Thread: Patoka Lake Info

Fishing for fun...... I can't help u with payola but can tell u Waynoka is fun but have some negatives for sure.... That place has become very much to the side of catering to the pleasure boaters and not so much the fisherman.... It's already very hard to put a boat in now due the them drawing lake down and when they do draw it down it is for dock repairs etc so you cannot fish docks in the winter....... I own a lot there and if it weren't for the rec center for my kid I'd get rid of it... Lots of rules regs to live there... Lots of crappie and I mean tons but your gonna catch 100 9" fish to get a good one... I live less than 5 min from Waynoka and I drive right past it to fish elsewhere.... Don't get me wrong I fish it hard when I want some fish to eat and the spring time crappie fishing is KILLER but your not gonna get a bunch of trophy fish at that place

I'm only familiar with Patoka. The lake itself, is a real gem. Great views and plenty of creek arms to get away from pleasure boaters, make it a spectacular place to spend your time. The crappie fishing, on the other hand, can be quite tough, at times. I've never had a great amount of trouble catching fish, but quality of fish is another story. Make no mistake, the lake has some very nice fish with true trophy potential. I've heard others say it, and would concur, that if you can catch good fish consistently at Patoka, then you can go to any body of water and catch fish. Some days it's tough to find an 8" fish out of 100, other days you can get your limit of eaters and even stretch your line on some 2 lbers.

It is well worth a weekend trip to see the countryside.

Congrats to you on the upcoming retirement. I know how you feel, I have 6 more weeks and I'm done too.
2 years ago I moved out next to East Fork so when my time became mine to do what I want I would only be 10 minutes from the lake. I will say I love it. The draw back is now that I'm so close to EF it's hard to take off and drive for an hour to fish anywhere else. Next year I plan on spending more time fishing other places.

Just curious...what part of the state do you live in now? I'm assuming SW Ohio.

Since they did all of the work on C-land and did the draw down/refill a friend and myself have been wondering what the crappie fishing down there was like. Lot's of brush and stuff grew up while the lake was down and now it's all underwater. It has to have some killer crappie fishing going on down there. Have you considered that area? Green River Lake is also fairly close.
I would think the drive to some of the Ky lakes would be similar to Patoka.

Max, I fully appreciate what you have already done before retirement. I am a couple years away and have started the process of trying to decide where I want to have a lake home for when I do retire. Patoka was a lake I kept hearing about but really have little info on. I really respect filletfetish comments above. Honest comments like that are what I need. I live in SW Ohio. All my life. East Fork I consider my home lake. My partners and I do extremely well on that lake. I have been looking at properties on CLand, Green River, Patoka, Barren River, Taylorsville, Cave Run, Waynoka. Each has +/-'s. My wife does not want to relocate. The lake home would be a second home. I just want to have access to a good crappie lake when I retire.

I know what you're saying. Instead of relocating in this area, I tried to see if my wife had any interest in moving to the Ky Lake region. At 1st the thought sounded good but then she thought about the kids, grandkids and all her tennis buddies, so here we are.
On another thread a few years ago a guy asked a similar question on buying a place in Florida and 1 response made good sense. Since you aren't familiar with the area you are talking about have you considered looking into a rental for a few months. It doesn't have to be the perfect place or the perfect set up but it will give you an opportunity to check out an area or even several areas over the next few years to see what suits your needs without making a more concrete commitment. When you do find an area you like then buy what you want, it seemed like a good idea to me.

Max, yes I have thought about renting a place also. I have been going to Reelfoot Lake for the past 27 years to various resorts around the lake. Settled on Sportsman's Resort on the North end. Could rent a place down there for a couple weeks to see how that goes. Also been going to Kentucky Lake. Stayed at Moor's Resort in the Northern section and Buchanan's Resort and Mansard Island Resort in the Paris Landing area. Also nice places to look for a rental for an extended period. Had my personal best day of crappie fishing at Mansard Island resort. 60 crappie (2 person limit) that weighed 92 pounds. Amazing day of fishing. I will do my homework before making a decision. Have plenty of time. And I always have the lakes around here until then. My partners and I will be going to Ceaser's Creek, Rocky Fork, East Fork, maybe Boltz and Brookville over the next week. Been averaging >100 fish a day on EFL, but lots of smaller fish. Trying other lakes for better size.

Originally Posted by fishinforfun

Max, I fully appreciate what you have already done before retirement. I am a couple years away and have started the process of trying to decide where I want to have a lake home for when I do retire. Patoka was a lake I kept hearing about but really have little info on. I really respect filletfetish comments above. Honest comments like that are what I need. I live in SW Ohio. All my life. East Fork I consider my home lake. My partners and I do extremely well on that lake. I have been looking at properties on CLand, Green River, Patoka, Barren River, Taylorsville, Cave Run, Waynoka. Each has +/-'s. My wife does not want to relocate. The lake home would be a second home. I just want to have access to a good crappie lake when I retire.

You can't go wrong with Barren river lake. Beautiful area and great fishing. Kdfw manages their lakes well. Plus you not too far from Ky and Barkley lakes. It also fishes really well in the winter

Boltz in Grant County has some nice lots right overlooking the lake. I looked at a lot myself and have fished it several times in 2013-2014.

However, the crappie fishing is underwhelming. Tons of small whites. 18 months ago the state took about 2,000 whites out and moved them to Taylorsville. But, I did not notice any change when I last went last fall.

I think it's like East Fork and it's recent fish kill. A lot them are gone but they reproduce so prolifically that its tough to alter that balance.