Patoka: Please Post Your Patoka Reports in this Thread

Please Post Your Patoka Reports in this Thread

Thanks! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif

I fished Monday evening August 30th, 2005 from about 4 pm local time till about 8 local time. The rain from hurricane Katrina was on it's way, but did not arrive until after I left. Water was clear as usual despite rain during the day. Water temp was 80, down quite a bit. Sky was overcast, temperature in the low 80's and the humidity was HIGH! Water level is still low. I thought I was going to slay them, but not much luck. On about my 4th or 5th cast I had a really nice 3 to 4 pounder follow my spinner bait back to the boat but didn't hit it. I thought great...they're in an aggressive mode. No such luck!!! 1 short fish, 1 small, make that very small small mouth, a tiny blue gill and a long, but very skinny crappie! At least I was fishing! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif

August 31, 2005: Wednesday evening I fished from about 6 until just after dark. Water was 82 degrees and the lake was fairly clear. Also, didn't look like it came up at all. Didn't do squat until around 8pm when I started to catch a few short fish on buzzbaits.

Finally, I figured I would fish some deeper water so I carolina rigged some main lake points, I fished them very deep. Caught keeper on points that were very close to the main river channel. Boat sitting in about 32 feet casting into 15-20. Fish were caught on 10 inch worms.

Beautiful evening to be on the lake. I shared it with one other boat and it was awesome http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif

September 10, 2005

Fished a 16 boat club tournament today and launched at 7am EST. Headed for what is usually a good early bite area with some grass and began with buzzbaits. Could see baitfish around the area but nothing was hitting topwater. The lake looks to have dropped another foot or so.

Finally got a keeper around 9am next to a boat ramp on a jig(black/black).

After that the bites were rare. Finally decided to start working some bays and standing timber. Our next keeper came from about 3 feet of water swimming a jig(Green Pumpkin/Watermelon Pepper). This would be the last keeper of the day at 1pm. These two fish were enough to take 3rd place on this tough day.

Tried a few deeper humps and ledges without any luck.

Patoka Lake: Friday Sept. 23, 2005

Fished from 7:30 Local Time until 2:30 PM local (Patoka Lake Time)

Water temp 72 in the morning when I began and 80 when I finished fishing in the afternoon.

Water clarity: Clear to Very Clear

According the Corp of Engineers Patoka was about 2 feet below summer pool as of 8-31-05 and I think it is still that low.

Air temp 70 at launch and warmed to 89 or so by finish of day. It was slightly overcast to mostly sunny.

Moon was 65% Full and waning.

I caught about 12 fish today including 4 smallmouths, but no keeprs. Caught all my fish on either a worm or a jig. Most were caught on main lake rock walls next to wood in 5 to 12 feet of water. A few were caught on Little Patoka in similar water.

The shad started to school late this afternoon in little Patoka after going all day and not seeing any shad activity at all.

All in all had a great day!! Especially 2 smallies that were close to keepers that jumped and fought like.....well like smallmouth bass do!

http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/Laugh.gif

Tight Lines! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif

9-24-05 Fished a small club T 7a to 2:30p
Surface Temp was 78
Skys Clear
Wind SE about 10 early then calmed down

Out of 10 boats only 3 weighed fish. Everyone caught fish but not too many keepers. Most fish were caught on the edges of the grass beds. On flukes, spooks, frogs and soft plastics. Water was very clear and appeared to be down a couple of feet from summer pool. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif

Patoka Lake: Tuesday Sept. 27, 2005

Fished from 8:00 Local Time until 2:00 PM local (Patoka Lake Time)

Water temp 70 in the morning when I began and 79 when I finished fishing in the afternoon.

Water clarity: Stained to Muddy

Water level is still very low.

Air temp at launch was 59 and warmed to 85 or so by end of the day. It was very foggy early and sunny after the fog lifted. Blue Bird skies!

Moon was 27% Full and waning.

I caught 2 fish today. Both short. 1 was caught on a crankbait by channel in 12 to 14 feet of water and the other was caught off of standing timber on a jig in about 8 feet of water. I went up the river initially and it was very stained or muddy. The most stained all year since maybe early spring.

The lake really kicked my butt today! Bluebird skies and a tough day of fishing still beat working though! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/Laugh.gif

Tight Lines! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif

Patoka Lake: Sunday October 10th, 2005

Fished from 5:30 AM Local Time until 1:30 PM local (Patoka Lake Time)

Water temp 62 in the morning when we began and 67 when we finished fishing in the afternoon.

