KY Lake *Skunked* SOS * * * - - - * * *

I was out all day 12/15/2006. Around 68/80 bridge fishing main lake, and secondary creek channel drops, ledges, and points. Fished everything from Jerk baits to drop shots rigs. everything inbetween. The Lake was as clear as I've seen it in a long time. I could see probley 5' deep clearly. Any suggestions on catching those Lock Jaw'd Fish this time of year? Fished roughly 7.5 hrs... Nothing not even a drum. I figured barkley might have had a little more color and may have had a better bite? It was a beautiful day to be on the water though.

I was not out this week and did not receive any reports so I can't be too much help today...but...last weekend it was reported on here that some bass were being taken on silver buddies off secondary points in 9-12ft of water early and then around 20-22ft later in the day.

If I were going out today I would have tried some brown hair jigs (1/8 or 1/4) around the deeper chunk rock points for some smallies. I am sure there a some folks out there this weekend with the nice weather...if I get some reports I will let you know.
Dave

was wondering ,what is the best setup to throw the silver buddy on? baitcaster,spinning?mono fluorocarbon braid ? high speed reel,low speed? never done it, might give it a try!

I would appreciate the info when you get it dave. I'm not familiar with silver buddies, can you elaborate on it a little bit. I did throw a 3/8 oz arkie hair jig with a craw chunk. May have been too big. I didn't have anything smaller much. I hammered the jerk baits, but never got anything. I fished Clown and Shad colored rogue with a purple back. Found shad in the bays but couldn't catch anything under them. What crankbaits would you recommend for this season?

The silver buddy is a blade type lure and has been around for many years...made popular by Billy Westmoreland many years ago for fishing smallies on Dale Hollow. I myself have not fished one in years since the days I fished Cumberland and Dale quite often before moving here to Ky/Barkley. I used to catch a lot of fish on them on those lakes and also it was a good lure for me on Taylorsville years ago in cold weather. I haven't thrown them here on Ky/Barkley myself and I really don't have a reason why..and since I have had three reports on them catching fish here in the past few weeks obviously I need to put some back in my boat and throw them now and then.

As far as how to fish them and on what...I always fished them on baitcaster with a 1/2 oz being the one I always used. Med/Heavy 7' rod with 10-12lb test line...I used mono back in the days I threw them..probably would use copolymer now. Pretty simple retrieve for me...I would work it down points mostly, picking it up until it I could feel it vibrating and then let it fall while keeping contact with the lure. Basically the same way I fish a slab spoon here on now.

I am sure there are a number of folks on here that fish these quite a bit since there are a lot of folks on this board that fish Cumberland and Dale and hopefully they will chime in here with some tips too.

The small hair jigs I like to fish here, I use a spinning rod...6.5 or 7 ft...med to med/hvy action...6lb copolymer line. Brown and brown/orange seem to always be good colors here in the winter.

Last time I was out (couple of weeks ago)...we were catching fish around those shad schools still in the bays with shakey heads using black worms and also slow rolling blue glimmer spinnerbaits under them.

If I am going to throw a crankbait here this time of year I would favor a #5 black and silver shadrap on spinning gear..slow roll it and target chunk rock and rip rap.

I was also doing fairly good on the jerkbait before I put my boat away...the payoff lure was a table rock shad #78 pointer. Of course the stipers and drum were loving it also but that just gives you something to play with until a bass decides to eat it...lol.

Hope this helps...come on you silver buddy anglers...jump in here and give us some more tips on how you are fishing these lures.

Added on Edit: Thought I would mention that about 4 or 5 years ago before I started spending my winters doing seminars..I fished the fnf here on Ky when the water cleared like it now has and did very well fishing off the deep rocky points on the LBL side of the lake. Best color for me was blue/chartruese with most bites around 8ft.

Hey Jignpig,, Last weekend I started out fishing some spots Dave told me about with jerkbaits but I think the sun was too bright so we started using the buddy it worked well enough to stick with. a couple things that might help. watch for the gulls they are hitting the pods of baitfish heavy or at least they were last fri-sat-sun. Once we found them run your electronics looking a little shallow if sun is hidden or early in the morning, move off deeper (following the gulls later in the day. When you pull up on the silver buddy don't yank to hard or pull to far off the bottom. if you don't get hits then raise it a little higher and a little faster. We were using 7' med action spinning with 10 p-line fluorcarbon but I usually use baitcasting equipment with heavier line. The water is real cold so the smallies hit a little lighter than usual so the spinning gives you a little better feel.

