April 22, 2016

Kentucky Lake: Water Level at Kentucky Dam - 359.12 Surface Temperature - 65
Lake Barkley: Water Level at Barkley Dam - 350.20 Surface Temperature - 66

Both lakes are at summer pool. Kentucky Dam was generating at a rate of 13,500 cfs this morning. Barkley Dam was generating at a rate of 8,800 cfs this morning. 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 There is some wood debris floating on both lakes from the rise to summer pool so boaters need to keep a sharp out for this debris when running the lakes.

General Conditions: We have had warm weather this week with most of the week light winds and sunny skies. A front did pass through the area yesterday which brought us a day of soaking rain but the temperatures held up. The water temperatures shot up with this warmer weather, about 5-6 degrees since last week. This quick warm up of the water has moved a lot more bass into the creeks and bays. Some fish started showing up shallow in the spawning areas over the past couple of days and we should expect more each day as the weather forecast is good with no nasty cold fronts in the immediate future. We have been taking most of our fish on the staging banks and points off the spawning areas and they have been scattered for the most part. Lots of reports of folks having a tough bite this week, but I would classify it more of a scattered bite in that the fish have been scattered out as they are moving. We have not had any problems putting a limit or more of keepers in the boat each day although we have not had any numbers of large fish in the 4 lbs plus catagory. We spent yesterday concentrating on the spawning areas and found a number of fish had now arrived there and were eating.

LARGEMOUTH BASS: Largemouth are being taken on secondary channel points and banks inside the creeks and bays on crank baits, spinner baits, Carolina and Texas rigged creature baits, jigs and shaky heads. Largemouth are also being taken shallow in the coves and backs of the creeks and bays on spinner baits, chatter baits, lipless and square billed crankbaits, Texas rigged creature baits, whacky rigged worms and jigs.

SMALLMOUTH BASS: Smallmouth are being taken on main lake gravel points and banks as well as gravel banks in the creeks and bays. These fish are are on the beds and also on post spawn and are being taken on crankbaits, jigs, Texas rigged creature baits, tube jigs and grubs.

PRODUCTIVE LURES: Some of the productive lures reported this week are: Bandit crankbaits in rootbeer/chartruese, Strike King red eye shad in red craw and chrome sexy shad, Spro Little John shallow crankbaits in spring craw and black/chartruese, Slong's spinner baits in white/chartruese, Picasso FX shock blade chatterbait in white and blue glimmer, Zman chatterbaits in white/chartruese, Slong’s football jig Cumberland craw, D&L baby advantage jig in Cumberland craw and Oops patterns, Last Cast jigs in green pumpkin, Slong’s shaky head jigs with Charmer shaky head worm in green pumpkin and bama bug, Charmer lizards and timber pups in green pumpkin and green pumpkin/blue, Zoom trick worms on whacky rigs in green pumpkin, green pumpkin blue and watermelon purple.

CRAPPIE: Crappie are being taken over brush piles in 8 -10 ft of water in the creeks and bays by vertically fishing with minnows and jigs tipped with minnows. Numbers of Crappie are now staging over wood cover in 5-7 feet of water off spawning banks and points in the creeks and bays. These fish are moving to the shoreline early and late in the day. These fish are being taken by casting curly tail jigs, roadrunners and with jigs and minnows under bobbers.

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, Pro Tungsten weights, and All Pro Rods. 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 Comanche 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: Sorry, I am booked up.
June: Sorry, I am booked up.
July: A number of dates available, make your reservation now to get the dates you want. I am also taking reservations through November.

Captain Dave Stewart
Bass Buster Guide Service
270-362-9987
[email protected]
www.kentuckylakeguide.com
"Fish With a Professional"