Outdoor Type: Uebelhor can handle Patoka Lake's bass challenge

Bass fishing at Patoka was great back in the seventies when the lake was new and filling up. Those days are gone, and getting big bass there now can be a tedious process.

It's deep and clear, and possibly because of high water levels, the grass has mostly disappeared. Baitfish like to spawn, feed and hide in grass, and when it's gone, the entire fishery suffers.

On my first trip to West Boggs Lake years ago, I noticed the abundant grass, a surefire sign that good fishing was likely, not just for bass but for all species. On a positive note, some anglers have recently reported the grass at Patoka is slowly returning.

Patoka's once-abundant wood cover has largely rotted away, along with the brush piles planted during the lake's construction. Since DNR rules allow no private individuals to plant brush, and there are no docks where owners plant cover, you have a minimum of targets. After the spring you'd be good to go with your graph to find the spots, which are mostly offshore.

"If you drive by Patoka and see a guy out in the middle of the lake," Jasper angler Nick Uebelhor said, "it might be me."

He uses three main tools for deep bass: a plastic worm, a Carolina rig and a deep-running crankbait.

"A lot of fishermen just stay shallow and don't use their graph well," Uebelhor said. "It's a very important tool. Guys who do well at Patoka are good because they know how to graph fish. You must be around baitfish for there to be bass around, but they're hard to see. I can spot walleye easier than bass. Patoka largemouth don't group up like they do at Kentucky Lake. You might see 100 smallmouth in a day up there, including some big ones," he said. "A lot depends on the weather."

One spot that has his attention is Newton Lake in Illinois. The power plant reservoir made the list of top national destinations in a recent bass master magazine survey.

"It's a good winter lake, especially," he said. "It has plenty of shoreline cover. You can go up there when things are frozen over here. In late January, we caught around 20 bass, with one about three pounds."

Newton has a 25-horse limit, so Nick fastened a plate next to the big unit on his rig and attached a 9.9 engine.

Like most fishermen, Nick has a lot of good memories and a favorite is the 2014 college national championship on Pickwick Lake. Along with a partner, Nick struggled the first day to find anything better than 14-inch fish.

"We caught two fish off of a ledge put in the middle late in practice, so we went back there the first day," he said. "A boat came up which I thought was a competitor, but then I realized it was a camera crew. They put some lights on us and started filming. I caught one right when they pulled up, jig and landed it right where the bass was chasing. I felt it sink, felt something heavy and set the hook. That ain't real life!" It's my new go-to saying," he ended up trying to bust a six or seven-inch gizzard shad on top. He kept missing it. I didn't have a topwater bait handy because I had stored it— I picked up a ¾-ounce jig and landed it right where the bass was chasing.

Nick will fish in various tournaments this year, although he recently had his first child. He might like to make bass fishing his full-time occupation, but that's a ways off. Someday, big-time bassing for him may truly be "real life."