Please Post Your Patoka Reports in this Thread
Thanks!
Please Post Your Patoka Reports in this Thread
Thanks!
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!
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
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!
Tight Lines!
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.
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!
Tight Lines!
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!
Fun day but not the best fishing day.
Tight Lines!
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.
Bill Gard
Richmond, Indiana
2015 BassCat Caracal/225ProXs
TEAM SHERM'S MARINE
Of course I talk to myself...sometimes I need expert advice.
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!!
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!
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!
Tight Lines!
Did most folks get their fish early? How about you? The bites we had came very early.
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!
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!!!
Nice report!
Your right Dan it is better late than never and you posted a great report!! Plus that was an excellent day for mid November!
Reply With Quote
