Hire a guide and have more fun catching more fish
[QUOTE=Rob1678;567782]Heading to Ky lake this weekend and next week. Searching for crappie. Planning on using minnows with slip bobbers and jigs. I usually fish with black/chartreuse and do well. I am planning to fish near Midlake. My assumption is they should be moving towards the shallows. I have never fished at Ky in the last 25 years. Any words of wisdom? Thanks in advance.[/QUOTE]
Serioulsy my advise to some one who's not fished the lake in the last 25 years is to hire a crappie fishing guide before you make plans to go to KY Lake.
other wise it's hit or miss. The guide are on the fish year round if they are good. So they will know where the fish are located.
Other wise I would say get a good map of the lake and fish with minnows. Add Berkly Crappie NIbles or some type of scent to your baits. Make sure that you wash any traces of gasoline off your hands. THIS IS a MUST. Ever wonder why hte little women outfished the men in the boat? The men are the one gassing up the truck and boats. A few PPM gasoline on the baits can stop the bite fast.
Fish the shallows and if they are not there move off the bank to the first drop off. Fish it throughly. Early in the year during March the black crappie will be the first into the shallow water. Fish for them in the back of the bays and along the shore line. The White crappie will not be as far back as the black crappie for the most part. That's not to say that they won't be back in the back ends of the bayss in shallow water. Black crappie like to hang around the grass so if there is any grass where you plan to fish check it out with some maribou jigs in chartruse color and add scent to the baits
If you can't find them in the shallows then check the creeks and any hard bend in the creeks.
Look on the maps for where the State Fish guys put in public brush piles and check them out with minnows Minnow work best when the fishing is tough and it's cold. Jigs will work also but some times minnow work better. Ad a minnow to your jigs and add scents too.
This time of the year on a nice sunny day anyone should be able to catch some crappie at KY lake.
Note: some of the brush piles are marked with buoys. The Stake beds can be seen in the winter time when the lake is a winter pool. But by this time of the year with all the rain they are under a few feet of water and harder to find unless they are marked with a long poie that sticks out of the water or a buoy. Some brush piles are from the shore line out into deeper water and are are marked with a tree on the bank with a sign or some type of marking on the tree.
I fished in Cypress Bay which is just to the North of Paris Tennesse and right on the TN/KY boarder on the West Bank of KY lake. I've seen the guy that was President of the Crappie USA fish that area and come in with a lot of nice crappie on November day. He must live in that area as he could have fished anywhere but he chose to fish on Cypress Bay. And the tournament was run out of a resort south of Paris landing so he drove a ways to fish Cypress bay that day.
They are still in pre spawn I guess But that can change fast
[QUOTE=Rob1678;567837]Struggled yesterday and most others did as well who I talked to. Did much better today. Minnows in about 20’ about 2-3’ off the bottom. Be patient. Found a spot with shallow water nearby. Seems like singles just moving in from the main lake. Water temp is 55.8.[/QUOTE]
They are still deep but can comer up to the beds if the water warms the shallow surface wates. In clear water they can spawn deep. In Muddy water they may come up and spawn in 1 or 2 ft of muddy water in the back of the bays if the water is warm for a while.
If we get another cold front they may stay deep.
The lenght of the day also has a pronounced effect on both them and the rest of the life cycle that they feed on. Insects and other pry items are also affected by the weater and the water temperature as well s the length of the day light.
When the Dogwood trees bloom it's time for the crappie to spawn, Right now the Bradford pears trees are blooming.
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Nolin crappie on easter sunday
Got these sunday...they were up shallow