• 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

    Kentucky Lake: Water Level at Kentucky Dam - 358.36 Surface Temperature - 90
    Lake Barkley: Water Level at Barkley Dam - 358.40 Surface Temperature - 90

    Both lakes are about one half foot below summer pool and on a slow draw down. Kentucky Dam was generating at an average rate of 27,600 cfs this afternoon. Barkley Dam was generating at an average rate of 17,400 cfs 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

    General Conditions: Hot, humid, light wind and no current says it all for this past week. The TVA has not drawn enough water since last week to produce any noticable current. We have been under heat advisories all week with heat indexes above 100 each day. As you can see the water temperatures are high and there has been very little wind except for around an occassional afternoon thunderstorm. The ledge fishing this week has reflected these conditions. We have some nice fish but the numbers are down and the ledge bite is slow and scattered. Slow techniques such as Carolina rigs, Texas rigs, slow dragging jigs, shaky heads and drop shots have been the best producers. There has been some activity in the creeks and bays on secondary creek channel points and banks where some schools of smaller bass have been feeding on schools of fry early and late in the day.

    There is currently an excessive heat advisory out for the lakes area thru Sunday with heat indexes forecasted to be well above 100 degrees. My best advice is get out early or wait and go out late in the evening to avoid the nasty afternoon temperatures. Make sure you have plenty of water, sports drinks and sunblock. The forecast for tomorrow is for a high of 96/low of 74 with a 20% chance of thunderstorms and wind SW at 4. Saturday is forecasted to have a high of 92/low of 76 with a 20% chance of thunderstorms and wind SSW at 5. Sunday the heat continues with a high of 96/low of 77 with a 20% chance of thunderstorms and wind SW at 6. The extended forecast into mid next week is showing high's in the low 90's/ low's in the mid 70's with a 60% chance of thunderstorms each day. Keep an eye out for approaching storms. These summer storms come up quick, move fast and have a lot of cloud to ground lightning as well as localized high winds.

    LARGEMOUTH BASS: Largemouth are being taken on the ledges as well as on main lakes points and secondary creek channel points with swim baits, Carolina rigged creature baits, Texas rigged large worms, drop shots, shaky heads and jigs. Largemouth are also being taken on secondary points and creek channel banks in the creeks and bays early and late in the day where they are feeding on schools of fry. These fish are being taken on top water lures, medium running crank baits, chatter baits, Texas rigged worms and finesse jigs.

    SMALLMOUTH BASS: Smallmouth are being taken on the ledges with Carolina rigged creature baits and jigs. Smallmouth are also being taken on main lake rocky points and banks as well as rocky banks and points in the creeks and bays. These fish are being taken on jigs, Texas rigged creature baits, tube jigs and shakey heads. Smallmouth now being taken on the rocky points on the main lake and in the front halves of the creeks and bays at night on large dark skirted spinner baits and jigs.

    PRODUCTIVE LURES: Some of the productive lures this week have been: Big Hammer swim baits in sexy smelt and bay smelt, Keitech swim baits in pro blue and pearl, Lucky Craft Sammy in ghost pearl lemon, Strike King splash bait in white, Slong’s football jig Cumberland craw, D&L football head jigs in Cumberland craw and Oops patterns, Slong’s shaky head jigs with Charmer shaky head worm in green pumpkin as well as Yamamto senkos and Yum dingers in green pumpkin, Charmer timber pups in green pumpkin and watermelon/purple on Carolina rigs and Texas rigs, Charmer 10.5 inch ribbon tail worms in plum and green pumpkin on Texas rigs.

    White Bass: White Bass are being taken along the old river channel ledges by vertically fishing with inline spinners and blade baits as well as trolling inline spinners behind deep diving crank baits. Some whites are also being taken near mayfly hatches early and late in the day near overhanging trees in the creeks and bays on small topwater poppers and inline spinners. I did witness a few short lived jumps on top of some ledges in the 12-15 foot depths this week. I am sure these fish could have been taken with small topwater lures, lipless crank baits or in line spinners.

    Bluegill: Bluegills are being taken near mayfly hatches early and late in the day near mayfly hatches around overhanging trees in the creeks and bays as well as around docks at night. These fish are being taken on red worms and wax worms fished under bobbers.

    Catfish: Catfish are being taken along the old river channel ledges in 20-30 feet of water on bottom rigs baited with cut baits, shrimp and leach combinations and yellow tails.

    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.

    Ledge Teaching: I have been providing a focused learning experience trip for a number of years to teach bass anglers how to find the most productive ledges and also how to fish them. This learning experience features both classroom and on the water instruction. You cannot learn everything you need to learn "in the classroom" nor can you learn everything you need to learn "on the water". This experience features both aspects. After this experience with me, you should be able to successfully find and fish the ledges here or on any body of water with ledges. If you would like to really learn how to find and fish the ledges as well as make the right lure selections etc, give me a call or drop me an email to book one of my open dates.

    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:
    July: Sorry, I am booked up.
    August: I still have some available dates...book now.
    I am also taking reservations through November with a number of available dates. Make your reservations now to get the date(s) you want.


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