• Kentucky Lake fishing report

    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"

  • Kentucky Lake fishing report

    Kentucky Lake: Water Level at Kentucky Dam - 363.64 Surface Temperature - 65
    Lake Barkley: Water Level at Barkley Dam - 363.80 Surface Temperature - 64

    Both lakes are a little over four and one half feet above summer pool and presently on a drawdown. Kentucky Dam was spilling today at an average rate of 155,000 to 160,000 cfs. Barkley Dam has been spilling at an average rate today of 98,000 cfs. 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 .

    The heavy rains last weekend coupled with the TVA not being able to send too much water downstream due to the flooding on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers shot the lake levels up to 5 ft over summer pool this week. The lakes crested yesterday and are now on a drawdown with the latest forecast showing the lakes to be one foot lower than present levels by midnight Saturday night....but...and here comes the question on everyone's mind: We are forecasted to get 3 more inches of rain over the next couple of days with an approaching cold front so will the lakes begin to rise again or will they still drop as forecasted. The only way to know for sure is to check the TVA website in the aforementioned paragraph periodically to see the latest lake levels. The forecasts have been changing rapidly lately so the only thing to do right now is wait and see. The forecast for tomorrow is a high of 68 and low of 49 with SSE wind @ 16 and 90% chance of rain and thunderstorms. Saturday will be cool with a high of 57 and a low of 48 with an 80% chance of rain. Sunday does not look much better with a high of 61 and a low of 54 with a 40% chance of rain. The extended forecast shows a return to high's near 80 by midweek with more stable weather patterns.

    Note: Lake Barkley is muddy in the channel with lots of floating debris. The creeks and bays range from stained to heavily stained. Kentucky Lake is ranges from heavily stained in the channel and stained is the creeks and bays. Kentucky Lake also has floating debris so be careful when you are running.

    There seems to be some differences of opinion among Largemouth anglers as to whether or not the Largemouth have already spawned from what I am seeing on internet discussion boards and hearing the talk in local tackle shops. Here is my opinion: Not all Largemouth spawn on the same day or even the same week. The majority of the Largemouth spawn over about a 3 week period here and are driven by water temperatures. Right now we have post spawn bass on lead out banks and points as well as early ledges, we also have Largemouth on the beds....and as was reflected in my boat this week, we are still catching late prespawn bass with females full of eggs and very few of them showed any signs of tail rubs from fanning out the nests. My logs also indicate that our present water temperatures would put us in the middle of the spawn with some having already spawned, some spawning and some yet to spawn. Our best pattern this week was fishing around and in front of the flooded over buck brush and vegetation where the Largemouth would normally be during late prespawn feeding. I learned a long time ago that the majority of Largemouth will always relate to the old shorelines during a flood. Our smallest 5 fish bag this week was 17 lbs and our best just over 21lbs fishing this pattern. Texas rigged lizards, spinnerbaits, swim baits and whacky rigs were our most productive techniques. I expect this pattern will hold up for at least another week or so.

    Largemouth Bass: Largemouth are being taken in the flooded over buck brush and vegetation on Texas rigged lizards, spinnerbaits, swim baits and whacky rigs. Some early post spawn Largemouth are being taken on lead out banks and points with a few taken on the ledges in the creeks and bays. These fish are being taken on Carolina rigged creature baits and jigs. Largemouth are also being taken by flipping jigs, Texas rigged lizards and creature baits and tubes around visible flooded trees and brush.

    Smallmouth: Smallmouth are being taken on gravel points and bank on the main lake and around the mouths of the creeks and bays. These fish are being taken on Carolina rigged creature baits, tube jigs and jigs. Some few nice fish are being reported but not large numbers.

    Some of the productive lures reported this week are: Charmer lizards in green pumpkin and watermelon/red, Slong's and Strike King spinnerbaits in white and white/chartreuse, Zoom trick worms on whacky rigs in green pumpkin, watermelon/red and green pumpkin/blue, Big Hammer swim baits in sexy smelt and bay smelt, D&L advantage jigs in Cumberland Craw, Slong's football head jigs in Cumberland Craw and Charmer tubes in green pumpkin and roadkill.

    Crappie: The Crappie bite was reported as scattered this week with the rapid rise in the water levels. I had reports of Crappie being taken around the flooded buck brush and around the bases of willow trees on minnows under bobbers. I had some reports of Crappie being taken over brush piles in 6-10 ft of water by spider rigging with small minnows and small jigs. Some folks are reporting scattered catches by long lining with small roadrunners tipped with minnows.

    Bluegill/RedEars: Bluegills and Red Ears are being taken on flooded banks where there is grass and around flooded trees. Crickets and red worms fished under bobbers are taking these fish.

    Catfish: Channel Catfish are roaming the shallows in the backs of the creeks and bays, especially near rocky bottom areas as well as on shallow rocky bottom areas on the main lake. These fish are being taken on night crawlers fished on bottom and under bobbers.

    If you are coming to the big lakes here to enjoy our great spring 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 fishing 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 .

    LEDGE FISHING:

    Now is the time to make your reservations to learn how to fish the ledges. I offer a focused teaching trip on how to fish the ledges. This trip consists of a class on how to eliminate the water on your topo map before you leave home so that you can concentrate your time on only the highest percentage ledges while on the water as well as some time on the water to learn how to use your electronics on the ledges, set up on the ledges and learn the techniques used to fish the ledges. This teaching trip has been very popular over the past few years since I started offering it as it will teach you how to go find and fish the best ledges on your own. To book one of these trips, all you have to do is give me a call or drop me an email to book one of my open dates.

    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 16 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 2 Lowrance HDS 10's 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.

    I still have the following dates available for booking in May, June and July:

    May: 17 (This date just became available due to a cancellation..if you want it you should call soon because it probably won't last long)
    June: 5,19, 24
    July: plenty of dates available...call or email now to book that summer trip on the ledges
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