If I were to go back now (wind permitting) I would still watch the gulls but hopefully be able to catch them feeding on the main lake points. if you try jerkbaits I would find a very small one ...just my 2 cents worth hope it helps. Ky lake is great fishery leave some for seed Joe G.:-)

Water temps have been falling the last three months as the sun sets earlier ever day. And after the lake turns over or if not turnover after the water cools down below 50 deg to around 40 deg F the water column is pretty much the same temperature from top to bottom. But a few nice warm days where it gets up to 60 deg F may send the bass to the shallow waters to take advantage of the newly warmed up shallow water. The fish evidently were not where you were fishing. Did you check the very shallow waters on the North Side of the Bays you fished? Maybe that's where the bass are. Either that or they may be suspending a little deeper due to the improved water quality. But this time of the year the sun appears to be at a lower angle than in the summer months. This time of the year the Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the sun and the sun rays have to travel though a lot more of the earth's atmosphere before they can enter the water. And a lot of the sunlight coming in a a low angle will be reflected off the lakes surface instead of being absorbed into the depths. So that will let the fish swim nearer the surface. So low sunlight conditions and warm surface waters means the fish will be shallow when we have these long lasting warm spells. 60 deg F is warm for the middle of Dec. Fish can suspend and feed all day long in the shallows be they the surface waters out over open water or the back of a big bay's secondary creek channels. Warm rain can also start up the food chain in the relatively warmer waters. How fish at 30 ft deep can know that the surface waters or the shallows have warmed up I don't know. But the insects or other tiny creatures will know that the shallow water is warming up. Warm water means more action in cold blooded creatures. Insects may not wake up until the length of the day gets much longer. They may be more keyed into the length of the day or even the length of the night time period and not so much with the water temp or maybe both.


Regards,

Moose1am

The birds make a living every day catching small fish. Following them is great advise. They will show you where there is a concentraion of bait fish. And you know what follows the bait fish around the lake.

Regards,

Moose1am

I just noticed I put up the wrong color pointer that we were using last time out...the one we were using was a chartruese shad.

I was hoping you would chime in here Joe since you were one of the reports I got about the silver buddies. It has been a weird fall bite here for sure this year...and I say fall bite because the water temps here although they dropped fast this year early on in the fall have been holding up relatively steady over the past few weeks and the we still have baitfish transitioning to deeper water. A lot of the baitfish never did move in shallow this fall....basically from my observations this fall the fish got "stuck" in the transition phase from late summer to fall patterns due to the rapid water temp drop early on coupled with the cold fronts we had every 24-48 hours from October thru early November.

We had fish so scattered that no one pattern was holding up from day to day and we had to move a lot each day to try to determine which fish where were going to bite. It was the toughest fall fishing I have ever experienced here...all the reports I received from locals were reflecting the same thing. Don't get me wrong...we had some banner days this fall but we also had some of the toughest days I have ever experienced here in the fall and more of those tough days than I care to ever have again. The bass bite was so up and down it almost made me wish I was a Crappie guide...lol.

One thing is for sure though, spring will be here before we know it and a new season will get started and I for one can't wait!!

You make some very good points here Moose and will definitely apply when the fish here get established on a full winter pattern which they have not as of yet but will soon as the water temps drop a little more.

To elaborate a little on what you have said here: the fish will tend to move more in a vertical plane during winter than laterally. Pretty much the same as they do in deep summer but the depths they move tend to be just about opposite of what they do in deep summer...ie..in deep summer they tend to move shallower during early and late in the day and deeper during the day...in winter they tend to move shallower during the heat of the day and deeper early and late in the day.

Your advice about fishing the north sides (or south facing banks and points) is also very good advice in winter for a couple of reasons (especially on a warm day). Obviously the north sides get more of the sun's rays since the northern hemiphere is tilted away from the sun which as you mentioned tends to warm the water in these areas more. Also coming into play here on warm winter days is the fact that it is getting warm because of a southernly flow of air (normally caused by an approaching cold front). Seldom do you ever get a warm day in the winter without a breeze blowing from the south quadrant. This warm air coupled with the sun's rays will tend to warm up these northern (or south facing) areas even more.

Now there are a lot of northern banks and points to choose from so to further eliminate some water one should target those northern areas that have deep water close..ie..river channels, creek channels, secondary creek channels. Remember, the fish will tend to move more vertically than laterally this time of year. Your odds on catching a number of fish feeding in the back of a large flat are slim...but fishing a flat close to a deep water area is more likely to produce fish.

Another good point to remember is that rocky banks and points that meet the criteria above are good areas to target. The rock tends to absorb and hold the heat more so than earthen banks and points. This will in turn keep the water a little warmer in those areas.

Another point in the way of techniques to remember is that, even though it is a warm day the water is still cold..and the fish's metabolizm is still slow and they do not tend to chase baits nor do they tend to eat big meals. Many of your strikes during this time of year is a result of the preditor instict of the fish rather than the need to actively feed. Thus, slow moving lures and smaller lures tend to produce more fish.

Thanks for the info. I seen gulls but they looked to be toward the main river channel deep. Could have been on the ledge, didn't check it out...I'll for sure try the buddy next time I'm down.