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Old 05-31-09, 01:24 PM   #1
nofearengineer
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Default Patoka Lake, 5/30/09

Me and Woody (Mark) met up at Patoka Lake In Dubois County, IN for some fun. We got there nice and early, right before sunrise, and the lake was glassy calm. My prediction was correct...all of the pure boaters, and many of the fishermen had been out the prior Memorial Day weekend, and had decided to rest this weekend. No rest for the wicked though...me and Woody were ready.

Well, after blasting over to my favorite arm of the lake, I went to get my rods out of my locker, and promptly broke the tip off of one of my new St. Croix spinning rods. Ticked me off, but hey...it's under warranty, and I was fishin', so I didn't let it bother me too much.

We were sure there there was gonna be a top-water bite, so we both threw spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, etc. NADA...we saw shad boiling, bustin' the surface, etc., but still nothing. We really couldn't figure it out, other than all of the larger fish we saw on the finders were down deep. We thought that really didn't make sense, but hey, who are we to argue with the facts? Additionally, the other shore of the arm was the windy side, and I've always heard a little wind on the shore helps, so we ran over there. After tying on a DD-22 Norman crank, it only took maybe 3-4 casts, and I landed a 3 lb'er, the biggest bass I've ever caught out of Patoka.



After setting down the camera, Woody tied on a DD-22 of his own.

Funny thing about the DD-22...it floats. This will be an important point later in the story.

Realizing that for whatever reason, the bass were holding on deep structure we decided to go with it. Like that old saying: "Fish conditions, not memories." So we got out our Hot Spots map, and found we were right over a submerged roadbed. It certainly fit the beginning of a pattern. so we drifted the whole length of it and saw a lot of fish, and II think Woody boated a dink. We checked our map some more and decided to fish the creek channel that runs the whole length of the arm. So while using the troller back to the other side where the channel is, I tossed out the deep crank again. I caught a 14" hybrid stiped bass on it. I finally managed to get the thing off the hook and into the livewell, cast out, and got smacked by another one. So this deep structure stuff is workin.

We worked back into the arm, following the channel best we could, with Woody boating another hybrid for the livewell, and me catching and releasing a 14" largemouth. It was about this time that the "fun" started. While making a particularly hard cast, my bail flipped over on me mid cast. The abrupt snap of the lure on the line jerked the rod out of my hand, and we watched it sink into the 30' depths.

I was pretty much crushed. I had managed to go from fishing two St. Croix spinning rods to breaking one and losing another. Woody offered some consolation in the fact that I did manage to catch that nice bass. He was right...it's only money, but it still stung a little.

Luckily...there had been a channel marjer buoy fairly close by, and we had a rough idea of where it went down. I tied on a heavy spoon, and Woody tied on some heavy contraption to try to drag the bottom for the rod, but with the wind, and not perfect idea of where it was, we couldn't find it. Of course I backlashed one of my baitcasters trying to cast into the wind, and spent about half an hour trying to fix that...unsuccessfully. So I dug my old standby spinning rod out of storage, retied the spoon on it and started dragging the depths. No luck. I then thought to use my bait cast net I keep in my locker, so I busted it out and shook some of the cobwebs off of my casting technique. But with it being so deep down, it became apparent after just a few throws, that I was simply out $90...accept it, Bryce (that's me). So I said F-it, and moved on.

So I grabbed another deep crank out, and went about fishing the channel. After about another hour or so, of no more bites, I notice some little white thing suspended under water, about 5 feet down. I'm thinking...um, no...it can't be...not possible...I let out a WHOOP of joy. Woody is like...WTH? It's my lost crankbait, floating in the depths. Apparently, enough line came off the reel before the bail shut, that the crank almost made it to the surface. I took careful note of our position relative to the marker buoy, and drifted back over it while reeling up the crank I had tied on all of the way to my rod tip. It took a couple of passes for me to reach it and tangle the two crankbaits up, but I finally got it in the boat. I pulled the line in by hand, and saw my rod come out of the depths. I have never been so happy in my life. Me and Woody whooped it up good over that, and laughed about it for a long, long time. What are the odds of pulling out a fishing rod in 30 feet of water two hours later?

