April 12, 2017

Kentucky Lake: Water Level at Kentucky Dam - 357.62 Surface Temperature - 64
Lake Barkley: Water Level at Barkley Dam - 357.75 Surface Temperature - 64

Both lakes are one and one half feet below summer pool and on a slow rise. Kentucky Dam was generating at an average rate of 13,500 cfs this afternoon. Barkley Dam was generating at an average rate of 7,200 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.

Current Conditions: The wind and weather has finally settled down after the big winds we had over the past week and weekend. The lakes are rising and so are the water temperatures. Water is starting to creep up into the yellow flowers and the bases of the button brush and more Largemouth are starting to move shallow on late prespawn and spawning patterns. Of course there are still plenty of fish staging on creek channel banks and associated secondary points in the creeks and bays. Barring any more nasty fronts and if the TVA does not rank the water back down, the shallow bite should be good for the foreseeable future. Be careful running the lakes as the water is rising and there is some wood debris floating on both lakes.

The forecast for Friday is for a high of 81/night time low of 61 with a 20 percent chance of scattered thunderstorms and wind S at 7. Saturday's forecast is for a high of 82/night time low of 62 with a 20 percent chance of scattered thunderstorms and wind SSW at 13. Sunday is showing a high of 73/night time low of 57 with a 60 percent chance of thunderstorms and wind SW at 12. The forecast through mid next week is calling for daytime high's in the 70's, night time low's in the 50's with post frontal winds from the north on Monday and south quadrant winds on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Largemouth Bass: Largemouth are being taken on channel banks and secondary points in the creeks and bays on medium running crank baits, spinner baits, Carolina rigged creature baits, jigs and shakey heads. Largemouth are also being taken shallow near vegatation and wood cover on topwater lures, lipless and shallow running crank baits, spinner baits, Texas rigged creature baits, jigs and whacky rigged worms.

Smallmouth Bass: Smallmouth are being taken on main lake channel points and banks as well as on secondary points and channel banks in the front halves of the creeks and bays on medium running crank baits, Carolina rigged creature baits, tube jigs and jigs. The numbers are low but some nice fish have been taken. These fish are on late prespawn/spawn patterns now.

Productive Lures: Some of the productive lures reported this week are Rapala DT crank baits in demon and red craw, Rapala shadraps in demon, red craw and original crawdad, Bandit medium running crank baits in rootbeer/chartruese, D&L jigs in "oops" and cumberland craw, Slong's jigs in cumberland craw, Last Cast jigs in green pumpkin, Charmer shakey head jigs and Slong's shakey head jigs with Charmer shakey head worms in green pumpkin and Zoom trick worm in green pumpkin/purple, Strike King red eye shad and Lewis rattletrap lipless crank baits in crawfish patterns and chrome sexy shad. Spro Little John shallow and medium running crank baits in spring craw and chartreuse with black back and Slong's spinner baits in white/chartruese, Charmer lizards and timber pups on Texas rigs and Carolina rigs in green pumpkin and green pumpkin/blue, Zoom trick worms whacky rigged in green pumpkin and green pumpkin/purple.

Crappie: The Crappie are spawning. They are being taken around brush piles in 5-7 ft of water by fishing with minnows or small curly tail jigs under bobbers and by casting curly tail jigs. These fish are moving to the banks early in the morning and during the afternoon on the warmer days and are being taken by casting curly tail jigs and road runner type baits. The White Crappie are staging around brush and underwater stake beds in 8-11 ft of water as well as in 12-15 ft of water. These fish are being taken by vetically fishing with jigs and minnow jig combinations as well as slow trolling curly tail jigs.

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 and Pro Tungsten weights. 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 Commanche 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: 1, 7, 8, 14, 15, 16, 17,18, 20, 21, 23, 24
June: 13, 15, 16, 19, 20, 28, 29, 30

Of course I am taking reservations for the rest of the season also through November

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