• Fishing Report for Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley

    Bass Buster Guide Service
    (270) 362-9987 http://www.kentuckylakeguide.com dave@kentuckylakeguide.com
  • Dave Stewart's Avatar

    "Specializing in Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass, Lake Familiarization, Tournament Preparation, and Technique Instruction"

  • Fishing Report for Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley

    April 10, 2015

    Kentucky Lake: Water Level at Kentucky Dam - 356.68 Surface Temperature - 62
    Lake Barkley: Water Level at Barkley Dam - 356.80 Surface Temperature - 62

    Both lakes are about 2.5 feet below summer pool. Kentucky Dam was generating at an average of 58,000 cfs this morning. Barkley Dam was generating at an average of 50,000 cfs this morning. Both lakes reached a level of 357 this week which is higher than normal for this week in April. The TVA is now lowering the lake levels to get the lakes back on track with the River Operating System. The lakes have been lowered almost 6 inches in the past 8 hours and are projected to be lowered another 6 inches by Sunday. I would expect the lakes to then begin a slow rise toward summer pool again next week with the lakes reaching summer pool levels by the end of the month barring any unforeseen influx of water. The latest lake levels , current flows and forecasts for all the TVA lakes can be found at http://www.tva.com/river/lakeinfo/index.htm . With the lake levels down, everyone needs to be cautious when navigating the lakes. Use the navigation channels unless you know exactly where you are and if you are not sure, idle your boat until you are sure you are in safe water.

    General Conditions: We experienced near record breaking high temperatures the past few days and the water temperatures have risen to be 4 degrees higher than this time last week. Last week I predicted that we will see the Largemouth moving to full blown prespawn patterns this week and that is exactly what has happened with this warm up. More fish are showing up in the creeks and bays and staging on lead in channel banks and points off the spawning coves and flats. There are some early fish already fanning beds in some of the spawning areas as well as some roamers during the day in the shallows. Most of the fish however, as I mentioned before are staging on points and banks off the spawning areas. The Smallmouth are starting to bed on gravel banks and points on the main lake as well as inside the front halves of the creeks and bays. The Crappie are staged to spawn in numbers now and with these water temperatures we should see them in full blown spawn this coming week once the water levels stabilize.

    We had a cold front pass through the lakes area last night and the forecast for the weekend is for post frontal conditions. The forecast for Saturday is for a high of 70/low of 46 with sunny skies and wind NE5. Sunday is showing a forecasted high of 75/low of 62 with wind SE9. The forecast through next mid week is for high's around 70/ low's in the 50's with chances of rain each day, especially on Monday. It is that time of year that forecasts can change so one needs to check the latest wind/weather forecasts before venturing out or you may find yourself caught out in one of our spring thunderstorms.

    Largemouth Bass: Largemouth are being taken on main lake points as well as secondary points and channel banks inside the creeks and bays. More of these fish are showing up on the staging points and banks leading into the spawning areas every day now. The deeper fish are being taken on Alabama Rigs, Carolina rigged lizards and creature baits, suspending jerk baits. The closer staging fish off the spawning areas are taking medium running crank baits, spinnerbaits, swim baits, Texas rigged lizards and creature baits, jigs and shakey heads. Some Largemouth are also being taken on shallow flats in the creeks and bays near deeper water with lipless crank baits, shallow running crank baits and chatterbaits.

    Smallmouth Bass: Smallmouth are being taken on shallow main lake gravel points and banks near the channels and on gravel secondary points and banks in the creeks and bays. These fish are being taken on Alabama rigs, suspending jerk baits, slow rolled crank baits, Texas and Carolina rigged lizards and creature baits, tube jigs and jigs. These fish are on a late prespawn/spawn bite now.

    Productive Lures: Some of the more productive lures this week have been: Rapala Shad Raps, DT6 and DT10 crankbaits in Demon and Red Craw, Excite and Strike King medium running crankbaits in black/chartruese, Bandit crankbaits in rootbeer and rootbeer/chartreuse, Strike King Red Eye Shad and Excaliber One Knocker lipless crankbaits in red or orange with black crawdad patterns as well as chrome sexy shad, Smithwick suspending Rogues in chrome with black back, Rapala X-raps in black/silver, Bag 5 custom painted Mega Bass jerk baits in Blue Glimmer, Lucky Craft Pointers and Bag 5 custom painted Mega Bass jerk baits in Aurora Black, Big Hammer swim baits in sexy smelt and bay smelt, D&L jigs in Cumberland Craw and Oops patterns, Slong's spinnerbaits in white/chartreuse, Charmer lizards and timber pups on Texas and Carolina rigs in green pumpkin and watermelon/red, Charmer shakey head worms as well as Yamamoto senkos on D&L and Slong's shakey head jigs in green pumpkin.

