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Kentucky Lake Fishing Information
Kentucky Lake Information.


 

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  Kentucky Lake Fishing Report

Dave Stewart (below)  
Captain Kirk Report (click here)

Summer Pool is 359
Winter Pool is 354'

Articles
A Fishing Trip with Bass Buster Dave Stewart

Bass Fishing at Kentucky Lake By John Hoffman

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Kenlake State Resort Park
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Lake Barkley State Resort
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Lake Barkley COE Information

Out On A Ledge An Article By Dave Stewart
(Ledge Fishing on Kentucky Lake)

Kentucky Lake, TVA Lake Levels and Predictions for levels based on weather

Barkley lake levels & outflow:
Yr. to date
Last 10 days
Generation preschedule

Radar Map Updated and Current

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Current KY Lake Records
Yellow Perch*: .47 pounds Caught By Theresa Mazzoli, Louisville, Ky. 5/30/96

Buffalo: 55 lb
Caught By Clint Roby
March 23, 2000

White Bass*: 5lbs. Caught By:
Lorne Eli, Dawson Springs, Ky. 7/11/43

To submit a fish for Lake Record Consideration ..
Submit Picture on a ruler or scale with a weight from a Certified Scale
Signed by someone at the Scale.  + 2 Witnesses
All Lake Records are UNOFFICIAL unless they are State Record Fish submitted to the KYDFWR.

Current Barkley Lake Records
Yellow Bass*: 1 lb 1 oz Caught By: Dewayne West, Hopkinsville Ky. 3/10/91

Report Updated January 20, 2010  Edit
 

January 20, 2010

Kentucky Lake: Water Level at Ky Dam - 355.65 Surface Temperature - 40
Lake Barkley: Water Level at Barkley Dam - 355.65 Surface Temperature - 40

Both lakes are about one and one half foot over winter pool. Well, there has not been much to report on the past month as I am sure everyone is aware, we along with most of the midwest was in a deep freeze the past few weeks. The water temperatures dropped very low for this area earlier this month and we had ice in the creeks and bays extending in many creeks to the main lake areas. We have been experiencing a warming trend the past few days, which is normal for this time in January and the ice has been melting, although there is still some ice in the back halves of some of the creeks but this is breaking up with the warmer weather and now some rain associated with a warm front over the area. The weather forecast for the weekend is for highs around 60 on Saturday and highs around the upper 50's on Sunday with southwest winds which signals another frontal passage due to come through the area sometime Sunday night or early Monday. The forecast for next week is for highs in the 40's with night time lows in the upper 20's to low 30's. There have been a few reports from a few folks that ventured out the past few days with the warmer weather. Although the numbers of Largemouth taken were not impressive, the fish that were reported caught were quality fish. These fish were reported as being taken off ledges with spoons, shaky heads and suspending jerkbaits. The fishing was reported as slow.

One of the benefits of the deep freeze we experienced earlier this month was some massive shad kills. This bodes well for the future fishing as the warmer winters we had over the past few years allowed the shad populations to increase and we needed to get rid of some of the shad. Reducing the big numbers of shad will provide for some better bass spawns as well as reduce the numbers of the bigger Gizzard Shad that have gotten too big to be forage for the predator fish.

Last March we had a very good late winter/early spring bite here on the big lakes and I am expecting this year's late winter/early spring bite to be even better now. Like most of you, I am chomping at the bit to get this new season started. Now is the time to go over your equipment and get it ready for the up coming season and start planning your fishing trips. A good way to get back in the swing of things would be to visit the West Kentucky Boat Show to be held in Murray this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Jet-A-Marina will be there to show you the latest in Ranger and Stratos bass boats as well as a number of tackle dealers including Charmer Baits and Slong's Lures to assist you in restocking your tackle. There will be a number of fishing seminars, including bass fishing seminars by FLW professionals Dan Morehead and Terry Bolton. John Parks from Jet-A-Marina will be providing a seminar on sonar, side scanning and gps...don't miss this one if you want some professional instruction on the new side scanning equipment. Jack Devor will be there to do some seminars on red ears as well as Jerry Maupin's seminars on Crappie fishing. Paul Rister, KDFW biologist will be there also to present a seminar of the KDFW efforts to stimulate the Crappie populations on the lakes as well as other KDFW initiatives. I will be there also to do a couple of seminars on bass fishing the ledges so if you come by the show, stop by and introduce yourself and say hello, I will be happy to answer whatever questions I can for you. You can find the particulars of the show including seminar schedules at www.westkyboatshow.com .

