Lake Conditions:
Barkley - 359.70, 7,300-18,200 CFS, Light Stain with water temp in mid 80’s
Kentucky - 359.70, 27,200-59,000 CFS, Light Stain to clear with temp in mid 80’s
Weather: We’d had a little bit of everything this week. From strong storms and heavy rains Friday and last night, high winds Saturday, Sunday was absolutely gorgeous and the beginning of the week normal warm and humid summer days. We are looking for a typical summer pattern over the next 7-10 days with warm and humid conditions breeding the possibility of afternoon thunderstorms. Most days do not look like a wash out just keep an eye to the sky if some afternoon clouds begin rolling in.
Bass Fishing: Kentucky lake seems as healthy as ever as some great bags of fish have been caught over the weekend in multiple tournaments that were going on. Despite the gale force winds Sat. winning wgt in 3 of the bigger tournaments were excess of 22lbs and a 25lb was brought in for the Tues. night derby out of Moors with 4 other 20lb bags. That being said it’s not like every point, turn or shell bed you pull up on is going to have 4lbers jumping in the boat. Overall it’s been as the past few weeks when it’s on it’s on but there are just as many times it’s off. Consistently in consistent is the best way to describe the bite. I our best pattern has been throwing either a big worm like the Big Bite Baits Kriet Tail worm and Juice worm in Plum Apple or a 3/4 football jig like the Outkast Tackle T2 either dragged or hopped along the bottom. We have caught some really nice fish throwing 5.5 - 7 inch swimbaits like the new Ignite baits and Nichols Lures MBP series on 3/4-1.5 oz heads. We are still catching a few fish out real deep between 18-24 feet but most of the fish we are now finding are coming in less than 20ft. The reason for this is they are chasing the big gizzard shad on top of the main lake flats in fact if your in the right spot at the right time you can see the big shad being chowed on as giant bass bust them on the surface. Equipment for throwing these swimbaits will consist of a slow to med retrieve bait cast reel something in the 6:4.1 ratio is perfect as you don’t want to over power the bait with a higher gear ratio. A rod in the 7’-5’’ to 8’ range and a med. hvy - hvy action depending on the size of bait I throw mine on a Powell Inferno and Indurance rods both 7’-9’’ long and rated for 3oz baits. Line wise something in the #16-20 fluorocarbon will work such as the Sunline Sniper. The fluorocarbon works better than mono as it will sink and has less stretch to set the hook on a long cast. There is a shallow water pattern going on with all the fry that is hatched out and schooling in the shallows looking for plankton the bass are there feeding on them. We even caught a nice spot in less that 3ft of water on Barkley chasing fry. Wacky rigging a Big Bite Baits stick worm and an Outkast Tackle swim jig have worked perfect for mimicking the baitfish.
White Bass and Yellows: These guys are starting to show up with more regularity every day and now with some current flowing throw the lakes we should see a much better bite. Over all presentation has been pretty simple as we’ve been either vertical jigging a blade bait or small spoon over schools that we find along main river channels, main lake points and humps.
Crappie and Bluegill: No report as we haven’t fished for these critters for a couple weeks. I have talked to a few guys that are night fishing for crappie with lights on the main bars and flats in the bays with some success.
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Capt. Brian Brown
Fishing Hype Guide Service
www.fishinghype.com
612-889-2423