Thread: Patoka Shad?

I haven't been down there much this year, but I had no trouble finding bait in the upper part of the lake. Since shad typically spawn in the upper shallow regions, maybe that's why they aren't as prevalent on the main lake.

One other possibility is that their spawning was also interrupted by constantly changing water levels and the water warming quickly. The northern Gizzard shad have developed a greater tolerance for cold water, so if numbers are down, don't expect it for long.

if they are low, id be in agreement with fetish. they should go in cycles just like any other fish. some years good spawn others not so much. maybe ask your local biologist by email.

I read earlier this year,,on Tim's Guide Service web site,,that he mentioned that DNR had re-introduced shad into the lake to help the crappie population out and it was starting to help. When I read it kind a blew it off and it wasn't dated or anything as just kind of figured it was bs,,,but maybe its not. Now that you bring up,,I haven't been seeing alot of shad this year on Patoka myself either. Patoka the last couple of years has experienced lots of ice over the winter more than normal in the wintertime.

Shad come and go. Warm spring, with a few cold snaps usually kill them off pretty well. Water gets hard here, and the shad survive just fine. With the water up this year, I'd suspect that the shad are going to be pretty abundant the next two years.

I was seeing plenty of bait on sonar when I was down there last month fishing for bass.

Not saying the shad are going to become extinct. Just saying for some reason they seem to be less prolific. I can remember 4 or 5 years ago they were everywhere and it had been that way for a long time. We had a flood 3 years ago. Only thing different weather wise was 2 consecutive cold winters. Lots of lakes I have fished have shad I can only think of one that had the numbers Patoka had in the past and they are farther south. Now with the forage base changing the shad numbers seem to be too. I just wonder how many shad a big walleye can swallow in a year and there are a lots of yellow bass. If they get in these newly hatched shad schools I am thinking they could really rip them up. Yes it could just be a down cycle. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next 5 years.

I do know the DNR has been releasing shad back into the lake the couple of years, in order to try and help the crappie out. Plus with the ongoing stocking of walleye, and the fact that a lot of them are getting to be real nice size now. There is a lot more competition for baitfish, which is down in numbers.

Good topic... And very good replies. IMO walleye will eat any fish fry... I've good pics of 15" eyes with 6 gills/crappie all 3" plus, so they don't need shad. With the amount of small crappie in patoka... The walleye and bass will always do well. I think the biggest part of not seeing shad is the amount of water they have ATM. How many more acres is patoka right now? If a shad has oxygen they'd be just as happy in the woods as they'd be in 30 fow. If you subtract the number of acres of water by water levels going back down, I bet you'd see a lot more shad. Just like crappie in Sally and Missy... In a drought year, they get hammered... And the next year suffers, because the rule that 10% of the water holds 90% of the fish, and in a drought year it may be 5%. In a major flood year, especially for crappie that 10% is closer to 40%, because of the amount of new structure. I have no idea if I made sense of that... But hopefully somebody followed me!! Lol

I'll confirm the shad stories, but I would be shocked if DNR had any hand in introducing or supplementally stocking shad into the lake. They first appeared in 1996 according to DNR survey records, and pretty much once you have shad (gizzards), you never "not" have them. No need to introduce as they never go away regardless how many predators you stock, or what you try to do to kill them off. I think the wording on Tim's website is actually referring to their (1996) appearance and not to their being stocked. DNR pretty much hates shad because it usually ends up destroying a balanced fishery. They are the reason they've renovated Boggs twice, along with a few other reservoirs. The crappie are simply too prolific and successfully spawning in Patoka for some reason, hence you have large numbers which leads to stunted growth despite estimates of as many as 100,000 harvested crappie per year from the lake. Adding stripers and walleye is their way of actually trying to help control ( i.e., reduce) the shad population. Now that yellows have been found in the lake, that will also put pressure on crappie growth.

-T9