Thread: Went to Patoka today. Sucks!

When the lake level changes you have to adapt and fish new spots. The new spots may be up towards the bank a few yards or 50 yards depending on the slope of the land by the shoreline. Look for the first and second drops off the banks and know that this time of the year the crappie are roaming the edges of these drops but in the open water areas. They wlll be all above the thermoclines of course. They are out there chasing the young of the year schools of shade. Submerged trees edges are also good spots to try especially if there is a creek or ditch running though the area. Creek and river intersections are also good spots to try and fish. fish early and late in the day when it's cooler and the sun is low in the sky. Try fishing at night! Fish with live minnows or combination of minnow and jigs in water up to 20 ft deep. Find areas that are 18 to 23 ft deep and along the River Channels or Creeks and Ditches with timber in them. Try the back of the coves in the morning and then work out to the first drop off. Fish the drop and then back out and fish the second big drop off. Bends in the creek channels are also good spots to try. Old Bridges that once crossed the old creeks are good spots for fish to gather in they are in the proper depth range. Patoka does not have a much current as places that generate electricity and that allow much more water to flow though the dam so the thermocline at Patoka is going to be more established. With low oxygen content below the thermocline there won't be too many sport fish. Maybe up near he dam the deeper waters may hold more dissolved oxygen (DO) but I sort of doubt it will hold much DO below 25 ft. Try pulling or pushing some crank baits out over the main river channel. But fish deeper. The fish are going to be much deeper than in the spring this time of the year when it's hot and the sun is high in the sky. Try fishing with 200 ft of ten pound test mono line out behind the boat and pulling some 300 bandit crank baits. Fish the deeper water drop offs with this system and you will catch both crappie and suspended large mouth bass. Tie on a small trailer jig to the back hook and use 6 lb test line or lighter line than the main line. The jig line will break first if the jig gets hung up. The diameter of the line is key to this method in that ten pound test Stren Mono line will reach the required depth of 18 ft or so with about 200 ft out. Go about 1 mph to 2 mph and try varying the speed of the boat. Zig zagging the boat will make the inside lines slow down and the outside lines speed up a bit. Try staying over the edge of the drop offs.

The weeds died with they got covered up with too much water and could not get the sunlight that they needed to live and grow. They will return once the lake gets stabilized. We had way too much rain this spring and the lake was way over it's normal spring time levels and even the summer pool level is 5 ft below where the lake was last week.

Just go to Dogwood. Won't waste my time at Patoka . DNR has screwed that lake up bigtime.