Thank you folks!

[GABoy]

I whole hearted agree with the posts above. This is a great place just to B.S. as well as find out who’s catching what and where. I visit a lot of these boards, since I spend all day in front of a computer. These forums are no doubt the best. So good in fact, I rarely visit the BFHP anymore. Too much testosterone there! If you don’t have at least $3K in tackle, a 200 hp outboard that pushes your all composite, 49K bass boat, to 80mph, nobody has time for you. Let’s keep up the posts and remember, it’s just about fishing and enjoying the outdoors. Just my 2 cents

Ha ha...that is too funny!!!!

I LOVE IT!

[Inspector Mike]

First of all I wish to thank you all for rekindling my desire to fish again. When my father passed away 14 years ago, I never wet another line. He was my ultimate fishing buddy.

Now, not only have you rekindled that spirit, but you also have me as excited as the day that I bolted 2x12's across my old jon and mounted my fiberglass seats and my first Humminbird Flasher (Super-sixty I think)

OK, enough of the past......

Up until 2 weeks ago the only boat i still owned was a 1973 Burnscraft Houseboat on Monroe lake that the spouse had talked me into buying. Because of health problems it had been dry docked for the past three years. Then two weeks ago I had a offer of a trade for a 1985 Sylvan 24' Pontoon W/ new Hoosier Trailer. With a little encouragement from the wife and some cash to boot, I made the trade.

Once I pulled it home from Monroe (it pulls like a dream), I started thinking about how I could fix it up for just peasure boating and began to explore the internet for ideas. Then when I researched "Pontoon" I stumbled upon "Rod Holders", then "Spider Rigging" then "Crappie.Com", from that point on I became possessed. I then spent most of the next four days reading a vast majority of the post here. Wonderful posts, tremendous information, and most of all gave me the desire to step into the future and not dwell on the past.

Although I spent 2/3 of a lifetime fishing for most all freshwater species, the Crappie has always intrigued me most. Dad and I use to troll Patoka a lot in it's early years for Northerns, and at that time I had a Lowrance paper chart recorder and got pretty good at reading it. From time to time we would stumble upon "pods" of Crappies, sometimes looking like 10' tall inverted Christmas trees. We would just troll on with our 6-7" Rapalas at a speed the Northerns liked and the Crappies couldn't catch. I wish I had known about "Spider Rigging" back then.

To keep from rambling I think I'll end this post here. But you can bet your favorite Crappie bobber that I will strike again, soon. Even after reading all the post I still have a few questions that I would like to have some help with.

It is a privledge to be here,

Mike,
Terre Haute, Indiana

[FishCrazed]

I'm a newby here also! Thanks to you guys that served and serve in our armed forces. I salute YOU! Because of you we can all sit here at our keyboards and yak about this obcession of crappie fishing!

It is a sickness but oh what fun it is to see those rod tips dance!

[DENNIS BOWERS]

: :D Mike--welcome,you"ll Find This Is By Far The Best Site On The Web!!! Lots Of Info An Good People!!!between Crappie Fishin And Here My 13 Year Old Says Im Obsessed Too !! Good Fishin To Ya Buddy!!dennis

[Moose1am]

If I were you I would try the upper reaches of the Patoka River channel up near or above Kings Bridge. There is a dirt or gravel launch ramp there that I heard about. I have not tried to launch from that ramp yet. Maybe this year I will drive there and check that ramp out. It's going to be a great day to morrow to fish in IN. Temps should be in the 60s with South winds at 5 to 10 mph and no rain. Lots of sunshine tomorrow. Water at Patoka Lake was at 533 ft asl yesterday and they were really flowing water though the earthen dam. 800 cfs is what I remember reading. I don't know what the water temps are like but they should still be reather cool. I would think that upriver the water will be several degrees warmer and the big slabs should be staging and getting ready to spawn in the next few weeks. If it gets really warm they will spawn early in April but they could spawn later if it stays cold. Just depends on the water temps and how much sunlight we get.

I hope you do well and would ask that you report back on any information that you feel like sharing.

Dumpling creek is good this time of the year too. Fish the north shoreline from the mouth of the bay too the back of the bay. There is an old pond somewhere along that shoreline about 1/3 of the way back to the back of the bay where the bay splits in two. I fished the Northern part of the back of that bay in 2003 on April 2nd. I forgot to take water temp though. I know have a temp gauge on my boat. I may add another one of those MinKota Temp gauges to the trolling motor so that I can see the water temps from the front of my boat. I put the first temp gauge on my rear transom mounted transducer and glued it on the top of my humminbird transducer. I can't get that off now without breaking it. So that one is going to stay there. I may end up with two of these. One for watching while the boat is underway with the big motor. The gauge is mounted on the dashboard of my boat. I will mount the other one on the front of my boat using velcro.

I read in the Crappie World Spring 2005 magazine that a water temp difference of a few degrees can help you find the crappie.

If you do go up river be careful up there as navagation can be dangerous with lots of submerged trees who's broken off tops are just below the water level.

Summer pool is 536 ft asl on Patoka Lake. So they are tying to keep the lake 3ft below summer pool until around april and then they start rasing the water level on the lake.