Water clarity: Very slightly stained...perfect green color on most parts of the lake!! However, some area's near Lick Fork and the dam looked like the water had turned over because of the color. Not sure if it had or not as there were no other indicators. i.e. lots of old leaves and debris from the bottom floating on the top or odor.

Water level is still very low.

Air temp at launch was 48 and warmed to 63 or so by end of the day. It was mostly cloudy all day with the wind blowing fairly briskly. I would estimate the wind at 10 to 15 mph.

Moon was 28% Full and waxing.

I caught 1 solid keeper today. My partner blanked entirely. I caught one of the FATTEST smallmouths you would ever want to see but would not have kept. He came up and hit my bait from underneath and looked like he was 5 feet in the air!!

Caught my fish in main lake areas near outside grass lines on spinnerbaits. Lost a few on the jig today including one I broke off on the hook set. However, the fish jumped out of the water trying to throw my jig a couple of minutes later and I saw he was only about 10 inches long so I didn't feel quite so bad! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/Laugh.gif

Fun day but not the best fishing day. http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthdown.gif

Tight Lines! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif

Sounds like you did have a good day, but the fishing sounds like it was kind of tough.

I've fished Patoka for years and years, not too much this year due to the distance and gas prices, but I have never caught a smallie there. Good job John...good report.

Thanks Bill. I have yet to catch a keeper smallie, but I have caught several nice ones that are getting close! They are a lot of fun!! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif

Patoka Lake: Sunday October 23rd, 2005

This was my club's, First River City Bassmasters, annual open tournament. Weather might have had something to do with it, but we only had 41 entries which was down a lot from last year.

Fished from 7:00 AM Local Time until 4:00 PM local (Patoka Lake Time)

Water temp 56 in the morning when we began and 62 when we finished fishing in the afternoon.

Water clarity: Slightly stained to stained water in area my partner and I fished.

Water level is still low. Water level is down 2.4 feet below normal pool.

Weather was awesome....for a duck! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/Laugh.gif Was in upper 40's at launch and stayed there or so it felt like most of the day and rained fairly steadily most of day. Sun finally came out very late in the day.

Bites were few and far between for my partner. He blanked and I only had two keepers. I had a 4 pounder and a 2.5. I only caught two other short fish. I did miss a couple including a big fish on a buzzbait.

My partner and I fished the river section but did not go very far up river.

My partner and I finished 11th...well out of the money! First place had 17 plus as did second place and 3rd place had 16.67. The first place team also had big bass at 5.77 pounds. They had 2 over 5 pounds and my 4 pounder was probably about 8th or 9th biggest fish. If memory serves there were 5 limits. (5 fish per team)

We payed out 6 places and the winning team won over $3000 including the big bass pot!! Not bad for a 41 boat tourney!! Need more BBCers to fish it next year!

Good fishing day! My partner and I should have done better! http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif

Tight Lines!

Did most folks get their fish early? How about you? The bites we had came very early. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/crying.gif

Actually my big fish came around 1 PM or so (Louisville Time). My buzzbait fish was early as was the Big one that I missed on a buzzbait. The short fish I caught were in the middle of the afternoon....2:00 to 3:00 PM. I am not sure about what time the other guys caught theirs.

I too fished this one... My partner had one keeper early (about 3.5 lbs), but didn't even weigh it in after we saw Dale hook into one of those 5's!!! No kidding, we fished within 300 yards of the winners all day, and just weren't getting any (although I lost a HUGE one, on a crankbait). MAN, those guys have Patoka figured! All said and done, we had 7 short fish (jigs and crankbaits) and one keeper, all came before 1pm.

Brad I would have to agree with you. Dale & Paul really are dialed in on Patoka! Wish I could say the same! It's a shame you lost the big one on the crankbait!!

Nice post! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif

Yeah well, it happens... We had been on some really good fish in the few weeks prior to the tournament, but just couldn't get the bites on the day of! STORY OF MY LIFE!!!

Went fishin on 11/4, 11/5, and 11/6 at Patoka. Had some success on buzzbaits, on (of all things) windy, grassy banks! We had around 10 fish per day. I lost the fish of a lifetime right at the boat (probably 8+)! Caught a 14 lb striper on a Splash It! All around, a lot of fun but a whole lot of casts for 10 fish per day!

Better late than never:

Fished Patoka -11/21 7am to 3:30

Water temp was 49, air 47 degrees. Overcast, with period of sunshine, and a blustery sw wind.

