Well I completely understand the competative nature during a money tournament. The biggest fish we caught there were only 0.4lbs on my digital scales and they measured 10" long with a Deliar ruler. Not that big by any standard. We did catch about 25 on Saturday but most were only about 8 or 9 inchs long. Larry (the guy driving our boat) said that he caught a few this summer that went much larger. He was catching them on the main lake. We moved across the lake from that brush pile spot and caught a few more smaller crappie. We had about 3 of the 10" crappie while the rest were around 8 or 9" long. But most were pretty fat. I need to check my digital scales to make sure that it's reading accurately as it seemed to be reading light. Larry swore that those crappie were bigger than 4 tenths of a pound. LOL
It was great to meet you and your son. He seems like a fine young man and someday will be a competative (IN THE MONE) crappie fisherman if you keep helping him.
I went again today but got a late start. I didn't reach the lake until around 2:30PM Sunday. The damn bait store (Hook Line and Sinker) was closed on Sunday and I had to drive to back to Eckerty to get minnows. Since I was already back on hwy 64 I headed East and went the Little Patoka River Boat ramp for the very first time. I can't believe that I have fished Patoka since it opened but never launched at that boat ramp before. I didn't have a lot of time to study the maps. I did manage to catch 6 crappie Sunday but most were too small to keep. I only put two in the live well but I decided to return them to the lake when I left. I did see a 4lb Black Bass LM that was weighted in at the boat ramp parking lot. I saw that fish and another that was about 2lbs. The 4lb bass was very stocky and not thin at all. It was a fat sob. hehe. It was thick. They returned the 2lb fish to the lake and kept the 4lb bass as it's gills were damaged and they didn't think it would make it. Someone caught a nice slab 15" long White Crappie on a crank bait while bass fishing and gave it to a couple that were crappie fishing. The couple didn't do very well. I talked with some guys in a boat across where I was fishing at 4pm and they said that they caught a few crappie. I didn't realize it but they were fishing a ditch or intermittant steam. I got lost trying to follow the old river channel in the little patoka Lake section (branch with the rock Quarry) Western most branch at the south end of little patoka river section of the lake. I found some crappie at the intersection of the allen creek and little patoka river and found a bridge and a roadway there. I caught some crappie there. I had to drive 72 miles home from that boat ramp. Lots of people from Louisville, KY and New Albany and Georgetown IN fish out of that boat ramp. It's closer to them than it is to me as I came up from Evansville. I started out fishing lick fork when the lake first opened and have been working my way around the lake ever since. LOL I finally have fished all sections of Patoka Lake. It's not that easy with my small boat. Now Larry's boat can get up to 55 mph or so and he can cover more water faster than I can. But he likes to travel at around 25mph and save gasoline. Gasoline was selling for $1.98 a gallon for Regular and that is outrageous. I only paid $1.84 at home.
I hope they post the results soon on the crappeusa web site. I didn't get a chance to socialize at the weigh in either as Larry was anxious to get back home. He has his little dog with him and didn't have a leash and got tired of holding him. We had to get back and clean those crappie anyway.
I looked at the map when I got home last night and found out that the area you and we fished was actually a ditch that ran though that area all the way back out to the main river channel. The river channel makes a very shape bend that where that ditch connects to the outside bend of the river channel. I figure that the crappie followed that ditch to the area where we fished. All our fish were caught above 19ft level.
Larry was going out with his other half (his wife) Sunday and so we didn't get to fish together Sunday.
Hey Next year they are having the Crappie USA CLASSIC at Patoka Lake. So be ready for next year. LOL
Originally Posted by Patrick Vowell