buckhorn lake

[exmark]

i have never been on buckhorn lake. is it a nice lake to visit only or is the fishing any good for an old hacker thanks

[CATCHEMALL]

It is a nice lake but as far as the fishing goes it is tough right now but has been the best lake in this area if that makes any since. You can usually go out and catch a few fish but dont expect to load the boat.

[MagikSmallie]

You can try to musky fish, but then again the water temp is probably so warm that wouldn't be a good idea.

[walkeraviator]

If you are in the area... try the taliwaters for trout.. i think they stock it pretty frequently if i remember right...

[Bassky]

decent crappie and bass lake. Fish laydowns on points and mainlake areas.

[grampsg]

Tailwater is no for trout, it is stocked during cool water of spring and fall but summer h2o temps areto high. check kyfw for latest info. Try trolling for muskies if thats your thing.

[walkeraviator]

even the tailwaters are too warm? I know they stocked teh tailwaters at carr creek a few days ago...

[DJ_Callahan_27]

i have never been on buckhorn lake. is it a nice lake to visit only or is the fishing any good for an old hacker thanks

I have fished Buckhorn for years. Mostly the head waters as I live in the general area. I have caught alot of bass,crappie,and musky from the lake. It's not really known for big bass but I have caught a couple of five pound + largemought and one pushing five pound smallmought. I have heard of a few 6and 7 + pounders caught (largemought).

Musky is another story. 50+ inchers are being caught every year. I don't go out fishing for musky but have caught a few over 40 inches bass fishing and in the spring and fall I catch at least one about every outing.

All in all, it is a good little lake to fish. It's not hard to figure out, there isn't alot to it. If you put in at the lodge you can't go wrong fishing up toward Little Leather Wood, and hit most of the larger coves for bass. Or fish down toward the dam in Gays Creek, there's no wrong way to fish Gays Creek. If your having a hard day on Buckhorn just head to Gays Creek and fish the banks with cranks or spinnerbaits and you sure to catch a few dinks and a small musky most of the time. Not to say you can't catch a pig in there but it really gets hammered and the bigger fish are alittle warey of those baits. Jigs are better bet for the bigger ones but be patient, the jig bit is tricky there (very light bits most days). Black/purple or black/blue with matching trailers seems to work best in stained to muddy water and your green pumkin and watermelons in clearer water.

One last tip to try if you like to fish a jig, don't be afraid to throw a swimming jig. It's something I don't think alot of guys are doing on this lake and it shows. The bass try to take the rod out of your hands on an overcast day with a white swimming jig with a Zoom Fat Albert Grub or Twin Tail Grub.

Good luck, and tight lines

DJ

[exmark]

thanks everyone we are planning the first of october to give it a try

[DJ_Callahan_27]

I fished Buckhorn for about two hours yesterday evening and caught only one fish. Although it was a decent one, a hair over 18". I didn't get to the lake until about 6:30 pm and put in at Traces Branch. I went back this morning and put in at around 8:00 am, again getting a later start than I would have liked. only got to fish untill about 4:30ish, and got burnt up...LOL... I didn't manage to caught 6 ( well 5 if you don't count the catfish). None were wall hangers and the biggest was only 15.5". Let me tell you in my 8 hours and some change on the water I had to work pretty hard to get the bites. The water is fairly stained which is odd considering it hasn't rain enought to amount to anything in a while (think someone is working in the water above the lake, it's been this way for over a month). Most of the fish I caught where up in larger sloughs off the main lake and I had to travel a little way inbetween sloughs. No two fish was caught in the same slough with the exception of the catfish and a 10"er. Had some wing and misses on the mainlake laydowns but the most of the fish in the mainlake where deep and me and deeper stained water don't mix.

DJ

[grampsg]

even the tailwaters are too warm? I know they stocked teh tailwaters at carr creek a few days ago...

Yes, water trmps at carr can be adjusted by release through lower level gates not so at buckhorn.