Thread: Patoka Lake First time this year

43' at the lake right now and wont be long till we get some 60s. Will start the year near Kings bridge using small handtied jigs tipped with nibbles. May not get many good ones but just catching anything is a good start.
Should be spawning in April. Look for shallow stickups, that is where the big spawners will be.

Very first warmest water will be from Walls Launch up up up...I have tried Walls, then bounced over to Lick Fork same day and have found water temp to be a lot colder as the same goes for Little Patoka and Painters Creek. Can be muddy way up,,then again perfect color, depending on early rains. But Raporter is spot on. Had 45 on my temp gauge at home today with snow melting....few more days of this warmth and things are definitely going to change for better. I live 35 miles north of the Lake. 34 days till spring. I like longlineing jigs and tubes filled with nibbles from Walls all the way up then casting when you find them. Mid April on,,great for the Bandits if your into trolling. Boat is going into the garage after this weekend snow to get ready.

how deep do bandits run billbob said he likes them I use small wally divers

I use power pro 20 lb braid on Okuma line counter reels on B & M 10' rods for the cranks and same type rods with spinning reels with power pro 15 braid for jigs long lining on Patoka. Jigs will be trolled at various depths at speed of 0.8 to 1.4 max speed, cranks will run a ave. of 1.4 to 2.0 speed, and depending where I am fishing and what type of water...and or structure switching out between 200 and 300 bandits as well as walley divers, rapallas, fat raps, even sometimes rattle traps there again,,along weed lines next to deep water, rock and sand areas next to deep water, mud flats and points after the weeds run out up at the dam area and upper Lick Fork area,,across from dam a few spots, the west side of the main lake of the dam has 3 key points that are good.. Both points of entry to Painter Creek are sometimes productive and on south side of Painter from point of the mouth,,going east,,that side is rocky with weed lines and even when out from bank,,humpy weed areas about 50 yds out from bank down to first bay going east,,the point in the back of that bay is rocky and has walleyes sometimes on it. Main lake quite a few rock/sand points out from weed lines,,even the point across from Wall boat launch at the mouth of the bay,,is long and dumps into river channel that has given up a couple of walleyes. Bandits will run sometimes if there 300's and I have 125' of line out as much as 17,,but my normal depth I would say, is between 12' and 15' as too much line out makes maneuvering touchy. Most of the time on the jigs,,no more than 50-70 ft of line out or as far as I can cast them. In the spring,,,catching them on the jigs,,most of the jigs are all but touching bottom or sliding over the humps and points when hit. With Patoka,,its totally hit or miss as you can never tell when your going to hit one and where.

All in BANDITS
Feet 100's 200's 300's
LINE DEPTH DEPTH DEPTH
05 ------- 2.4 ----- 3.2 ----- 3.4
10 ------- 4.0 ----- 4.5 ----- 4.0
15 ------- 5.3 ----- 5.3 ----- 6.0
20 ------- 5.7 ----- 6.1 ----- 7.0
25 ------- 6.3 ----- 6.9 ----- 8.0
30 ------- 6.9 ----- 7.5 ----- 9.0
35 ------- 7.4 ----- 8.0 ----- 9.9
40 ------- 7.9 ----- 8.5 ----- 10.5
45 ------- 8.4 ----- 9.0 ----- 11.0
50 ------- 8.8 ----- 9.5 ----- 11.6
55 ------- 9.1 ----- 9.9 ----- 12.1
60 ------- 9.4 ----- 10.2 ---- 12.6
65 ------- 9.7 ----- 10.6 ---- 13.1
70 ------ 10.0 ----- 11.0 ---- 13.6
75 ------ 10.3 ----- 11.4 ---- 14.0
80 ------ 10.5 ----- 11.8 ---- 14.4
85 ------ 10.7 ----- 12.0 ---- 14.7
90 ------ 10.8 ----- 12.2 ---- 15.0
95 ------ 10.9 ----- 12.4 ---- 15.4
100 ------ 11.1 ----- 12.6 ---- 15.7
105 ------ 11.2 ----- 12.7 ---- 16.0
110 ------ 11.3 ----- 12.8 ---- 16.3
115 ------ 11.4 ----- 13.0 ---- 16.7
125 ------ 11.6 ----- 13.4 ---- 17.0
135 ------ 11.8 ----- 13.6 ---- 17.3
150 ------ 11.8 ----- 14.0 ---- 17.6
Bandit depth chart at 1.6mph using 10lb test.

thanks I saw a chart like that once those are great I use 4 lb line on jigs and 14 for cranks they cost to much any more to lose and every once in a while we get huge cats trolling

I use the power pro hi vis yellow 20lb braid on my Okuma's for trolling the cranks, then use the power pro hi vis yellow 15lb braid on my spinning long lining rods for jigs etc. and the chart works great for these sizes. I like dragging the jigs over the points as you will pick up a occasional cat. or walleye as a plus. Works for me. On Patoka,,never lost hardly any cranks last yr as the wood under the water is getting super soft..and if you go get your cranks,,you can work them off. The same for most jig type baits too. The braid is just stronger, no stretch, small dia. and seems to save the baits more than the mono.

oh yea I agree with braid only thing I don t like is it always cuts my hand when snagged but they usually come loose when you go get em I make jigs so I don t usually worry about them, dam area is most consistent til it warms up then hit or miss hope the ice is gone before march

am I the only one that has trouble catching anything with size at patoka??