Ended up with about 10-12, with a few being smallies. Largest was 3 1/2 lb largemouth on a senko. Wasted the better part of the morning fishing the middle of the lake on deep drop off's in about 15 feet. Decided to head into the timber and fish in 5-7 ft in some protected coves and there they were. Buddy lost a 5+ lb at the boat on a buzz bait. Most where caught on small plastics very slow. All-in-all, not a bad day on the water in the middle of November. Also the bite conicided with the sunshine.

Brad nice report. I read this before and meant to post..in fact thought I did. Anyway, you had a very nice fishing trip. A real shame about the 8 plus pounder!!! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/crying.gif When you lose any nice fish let alone one that big...it just rips your heart out! 14 pound striper on a splash it had to be a LOT of fun as well.

Nice report! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif

Your right Dan it is better late than never and you posted a great report!! Plus that was an excellent day for mid November! http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif

Patoka Lake: Saturday January 28, 2006

Fished from 7:15 until 2:30 PM

Water temp 41 in the morning when we began and 44 when we finished fishing in the afternoon.

Water clarity: Stained to murky

Water level: 1.8 feet above winter pool.

Air temp at launch was 44 and warmed to 64 by end of the day. Cloudy early giving way to an absolutely beautiful sunny afternoon!! Especially for January!! March should be so nice!

Wind was calm to slightly breezy..nothing to bad.

I fished with Michael Hay...(Crayfish here on the boards). We both got skunked!! Mike missed two on a jig, but that was all the action. We fished the river section near Walls, mostly bluff walls on or near the channel. It was a tough fishing day but we had a LOT of Fun!!

Spring will be here before you know it and then, even I might catch one!! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/roll.gif

Tight Lines!! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif

Water temp is 45 degrees, time to get the boat out and look for them staging.

Had some business in Jasper on Thursday the 2nd and took my boat with me. I didn't get on the lake till about 3 pm. I mostly just wanted to run my boat as I had Mark of Marks Props re-work my prop and I had done a couple of other maintenance things as I have my first Tourney tomorrow and I wanted to make sure she ran good. She did great and I would highly recommend having Mark do your prop work! http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif

Conditions were BRUTAL!!!! The wind was blowing out of the North at what seemed like 50 mph!! I know it wasn't that bad, but it was definitely blowing a lot! 2 Foot rollers on little Patoka and I didn't even try to go out on the main lake. I found some 51 degree water but most of it was 46 to 48 degrees. According to the corp it is right at (.3 above) winter pool. However, it seemed much lower than that to me. Water was typical Patoka ...fairly clear. I actually did get a rod out and made about 25 casts, before deciding that I didn't like having the trolling motor on 70 to maintain position!

More to come after Tourney on Sunday! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif

Patoka Lake: Sunday 3-5-06

Fished First River City Bassmasters Club Tourney from 7 Am to 4 PM.

Water temp at launch 35 warmed to 42 to 43. We did find one small pocket that reached 45 very late in the day.

Water clarity: Clear

Water level is at winter pool or actually .2 over it but it seems very low.


Air temp at launch was about 27 or 28 and warmed to a balmy and breezy 44 by end of the day. The sun was out early, then it turned cloudy. We had a little snow and sleet and drizzle. It was a cold raw day.

My partner, Bluegrass on the board (Pat) and I not only skunked but only had one hit all day and that was his. We had early morning outboard troubles, crappy weather and Pat broke is brand new first time ever to use it Kistler Rod!! However, it could have been worse because at least we were fishing!! http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif

VERY Tough Day for us. But as it always is in a tourney someone figured them out. Boss445 (Bob) and his partner won the tournament with nearly 16 pounds! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif Bob had one that weighed 4.85 pounds and lost big bass to his partner who had 5.32 pound one! Tough break for Bob!! Second and third place both had 4.55 pounds so Bob and his partner KICKED BUTT!!!!! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif

The majority did not weigh a fish.

We fished a lot of main lake points and deep rock banks with jerkbaits, sinko's, jigs and crankbaits. Not sure what the winners were using.

One team caught 3 BIG stripers which they estimated would have weighed 20 pounds or better each!!

Tight Lines http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif

That's a good bag. As always, Patoka gives up some hogs. I would have been tickled to tackle those stripers. I bet those guys thought they had the state record big-mouth.

Good report - I need to get down there.

Great report John!! http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif

Nice report John. Doesn't it just make you stratch your head when you fish a tournament, get skunked or catch very few, then somebody always comes in with a boatload of bass? Someday, maybe I will be one of those guys with the boat load!! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/Laugh.gif

Well since John has given all the weather and water temp, I just have to say we were lucky. My partner and I won our club tournament at Patoka yesterday with almost 16 lbs, along with Big Bass. We didn't get any bites till about 12:00 and we only had 4 bites all day. We caught all of the fish with a jerkbait or a rat trap. 4 bites = 4 fish. I only had one and my partner had 3 fish. We did probably the same thing as everyone else did. beat the banks for bedding fish. We just happened to be at the right time place at the right time.


