CUSA Classic

[Crappie Chatt]

How many from this board are going to Patoka next month? <*)}}}><

[1weezer]

I am!!

[Crappie Chatt]

Richard,,,we'll be staying with your 'girl-friend' (Heh! Heh! Heh!)in a houseboat 'on-the-water'. Vicki & Ben will never be the same after spending a week with me & Haugboss.YEEEEHAAAAAW,,,,I'm ready!!!! SEE YA THERE!!!! <*)}}}><

[whizkids]

I had planned on fishing but have had to change plans. I am sure this board will be well represented.

[Moose1am]

I may be there one of the days to see what's going on. And the other days I will most likely be fishing for fun.

The only tournaments I do are those like the Teezur Crappie Tournament. I did that to help honor Dave and to meet some of the people that went to fish that tournament. And the Teezur tournament was free and provided a free crappie dinner which I must say was good both times I went.

[drill instructor]

My partner is going, i have other plans is a small country called IRAQ. I don't think there is crappie over there.

[Cane Pole]

My partner is going, i have other plans is a small country called IRAQ. I don't think there is crappie over there.

I got some "live bait" you can try out. I think they are called 7.62MM..lol
Gabby Hayes used to say "plug 'em". So here is an offer for some live bait to try plugging with...You be careful over there.

Tom

[1weezer]

Chatt, I will be there but won't be fishing in it. I did not fish any tournament this year. Going to be strange working this one and not fishing it. Looking forward to seeing you there.

[Mike Sutton]

I'm thinking about going down to the tourney to fish some on my own and to watch the weigh in. Is that OK? I've never been to one before. What's the schedule and can guys still fish the lake that aren't in the tourney?

Mike

[Moose1am]

Mike:

Sure you can fish Patoka Lake. All you need is a IN fishing license to be legal. LOL

The lake is a public lake and it's not closed just because the CrappieUSA Classic is there.

I am sure that you may see a lot of crappie fishing boats spider rigging on the lakes old creek channels.

Just seeing all the boats in the parking lot is pretty cool. You can see how everyone rigs their boats and that is worth the trip.

Also Patoka is a pretty lake. It has lots of different areas as it's 8800 at summer pool. It's the second largest reservior in IN.

Only thing is that a lot of the motel rooms may be filled up. But there is the campground that is ok. You have to share water faucets between several sites. I take 6 gallon water jugs and fill them up and tote them back to the camper. Some hook up hoses to the faucet if you get close to one but make sure that you hook up one of those devices where others can get water without removing your hose from the faucet.

Patoka has lots of weedbed in the shallower water and those may still be there in late sept. It depends on the weather. If we have warm weather until late sept the weed may still be there. If we get cold weather and the lake turns over the weed may die out.

This tournament is going to be held over several days. Normally they only fish one day at the regular Crappie USA Regional tournaments. But this classic is going to cover several days from what I have read. So it's going to be a lot different.

I know a few spots where crappie hang out on Patoka. One for late march and early april and the other for fall and early winter. Haven't fished the other during the hot summer months but may get up there pretty soon before the classic comes to Patoka. Larry from Southern IN fishs Patoka all the time and have been fishing that lake regularily since it first opened. He knows the lake pretty good. He got a new pontoon boat this summer and has been busy with that boat and not crappie fishing so much. Patoka is hard to fish on weekends due to the high traffic and water skiers and jet skies. But after the water cools down they go back home and the fishermen have the lake to themselves.

I prefer to fish Patoka on the weekdays as it's much quieter then.

They will be launching out of the Lick Fork Area's marina or boat ramp I figure. That area has some good fishing but the main lake spots are good too at this time of the year.

Last year Larry and I fished during the tournament but we were not entered. We caught a boat load of fish that day. I ran into Pat that day. He was fishing the tournament. So patrick knows the spot that I am talking about. The area we fished has a ditch that runs though a bay and there is brush all along the edge of this ditch. I guess the flats were farmed but they could not plow the ditch area and some brush remained there until the lake was flooded. The brush is still down there

Right now the DO drops off at around 15ft to below 5ppm. The DO drops to Zero at 22 ft. But from 15ft down to 22 feet the DO stays pretty low. You wont' find many fish below the 15 ft level IMHO. Fish require or prefer a DO level of at least 5ppm. Water temps at 15 feet are about 78 deg F.

I bet that there will be some nice slabs caught this year. Just wish I could follow all the top guys around the lake and or see what they are thinking as they fish the lake.

I'm thinking about going down to the tourney to fish some on my own and to watch the weigh in. Is that OK? I've never been to one before. What's the schedule and can guys still fish the lake that aren't in the tourney?

Mike