Lower Patoka River
(downstream of the Patoka Lake Dam)
The Lower Patoka River has good flow for most of the year thanks to the discharge from Patoka Reservoir. The fishing for white bass, sauger and channel catfish is outstanding. In fact, the fishing for channel catfish is the best I have experienced in Indiana.
The take out at Dubois is very convenient at the small dam in town. There are a few good cafe’s in town. From Dubois the Patoka winds to Jasper. Further downstream is the Sugar Hill Fish and Wildlife area and the Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge.
East and west of St. Rd. 57 the old meandering river channel still exists as backwater oxbows in a bottomland hardwood forest setting with the main flow of water running in the remnants of the historic Wabash-Erie canal. The construction costs of this incomplete canal, designed to connect the lower Wabash River to Lake Erie by way of Ft. Wayne, broke the state of Indiana at that time. This is a very interesting stretch with abundant wildlife, but a slow paddle.