would like to side scan someday in order to find the hot spots. These pits are typical of strip mined areas. Steep drops and very little cover other than submergent vegetation. No creek channels to speak of as Patoka Lake has. So if one can find a single underwater brush pile in these barren pits it can be a gold mine.

At Patoka you can find brush piles everywhere. Well I should say you can find standing timber practically over 50% of the lake. hehe. The trick is to find the timbered areas that have something else unique about the bottom. Such as a ditch that runs though the timber and makes a big turn where one back in undercut and the other is a shallow flat type area. The undercut area within the creek bend which is within the timbered area is where I would check out with the side scanner and make a way point. There are still tens of areas in Patoka lake that are like this.

If I ever hit the lottery like two of my friends did I will get me a 1197.

As for how to get to Patoka Lake. I am finding it interesting to find out that there are many ways to get there.

I myself prefer to stay on the interstate as long as possible. While I see that many others like to dive the other highways. My way is a bit longer (mileage wise) but I like to drive over 70 mph. hehe. Can't do that high speed on some of the two lane roads due to both traffic and the curves and hills.

I think that those that live in the New Albany area have a better route to the lake than we that live in the Evansville area.

I use to drive to Louisville, KY via the old 64 and remember those long trips. Thank god for I-64.

I wonder if the new I-69 will make the trip to Patoka Lake any faster? It may be a long time before that's possible.

He bought the 797. We figured that 1K is enough to invest on new tech. If we like it then we'll probably buy one of the bigger models once the price goes down. We were graphing stumps and fallen trees in 45' of water. It is amazing how tech. could change fishing. My brother and I have a long way to go before we completely understand everything that this unit offers us. It's going to be a lot of fun acquiring this information though!!!!!!