Modified by Boss445 at 12:49 PM 3/6/2006


Modified by Boss445 at 7:49 AM 3/7/2006

Bob you may have been lucky, but then again if memory serves me you have now won two tournaments in a row dating back to last year!! That isn't luck!! It is enough winning though....so slack off and give someone else a chance!! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/roll.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/roll.gif

Good report! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by billius &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Nice report John. Doesn't it just make you stratch your head when you fish a tournament, get skunked or catch very few, then somebody always comes in with a boatload of bass? Someday, maybe I will be one of those guys with the boat load!! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/Laugh.gif </TD></TR></TABLE>

EXACTLY!! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/doh.gif

Good report and good day of fishing Bob! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif

fished club tourney sunday 3-19-06.boated six weighed in five fish limit 16lbs even.had 2 over 5lbs won big bass and second place,lost first to a five fish 17lbs catch. only 3 boats weighed.we pre-fished friday got on them late,stuck to are pattern with no weather changes.it paid off we had a blast! oh yeah triton was flyn in the cool air http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/smile.gif

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by triton1cos &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">fished club tourney sunday 3-19-06.boated six weighed in five fish limit 16lbs even.had 2 over 5lbs won big bass and second place,lost first to a five fish 17lbs catch. only 3 boats weighed.we pre-fished friday got on them late,stuck to are pattern with no weather changes.it paid off we had a blast! oh yeah triton was flyn in the cool air http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/smile.gif </TD></TR></TABLE> http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/ohwell.gif well that helps! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/eyes.gif

Sounds like a great day of fishin'!! http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif

Awesome Day William..especially when only 3 boats weighed fish!! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif Congrats on our 2nd place finish. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif

Sorry for the delay in posting... Fished Patoka 3/25 & 26;

Had one big-un (6.5) up in the river on a Jig on Sat., water was 45 deg., and muddy...

Had one short one on a rogue in Painters Cr. on Sunday; water was 47 deg. and stained.

Ran all over the lake on Saturday (WHY NOT, GAS IS CHEAP http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/roll.gif ), water near Grimes was COLD (39deg.) and clear, but got warmer and muddier the further down river I went... Lick Fork area was 44 deg and clear-to-stained.

It took a helluva sack to win the HOT (22lbs I think and the only limit of the Tournament), but most came in empty bagged...

I think I'm gonna take a few weeks off, and let the water warm up a bit and get back to normal levels...

Nice report Brad and a very NICE 6.5 pounder!!! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif

Patoka Lake: Friday March 31, 2006

Fished from 9:00 Local Time until 1:30PM

Water temp 54 in the morning when I began and 56 when I finished fishing in the afternoon.

Water clarity: Muddy to VERY muddy on little Patoka and up River. However, on main lake water was only slightly stained.

Water level 5.7 feet above winter pool, which is also slightly above summer pool. It is the most water I have seen in the lake for some time.

Air temp at launch was 56 and warmed to 66 or so by end of the day. It rained cats & dogs on and off most of the morning...at times it really poured!

I caught 2 fish today, both keepers. One would have went close to three pounds and the other slightly over 2 pounds. Both were caught in muddy water about 6 feet deep near deeper water. I caught them on rattle traps.
I only had two bites.

Tight Lines! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif

Had a two day club tourney this past weekend (April 8th and 9th). Fishing was pretty tough with the cold front that came with the storms friday...we had 8 boats, and only 10 fish weighed in for both days...I spent most of the weekend in painters creek....Saturday very cold and windy, never even got a bite. One guy found the fish in Flemming. He had four keepers that weighed 11 lb. 15 oz. another guy found one fish up in Lick Fork, and I am not sure where the other guy caught his, somewhere up river in the mud. Sunday I had big bass with 3 lbs. and another fish that was just 15 inches, that weighed 1 lb 11 oz. caught in painter creek. one caught in little patoka, and one caught on the main lake.. The warmest water we found was 57 degrees in the back of painters creek. All in all a pretty slow bite, only had two bites and both measured, took second in the club with big bass on day two.

caught the big fish on a spinner bait (sorry Eric wasn't a heavy cover), and the other one on a trap..

GREAT Report Tommie!! http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif It obviously was a very tough weekend!