I would like to thank everyone for the great response to my winter bass fishing class on Eliminating Water. I have been booked up 7 days a week this winter and have a number of folks on stand by lists in case I have any opening become available. I have decided that I will extend the dates available for this class to try to accommodate those on my standby list so if you have contacted me and not been able to get a class date, I should be contacting you shortly to offer you some dates at the end of February or early March. If you are one of those folks and I have not contacted you by this weekend, you should contact me again and we will get you set up for the class if at all possible. I do start guiding again in March so I am going to try to get you folks in the last few days of February or get you on the March schedule on some days I have yet to get booked. If you are wanting a guided trip with me in March, April, May and have not yet made your reservation, you need to do so as soon as possible. I do still have some open dates in this period but if you wait too long, I may not be able to accommodate you. Of course I am taking reservations for the rest of the season also, so don't hesitate to make your reservations for the summer and fall fishing now also if you can plan that far ahead.

I would like to offer some advice for you folks that are planning to hire a guide to take you out fishing. All fishing guides on these lakes are required by law to have a Captain's (OUPV) license issued by the U.S. Coast Guard, a TWIC (Transportation Workers Identification Card) and a Kentucky Commercial Guide license (if fishing Ky waters). There have been reports of a number of folks on the lakes this past year taking people out on guided trips that do not have these licenses. Before you hire a guide here, you should inquire as to whether you guide has these licenses and if you are not sure, ask the guide to show them to you. Guides that possess the required licenses have all passed FBI background as well as state criminal records checks, undergone drug testing and are subject to random drug testing, have passed federal required physicals, are qualified in First Aid and CPR as well as having passed rigorous written tests. If you go out with someone on a guide trip that does not have these licenses, they have not undergone these requirements, they are breaking the law, and they definitely will not have liability insurance that will cover them and you in the event of a mishap on the water. There are a lot of great professional guides here on these lakes available to you but beware of imitations.

Captain Dave Stewart
Bass Buster Guide Service
270-354-5039
dave@kentucklakeguide.com
www.kentuckylakeguide.com
"Fish With a Professional"
 

"Fish With a Professional"

Captain Dave Stewart
Bass Buster Guide Service
www.kentuckylakeguide.com
dave@kentuckylakeguide.com
270-354-5039

 

Scroll down-more Barkley/KY reports follow

"Specializing in Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass, Lake Familiarization, Tournament Preparation, and Technique Instruction"
  Kentucky Lake Report Captain Kirk 
 

Lake Barkley COE Information

Kentucky Lake, TVA Lake Levels and Predictions for levels based on weather

Barkley lake levels & outflow:
Yr. to date
Last 10 days
Generation preschedule

Radar Map Updated 2006

Articles
Bass Fishing at Kentucky Lake By John Hoffman

Advertising Information
peter@fishin.com

 

Report Updated June 27, 2009

June 25, 2009

Air Temp Low 75°  / High 93°

Water Temp  Low 86° /  High 89°

Water Elevation  359.5  (354 Summer Pool)

Water Clarity  Clear (4’ to 5’ visibility)

 Which is the COOLEST?

Before I got my boat in the water this morning, I could see a school of fish in a surface feeding frenzy not far from the ramp.  I got my boat off the trailer, dropped the trolling motor, grabbed a rod with an inline spinner on it and cast into the boiling fish.  BAM! I was rewarded with a 12” Largemouth.  I unhooked and released the fish and cast again.  BAM! Another, BAM! Another, BAM! Another.  After 7 or 8 fish in quick succession I thought to myself, Man this is COOL!  I pulled up my trolling motor, started the big engine and headed upstream along the mainlake shoreline.  I noticed there had been a large Mayfly hatch the night before.  There were Mayflies hanging heavy in several trees that hung out over the water. This reminded me of a “COOL” trick an old timer taught me years ago.  Get yourself a can of pebbles and anchor a good cast from one of these trees, then cast a cricket, small popper, worm, or small jig under the tree and you’ll catch nice Bluegill and an occasional Bass.  When the action slows, throw a few pebbles into the tree, which will knock some Mayflies into the water and the action will start all over again.  COOL!

