Patoka Crappie Fishing

I started fishing Patoka this year after about a 7 year hiatus. After about a dozen trips since January I can honestly say I have had a lot of fun. I have caught fish on every trip in all different areas of the lake. Unfortunately covid messed up my plans of fishing a lot in April and early May as I didn't have a single trip for over 7 weeks. Fish were caught from 2' deep to 15' deep on minnows, jigs, and beetlespins. Biggest crappie caught was 13.5" and seemed to be in great shape. Even all the little fish seemed healthy and I have kept every single one. 6"-13.5" they all taste the same. Just a few pics over the last 6 months. Would love to see what other people have been catching or hear some different stories on outings this year to see how they compare to mine.

https://i.ibb.co/bL8KnL2/IMG-8905.jpg


https://i.ibb.co/rtKrKcs/A5934665-06...33-B7-E487.jpg


https://i.ibb.co/cYxQCdQ/C0-D77-F6-C...C5-CDA6-C0.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/S3zngnx/440-EF6-A1-...43568-BDDB.jpg


https://i.ibb.co/jyRZnWJ/IMG-8899.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/FVmxsG5/IMG-8927.jpg

Really nice pics. I have had a terrible time catching anything over 9 inch there. Tons of small ones. And it is fun, but frustrating too. Did find out that live scope is really fun!


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com

Looks like you have had some fun catching your dinners. I have never fished Patoka for crappie. Nice job.

Thanks for the great report planning on trip to Patoka soon

Nice fishing pics,,keep the reports coming.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Indianachigger

Really nice pics. I have had a terrible time catching anything over 9 inch there. Tons of small ones. And it is fun, but frustrating too. Did find out that live scope is really fun!

---

Yes, there are an abundance of small crappie. I have noticed that the majority are schools of black crappie more so than whites. Definitely frustrating when the fish aren't biting. I wanted to get an ultrex and livescope so bad when I bought my boat last fall, but I just couldn't bring myself to pay that much. I will say I have used my Helix 9 a lot to find the deeper schools of fish but having that livescope would be a lot of fun.Thanks for the kind words!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Fast Eddie B

Thanks for the great report planning on trip to Patoka soon

---

Get out there! plenty of trees to fish away from the pleasure boats too!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cevans

Nice fishing pics,,keep the reports coming.

---

I'll try my best! The summer lull is tough. Even in my last two trips (3 weekends apart) the fish were moving out deeper. I'll have to find some new hot spots!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by King31

Yes, there are an abundance of small crappie. I have noticed that the majority are schools of black crappie more so than whites. Definitely frustrating when the fish aren't biting. I wanted to get an ultrex and livescope so bad when I bought my boat last fall, but I just couldn't bring myself to pay that much. I will say I have used my Helix 9 a lot to find the deeper schools of fish but having that livescope would be a lot of fun.Thanks for the kind words!


Get out there! plenty of trees to fish away from the pleasure boats too!


I'll try my best! The summer lull is tough. Even in my last two trips (3 weekends apart) the fish were moving out deeper. I'll have to find some new hot spots!

---

Have you given trolling crankbaits a try for hot summer action? Let out about 160 to 200 ft. of 10 lb. test monofilament fishing line and get the bandit 400 down to around 20 ft. right above the thermocline and catch some big slabs. Put a cover over your boat to keep yourself out of the direct sunlight. A cover over the boat helps you see the screen on the depth finder easier.

Bandit 400’s??? The ones I use are the 300 series.