• Fishing Report for Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley

    Bass Buster Guide Service
    (270) 362-9987 http://www.kentuckylakeguide.com dave@kentuckylakeguide.com
  • "Specializing in Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass, Lake Familiarization, Tournament Preparation, and Technique Instruction"

  • Fishing Report for Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley

    April 14, 2016

    Kentucky Lake: Water Level at Kentucky Dam - 358.01 Surface Temperature - 60
    Lake Barkley: Water Level at Barkley Dam - 358.10 Surface Temperature - 61

    Both lakes are one foot below summer pool. Kentucky Dam was generating at an average rate of 22,300 this afternoon. Barkley Dam was generating at an average rate of 19,600 this afternoon. 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, boaters need to be cautious when navigating the lakes. These are big lakes, but they are shallow river lakes. If you are not familiar with the lakes, make sure you use the navigation lanes and if you are not sure of the depths and locations of obstructions where you are, idle your boat until you are in safe water.

    General Conditions: This week started off with another cold front and water temperatures dropped again down to 57 degrees. But the good news is that the past couple of days have finally given us some warm and stable weather and as you can see from the water temperatures above that water temperatures have recovered nicely and are on the rise. This has the bass moving into prespawn areas by the numbers and also has more bass roaming the shallows. The Crappie have also responded and are now holding on off spawning banks with some numbers moving shallow early and late in the day.

    The forecast this week is a great one! We are sitting under a ridge of high pressure for the next week at least and we will continue to have warm days and light winds. Tomorrow's forecast is calling for a high of 73/low of 51 with wind ESE at 7. Saturday is showing a high of 75/low of 53 with wind SE at 7. Sunday has a high forecasted of 79/low of 53 with wind SE at 5. Sunny skies are forecasted through the next number of days. The extended forecast through next mid week is showing high's near 80 or high 70's/ low's in the mid 50's with more east quadrant light wind. It is about time we saw some nice weather after all the prior weeks of cold fronts every other day. If you want to enjoy some spring fishing, now is the time to get on the water!

    LARGEMOUTH BASS: Largemouth are being taken on main lake primary points. as well as secondary channel points and banks inside the creeks and bays on crank baits, spinner baits, Carolina and Texas rigged creature baits, jigs and shaky heads. Largemouth are also being taken shallow in the coves and backs of the creeks and bays on spinner baits, chatter baits, lipless and square billed crankbaits, Texas rigged creature baits and jigs.

    SMALLMOUTH BASS: Smallmouth are being taken on main lake gravel points and banks as well as gravel banks in the creeks and bays. These fish are bedding and are being taken on crankbaits, jigs, Texas rigged creature baits, tube jigs and grubs.

    PRODUCTIVE LURES: Some of the productive lures reported this week are: Rapala shadraps in demon, Strike King DT 6 and10 in red crawdad, Bandit crankbaits in rootbeer/chartruese, Strike King red eye shad in red craw and chrome sexy shad, Spro Little John shallow crankbaits in spring craw and black/chartruese, Slong's spinner baits in white/chartruese, Picasso FX shock blade chatterbait in white and blue glimmer, Slong’s football jig Cumberland craw, D&L baby advantage jig in Cumberland craw and Oops patterns, Last Cast jigs in green pumpkin, Slong’s shaky head jigs with Charmer shaky head worm in green pumpkin and bama bug, Charmer lizards and timber pups in green pumpkin.

    CRAPPIE: Crappie are being taken over brush piles in 10-12 ft of water in the creeks and bays by vertically fishing with minnows and jigs tipped with minnows. Numbers of Crappie are now staging over wood cover in 5-7 feet of water off spawning banks and points in the creeks and bays. These fish are moving to the shoreline early and late in the day. These fish are being taken by casting curly tail jigs, roadrunners and with jigs and minnows under bobbers.

    IF YOU ARE PLANNING ON VISITING OUR LAKES I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE FOLLOWING BUSINESSES FOR ALL YOUR FISHING AND BOATING NEEDS:
    Fisherman’s Headquarters is located in Draffenville at the U.S. 68/U.S. 641 triangle, or the Draffenville "Y". FHQ stocks everything an angler could need, from live bait, hooks and bobbers to top of the line tournament bass tackle. More than a "bait and tackle" store, Fisherman’s Headquarters is a true "pro shop", offering advice, training and special order assistance not found online or at the big box retailers. Services even include custom electronics training and installation. The store offers a wide variety of nationally known brands as well as many regional and hard to find items we use on Kentucky and Barkley Lakes. They stock many of the products I rely on daily, such as Charmer Baits, Slong’s lures, Picasso lures, Bag 5 lures, Pro Tungsten weights, and All Pro Rods. From bluegill to bass and catfish to crappie, FHQ has you covered! Stop by and visit or 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 and Stratos 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 over 20 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 electronics 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: 9, 21
    June: 30
    July: A number of dates available, make your reservation now to get the dates you want. I am also taking reservations through November.


    Captain Dave Stewart
    Bass Buster Guide Service
    270-362-9987
    dave@kentuckylakeguide.com
    www.kentuckylakeguide.com
    "Fish With a Professional"
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