Anyway, we had a blast. We didn't catch any more, but we did have some good fried chicken Woody brought, and we did have a good time at the end of the day relaxing while trolling the deep divers, hoping for a few more hybrids for the table, and even laughing about what we do do if we somehow hooked up on a 15-20lb Striper. The weather was really nice most of the day, and we got treated to a nice panorama on our way back to the ramp.



Woody and I found out we have a heck of a lot in common, family-wise and such. All in all, we spent about 14 hours on the water, and it seemed like about 14 minutes. I could have fished more, for sure. Woody is one heck of a fishing partner, and I can't wait to hit Monroe and Brookville with him. (Oh, and Patoka ANYTIME, brother)
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Last edited by nofearengineer; 05-31-09 at 01:27 PM. Reason: Fixing Pictures
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Old 05-31-09, 01:35 PM   #2
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Dude, awesome! That looks like a fun day and lots of memories were made. Hope it's just as good next time.
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Old 05-31-09, 03:18 PM   #3
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Man sounds like a great time. Good things come out of this site.
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Old 05-31-09, 03:31 PM   #4
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that is ULTRA FANTASTIC STORY BRYCE. mark is a great guy i know for sure. and i am SO very glad to see you 2 get out there for a day. nice caches and a great rod n reel story. good to know woody set down the camera too. lol. sorry woody, had to pal. and like bubba said, great, not good, but GREAT THINGS AND FRIENDSHIPS come from this site. you 2 are gonna HAVE to come down this way sometime. ok? ya'll need to fish guntersville with me soon.
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Old 05-31-09, 03:35 PM   #5
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Thanks Bryce(Nofearengineer) for sharing your boat and day on the Lake.

Just to put it plain and simply,-" it was an AWESOME Day!"

And it looks like I got me another Fantastic Fishin' Buddy; +1 FOR WOODY!!!


~Mark
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Old 05-31-09, 03:50 PM   #6
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very nice guys, looks like lots of fun. Just goes to show how great this site really is. and beautiful pic there at the end
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Old 05-31-09, 04:04 PM   #7
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Wtg you guys! Nice catch bryce, sorry I had been misspelling it with an I earlier. Here the baitmonkey calling ya yet to replace some rods? rofl
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Old 05-31-09, 05:02 PM   #8
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nice story man glad ya ended up getting the rod back .


jim
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Old 05-31-09, 05:28 PM   #9
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Thats awesome Brice, and I see a JB photo-op out of this one .
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Old 05-31-09, 05:44 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BassinID View Post
Thats awesome Brice, and I see a JB photo-op out of this one .
Haha! Fortunately for me...JB hasn't been around me much...he just doesn't have a lot of photos to haunt me with yet!

When I go hang out with him at Brookville, I'm gonna have to be VERY careful!

Bama...I'd love to come down there...it'd have to be a thing where I take Friday off work, fish the afternoon there, fish Saturday, then drive back on Sunday. Are there motels close by? There really aren't with Patoka, so I wouldn't assume.
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Old 05-31-09, 05:47 PM   #11
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Actually bryce the day after we got home from ky lake i shopped ya in a Panamanian parade with some colorful women but elected not to complete it LOL
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Old 05-31-09, 06:13 PM   #12
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hahaha, come on down bryce. we got a room fer ya man. but it'll most likely have to wait till the end of summer. we are packing up to move as we speak (well.sort speak,lol). but yea, bring the family ifn ya want. we gonna be in high cotton after the move. we be double wide trailer trashn,hahahaha.

