Patoka Crappie Advice and General Thoughts

[King31]

It has been nearly 5 years since I have fished Patoka for crappie. Back then my dad and I caught a lot of crappie, but not many were over 10-11 inches. Is this still the norm or are some bigger ones being caught in recent years? The bass fishing seems to be as good as it has ever been quality wise so I am hoping for the same with crappie.

Flash forward to 2019 and with the purchase of a new boat, I am planning on fishing it more often starting with tomorrow. I'll likely put in at the South Fork Ramp or the Osborn Ramp and try to figure it out from there. I've driven past the lake three times in the past week and it looks perfect from the road. Minnows fished 2-6' deep will be how I start and if that doesn't produce I'll try a jig.

What is the general consensus on crappie at Patoka going into 2020? If anyone wants to shed some info I would greatly appreciate it!

[cevans]

Size able crappie are on a really good comeback on Patoka as Imhave been catching more in the 12 to 14” range. Was out for a couple of hrs testing electronics today and seeing good schools of crappies 12 to 18’ deep in 20 or deeper water especially near the creek channel at the edge of timber above Osborne half way up towards Walls boat launch. Didn’t find many fish in the shallows as most of the baitfish balls are near the creek channel or in deeper waters. Find the baitballs and you will find feeding crappies by using your electronics.

[King31]

Size able crappie are on a really good comeback on Patoka as Imhave been catching more in the 12 to 14” range. Was out for a couple of hrs testing electronics today and seeing good schools of crappies 12 to 18’ deep in 20 or deeper water especially near the creek channel at the edge of timber above Osborne half way up towards Walls boat launch. Didn’t find many fish in the shallows as most of the baitfish balls are near the creek channel or in deeper waters. Find the baitballs and you will find feeding crappies by using your electronics.

Thank you very much, cevans. Using my electronics is still a learning process since this is the first boat I've had with them on it. My dad and I managed to bring home 10 crappies and they made some excellent fish tacos this evening! We caught them on minnows 4-8' deep in 8'-14' of water. We put in at Osborn and went up to Walls Ramp. Water clarity changed quite a bit the further up the river we went. Water temps were 42-44*. Hopefully with this mild weather I will get to go out again a couple times next month!

[Thermodude]

Thank you very much, cevans. Using my electronics is still a learning process since this is the first boat I've had with them on it. My dad and I managed to bring home 10 crappies and they made some excellent fish tacos this evening! We caught them on minnows 4-8' deep in 8'-14' of water. We put in at Osborn and went up to Walls Ramp. Water clarity changed quite a bit the further up the river we went. Water temps were 42-44*. Hopefully with this mild weather I will get to go out again a couple times next month!

Did you happen to graph the old bridge just out from Osborne ramp?

[King31]

Did you happen to graph the old bridge just out from Osborne ramp?

I didn't go exactly over it, but I did see that my Navionics chip showed there being one there. That chip is nice for some things, but it is off very badly around the island just up from the ramp. It was showing very shallow contours where it was actually 25-30' deep.

On another note I really need to invest some time in learning how to fish 12-15' deep with the spinning equipment I have.

[cevans]

I didn't go exactly over it, but I did see that my Navionics chip showed there being one there. That chip is nice for some things, but it is off very badly around the island just up from the ramp. It was showing very shallow contours where it was actually 25-30' deep.

On another note I really need to invest some time in learning how to fish 12-15' deep with the spinning equipment I have.

If you want to learn crappie fishing go visit www.crappie.com and ask away any questions you may have. You can use the main forum as well as any state forums.