Kentucky lake ledges

After being away from fishing for 12 years while my kids played every sport imaginable including travel baseball that took up practically every weekend in the summer, I have bought another boat. I've read about all the new depthfinders with downscan and sidescan so I got an HDS 9 and an HDS 7. I have read and watched video's about ledge fishing on Ky Lake, do any of you guys have any pointers that may help? I'm afraid I will get down there and search and fish and search more and get discouraged by not catching any bass. I need all the help I can get.

Thanks

[QUOTE=JTindle;562690]After being away from fishing for 12 years while my kids played every sport imaginable including travel baseball that took up practically every weekend in the summer, I have bought another boat. I've read about all the new depthfinders with downscan and sidescan so I got an HDS 9 and an HDS 7. I have read and watched video's about ledge fishing on Ky Lake, do any of you guys have any pointers that may help? I'm afraid I will get down there and search and fish and search more and get discouraged by not catching any bass. I need all the help I can get.

Thanks[/QUOTE]

Looks for contour changes that face the current. Any irregularities on a mile long ledge that the current hits the face of too.

I guess you could always waypoint pirate it, where you just ride around and mark waypoints on people you see catching fish. There really aren't many "secret" spots on KY lake anymore.

If you want to get serious about Kentucky Lake and jump ahead on the learning curve, schedule a trip with Dave Stewart. The "eliminating water" class he teaches is money well spent and it can be applied to many other lakes as well.

[QUOTE=Flash5150;562700]If you want to get serious about Kentucky Lake and jump ahead on the learning curve, schedule a trip with Dave Stewart. The "eliminating water" class he teaches is money well spent and it can be applied to many other lakes as well.[/QUOTE]

I went on 2 trips with Dave about 15 years ago and was not impressed. We caught 15 to 20 fish each time with maybe 4 or 5 keepers out of the bunch. Nothing bigger than barely a keeper. Granted we didn't go ledge fishing in the summer, one time was spring fishing and we fished yellow flowers and the other time was fall, I wanted to catch smallmouth. He said the smallmouth weren't biting so we went to the bast of a cove where the largemouth were feeding on shad. I've had just as good days down there by myself.

[QUOTE=JTindle;562708]I went on 2 trips with Dave about 15 years ago and was not impressed. We caught 15 to 20 fish each time with maybe 4 or 5 keepers out of the bunch. Nothing bigger than barely a keeper. Granted we didn't go ledge fishing in the summer, one time was spring fishing and we fished yellow flowers and the other time was fall, I wanted to catch smallmouth. He said the smallmouth weren't biting so we went to the bast of a cove where the largemouth were feeding on shad. I've had just as good days down there by myself.[/QUOTE]

The thing about booking with Dave is that it's not entirely about going out and catching fish. You can pretty much hire any guide you want to on KY Lake and they can help you catch some fish. BUT if you want to actually LEARN how to locate, pattern and understand why bass are in certain places at certain times doing certain things then in my opinion there is no one better than Dave. I took his eliminating water class and it really has helped me tremendously in not only catching bass but understanding the what, why, when and where and that applies to every body of water not just KY lake.

[QUOTE=JTindle;562708]I went on 2 trips with Dave about 15 years ago and was not impressed. We caught 15 to 20 fish each time with maybe 4 or 5 keepers out of the bunch. Nothing bigger than barely a keeper. Granted we didn't go ledge fishing in the summer, one time was spring fishing and we fished yellow flowers and the other time was fall, I wanted to catch smallmouth. He said the smallmouth weren't biting so we went to the bast of a cove where the largemouth were feeding on shad. I've had just as good days down there by myself.[/QUOTE]

Guides cannot hit a homerun every time out. Nor can they make the fish bite at will. They use their best judgment to put you in the best position to succeed on any given day. However, I learned a tremendous amount from Dave in his class and it shapes my bass fishing on almost every trip I take on a reservoir. I would and should do it again anytime.

[QUOTE=JTindle;562708]I went on 2 trips with Dave about 15 years ago and was not impressed. We caught 15 to 20 fish each time with maybe 4 or 5 keepers out of the bunch. Nothing bigger than barely a keeper. Granted we didn't go ledge fishing in the summer, one time was spring fishing and we fished yellow flowers and the other time was fall, I wanted to catch smallmouth. He said the smallmouth weren't biting so we went to the bast of a cove where the largemouth were feeding on shad. I've had just as good days down there by myself.[/QUOTE]

I've used Dave a couple times, and I've sent folks to him numerous times.

I don't use a guide to catch fish......I use a guide to teach me what he knows.

Dave knows more about KY and Barkley and about fish food sources than pretty much ANYONE I know. From my own personal experience, I know beyond a doubt that what I've learned from Dave Stewart has increased my fishing and my abilities by about 8 billion percent.

Pay attention, use what you've learned, apply it to the situations, and catch a bunch of fish.

Later,

Geo

I have went out with Dave 12 years ago and 8 years ago, The guy was super cool, I learned a lot!, I catch fish from every spot he put me on year after year after year after year, Had I caught 15-20 Bass with 4-5 keepers I would consider that a pretty good Day, 5 keepers is a limit where I come from, Getting a guide on Kentucky Lake is money well spent for sure!!!

[QUOTE=astrobass200;562743]I have went out with Dave 12 years ago and 8 years ago, The guy was super cool, I learned a lot!, I catch fish from every spot he put me on year after year after year after year, Had I caught 15-20 Bass with 4-5 keepers I would consider that a pretty good Day, 5 keepers is a limit where I come from, Getting a guide on Kentucky Lake is money well spent for sure!!![/QUOTE]

That was 2 of us that he guided and they may have been keepers, we didn't measure so they were close one way or the other.

Didn't mean to dish on Dave, just telling my experience. He didn't provide any advice or teach how fish move or anything like that. Maybe we should have asks for that knowledge and I'm sure he would have told us.

With all that being said, I am back from my trip and Monday afternoon, Tuesday and Wednesday were terrible. I fished shallow banks early and tried the ledges after the sun came up. Had 4 short fish and was ready to come home. Of course I knew/know nothing about Ky Lake and didn't know what banks to fish or anything.

While ledge fishing I was trying to fish fish on the ledges before actually fishing for them and I think one of those short fish came off a ledge. Wednesday afternoon I asked a fellow fisherman if he was having any luck and they had 3 keepers and missed 3 fish. I chatted about ledge fishing trying to learn something and he gave me a ledge to fish. So I started on one end and just fished it. I had a keeper, a 3 pounder and had a 4-5 pounder beside the boat and lost it. Had some other bites that I missed. So I consider it a successful trip after finally catching some bass on ledges.