and come on jb. he ain't THAT new no more. photoshop him man. we wanna see it. hahahahahaha.
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Old 05-31-09, 06:28 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JB View Post
Actually bryce the day after we got home from ky lake i shopped ya in a Panamanian parade with some colorful women but elected not to complete it LOL
Lord almighty...I probably shouldn't do this...kinda like the sign in the national park that says "Please don't feed the animals"...but I can't resist...okay...exactly what would be the connection between me and a Panamanian parade? LOL


Quote:
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hahaha, come on down bryce. we got a room fer ya man. but it'll most likely have to wait till the end of summer. we are packing up to move as we speak (well.sort speak,lol). but yea, bring the family ifn ya want. we gonna be in high cotton after the move. we be double wide trailer trashn,hahahaha.

and come on jb. he ain't THAT new no more. photoshop him man. we wanna see it. hahahahahaha.

No family here, Bama, but I can bring my parrot if ya like! Just kidding, he doesn't like grits! As long as the fishin' is good, it could be in January, as far as I'm concerned, except I'd die of anticipation by then.

Are you moving into or out of a double wide? Hah, I lived in a 14x70 for a long time in Wyoming. As a kid I made 20 bucks a weekend (even though I didn't know he was called the bait monkey, he made regular stops at my house back then) installing swamp coolers on em and levelling them. I'm pretty cool with mobile homes, heh.

And stop eggin' JB on!
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Old 05-31-09, 08:19 PM   #14
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Man, that's a great story, Bryce. I wonder what the odds are that you would come back over the EXACT right spot, and at the EXACT right angle to see that crankbat 5 ft under the water? That's amazing.

I am definitely jealous of you, and I'm not ashamed to say it. #1 because you were actually out on the lake fishing. #2 because you were out on the lake fishing, and having some success. #3 because you were out on the lake fishing, and having some success, and you had Woody out there with you.
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Old 05-31-09, 09:15 PM   #15
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we are moving INTO a double wide nofear. hate to leave the bluff here overlooking the river and my most favorite lake of anywhere in the nation. but... family does come first ya know. and we ain't moving too far away. we will be between 2 lakes so to speak lake guntersville is gonna be about 30-45 mins away, and weiss lake is gonna be 15 mins away. weiss is known for the crappie fishing. although bob smith and i know of a fella that absolutly LOVES bass fishing weiss. he was at the first get together. can't get him to stop fishing long enough to sign up here,lol. he just got a sponser and is fishing with a wrap on his rig. i got his number and will call on him for some advice for weiss. but my FIRST love is always gonna be guntersville. and i will undoubtly be fishing it mostly. gonna meet a member at waterfront launch this saturday. packing this week to get a head start. but after the move, i am wide open for fishing.lol. i made a promise to another member that lives real close to me and i have GOT to take him as well.
also ssipiboy and gal are SUPPOSED to make a trip here for a vist...........probably after the new ssippiGAL arrives. hint,hint BOY! hahahaha.
but we'll work out a plan. maybe get ol woody to tag along with ya? and anyone else that wants to come. we LOVE visiters.
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Old 05-31-09, 09:21 PM   #16
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we are real lucky here in the fact you can be at one a half dozen pretty good size lakes withing forty five minutes, but prefer the lakes in Indiana much better, plus brookville is 35 minutes away. I bet after you fish that new lake for a year or two you'll like it in dif ways than your home lake bama.
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Old 05-31-09, 09:27 PM   #17
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jb i have fished it. it's just that it is so dang SHALLOW. hard to troll when your hitting a sand bar every 3 foot or so. hahaha. i have caught bass there as well too. just not in the numbers as guntersville. i AM gonna fish it though, you're right about that pal.just gonna go up river (coosa) a ways and get into the good stuff. fished mostly along the dam area. not alot of truly good spots there. but i found a few tht hold bass, just not the size as well as guntersville. the dinks at weiss are minnows compared to guntersville, lmao. ya know i only catch dinks anyway, hahahaha.
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