 Where was I?  Oh yeah, as I cruised up the mainlake bank I saw that each shallow gravel bar at the mouth of a bay had surface feeding schools of fish on them.  I passed several schools up and then stopped on one I knew was an extra good one.  Here I again caught small bass but also some White and Yellow Bass.  I noticed the fish weren’t eating Mayflies, they were eating this year’s fry (baby fish) which are just getting big enough for a little larger fish to eat.  Also, many of the fish that were feeding on them were Skipjack, and bigger fish eat Skipjack! COOL!  By the way, I also noticed lots of surface feeding fish in the back of small bays.  The sun was now getting higher and I knew the surface action would soon “COOL” off, so I motored out to one of the off-shore humps  I’d been catching quality bass on for the past few weeks.  As I motored over the rise that topped out at 20’ I saw a small group of larger arches (fish) on my graph and pitched a marker buoy nearby, but off to the side.  I cast a Texas rigged whacky stick worm to where I’d saw the arches, hopped it a couple times and felt a strong heavy bite.  After setting the hook and getting a pretty strong tussle, I brought a fat, healthy, solid 3.5 Lb bass to the boat.  And guess what?  Swimming right behind and beside him were 3 or 4 more just like him!  Now that’s really COOL!  I quickly released the fish and cast several more times but no more bites.  That’s ok though, because I had their address and today I’m just scouting.  I then fished several more humps and caught 4 or 5 nice fish on one, none on a couple spots 1 or 2 on a couple and called is a day before noon.  The deep bite was slower action but larger fish, and I knew the best deep bite was afternoon when there was more current.

 Last Sunday I had two 14 yr olds in my boat and Mom & Dad followed in a pontoon boat.  We went to a deep ledge on the main river channel and cast 3/8 oz white inline spinners into 30ft of water and reeled them quickly uphill into 18ft of water and then to the boat.  It took the boys just a little while to get the knack of it but once they did, we were catching White Bass 1Lb to 1.5 Lb nearly every cast.  Mom and Dad weren’t catching as well, but once we caught our limit we gave Mom & Dad our spot and with a little instruction, they caught them pretty good also.  At the end of 5 hours we had 53 White Bass, plus caught and released several Largemouth, and kept one 3 Lb Striper.  Lots of fun and Mom & Dad and the kids have several good fish dinners ahead of them.  COOL!

 This past Monday I fished with Bret (Dad) and Brandon (son).  Brandon is going to be in a high school bass fishing class!  COOL!  Some high schools in Illinois are offering a bass fishing class with credit towards graduating.  Super COOL!  We had a good day fishing ledges and off-shore humps.  Brandon said he thought he caught 18 bass (tournament quality), Dad held his own, and so did I.  Brandon is well on his way to becoming an avid fisherman.  The day was warm but we drank plenty of liquids, put on our sunscreen and moved frequently to get some air flow.  One particular ledge I came across had an unusually large amount of fish showing on the graph.  I hadn’t fished this ledge (hump) this year so I wasn’t sure if we’d catch bass or not.  After repeated casts to the area and no bites I was wondering what all those fish were, when out of the water came about 50 big shad.  Something big was trying to eat them.  COOL!  We all got excited and cast where the fish came out of the water.  I even switched to a big spoon and still no takers.  I was a little perplexed at this point.  Then several big splashes came in the area and I saw the tail of a big catfish.  That explained why they refused our bass baits.  A school of big cats were feeding on these large threadfin shad.  Upon further investigation, I realized that a large tree had drifted into and hung on this main river ledge and a school of cats had made it home.  I bet if a guy vertically fished some large minnows or leaches around this tree in 25ft of water, he’d probably hang into some behemoth catfish.  COOL!  Also, if a guy vertically fished smaller minnows around this tree, he’d probably catch some nice Crappie.  COOL!

Last Saturday there was a BFL Tournament on the lake ,so to stay out of their way, my friend and sometimes client, Jeff, decided he wanted to go bass fishing below the KY Dam in the TN River.  We had a very enjoyable learning experience.  We caught quite a few small Largemouths, one nearly 5 Lbs, one Smallmouth nearly 4 Lbs, one Striper about 10 Lbs and I hung into probably a big Striper that burnt my thumbs as I tried to slow his run, but he won!  COOL!  We caught fish on a shaky head worm, a green pumpkin jig, and a crankbait.  There’s lots of fish in that river!  COOL!

 The only other thing I can think of that may be as COOL or COOLER than these other forms of summer fishing would be catching a big Smallmouth on a spinnerbait in the COOL of the night under the millions of stars in the sky.  Maybe I’ll do that this next week!

 So, if you’ve read all of this you now know there are lots of COOL ways to spend your time on KY Lake.  Which is the COOLEST?  You decide.

 See you on the water!

 Capt Kirk, out! 

Captain Kirk's Guide Service
877-354-6017 or 270-354-6017
11442 Hwy 68 East
Benton, KY 42025

info@captainkirksguideservice.com
 

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