    Crappie: The Crappie bite is being reported as improving with some fish still being taken over brush piles in 10-15 ft of water inside the mouths of the creeks and bays by spider rigging with small jigs dressed with small minnows. The Black Crappie are staging on points and banks in the creeks and bays with wood cover and are being taken by casting curly tail jigs and road runner type baits to the shoreline. There are also some reports of Crappie now being taken around shallow wood cover in the creeks and bays with minnows under bobbers and slow rolled curly tail jigs under bobbers. With the warming water temperatures, the Black Crappie should be spawning actively over the next week and the White Crappie should be staging on the points and banks in the creeks and bays.
    If you are coming to the big lakes here to enjoy our great fishing, make sure you stop by these businesses for all your fishing and boating needs:

    The Cabin Bait and Tackle is located in Kuttawa on U.S. 62 about one mile west of the I-24/U.S. 62 interchange. The Cabin Bait and Tackle has a great selection of the latest in rods, reels, lures for you bass anglers and also a great selection of tackle for the panfish anglers to include live bait. You can also find a selection of bows and guns for the hunter as well as personal handguns in the store. The Cabin also hosts the a website where you can order all your fishing needs with free shipping on all orders over 50.00. Be sure to check them out at www.tackleexperts.com . The Cabin has a great delicatessen where you can get that early morning breakfast sandwich or enjoy a delicious lunch. Phone: 270-388-6440.

    Fisherman's Headquarters is located in Draffenville at the U.S. 68/U.S. 641 triangle. Fisherman's Headquarters boasts a great selection of the latest in rods, reels and lures for bass anglers that are on the market, not to mention one of the best selection of high end lures and local custom lures we use here on Ky/Barkley lakes. You can find many of the custom lures you see in my fishing reports there including the Bag5 custom painted crank baits and jerk baits. Fisherman's Headquarters also has a really good selection of Crappie and panfish tackle featuring Wally Marshall "Mr Crappie" rods, reels, lures and line as well as live baits. Phone: 270-527-5938

    Jet-A-Marina: If you have a problem with your boat while you are visiting our great fisheries, let me recommend you have the folks in the service department at Jet-a-Marina check it out. These folks have a well known reputation for trying to keep our visitors on the water while they are here if they can possibly do so, especially you tournament anglers. Hopefully you will not need this kind of assistance but if you do, you can find Jet-a-Marina located on U.S. 62 in Calvert City, just a couple of miles north of Kentucky Dam. Jet-a-Marina also has a great showroom for all your boating accessories and check out the new Ranger, Stratos and Triton bass boats too as well as bulk oil at rock bottom prices for your engine. Phone: 270-395-4030

    GUIDE SERVICE:

    For those of you that may not be familiar with my service: I am a full time catch and release bass fishing guide. I only guide for bass. I have been guiding for bass full time on these lakes for 19 years and bass fishing the lakes for over 30 years. I do not go out and fish panfish for 4 or 5 days and then try to guide on bass for one or two days.

    No one knows everything the bass are doing but one thing is for sure, if you only fish for bass day in and day out, you will have a lot better idea of what they are doing and also be familiar with all the different techniques it takes to be a successful bass angler.

    If you book with my service, you will have me as your guide and you will be guided in the comfort of a late model Z522 Ranger Comanche equipped with Lowrance HDS sonar and top of the line tackle. I provide just for fun bass fishing trips, tournament preparation trips, focused teaching trips and technique instruction. If you are in need of a bass fishing guide give me a call or drop me an email.

    Available Dates:

    April: Sorry, I am booked up.
    May: 8,10, 12, 13
    June: 1, 2, 5,12, 23, 24, 25, 29, 30

    Call me or drop me an email to book your dates now. The sooner you book, the more likely you can get the dates you want. I also will take bookings for the rest of the season. Now is the time to start booking your late summer and fall trips with me.

    I am also taking bookings for my Ledge Teaching trip. The Ledge Teaching trip consists of both classroom and time on the water. This trip not only teaches you how to find the highest percentage ledges but also what you are looking for on your sonar and how to interpret what you are seeing, how to search the ledges, set up on the ledges as well as making decisions on what type lures you should be throwing depending on enviromental conditions.

    Captain Dave Stewart
    Bass Buster Guide Service
    270-362-9987
    dave@kentuckylakeguide.com
    www.kentuckylakeguide.com
    "Fish With a Professional"
    Comments 1 Comment
    1. peter's Avatar
      peter -
      Thanks dave.
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