How will this rain affect barkley this weekend.

as ive posted, i will be there saturday thru wed. what do the big lake fisherman think 3-5 inches or more of rain will do to the fish this weekend. will they bite, but just be up in someones back yard?

i would expect the fish to move up very shallow. considering the cold front we had that would have cooled the h20 temp some, and now getting warm rain water from the west the shallow will be the warmest place now. i just finished a book on bass biology and found something very interesting. bass can detect a .5 degree change in h20 temp and move to that location within 100 feet. done by berkley research facility. that just amazes me, bass are like my wife and our thermostat at the house.

If they get 5 plus inches of rain Saturday and Sunday you can bet the lakes levels will jump a few feet and muddy up. I know everyone thinks that because these lakes are so massive that flooding rain don't affect them. I know because I was down there last May when we got over 6 inches of rain in one day and the lake level came up 3 feet in a matter of hours and the water from back to front of the creeks looked like chocolate milk.

Accuweather is predicting 3.9 inches in the lakes area from Friday through Sunday, which I hope they are right because over 3 days the ground can soak in some of the water and not have all of it entering the lakes. The 3.9 is bad enough right now but 5 or 6 inches will be tragic.

Saturday into Sunday the entire state west of I-75 is under a flash flood watch. Guess someone heard our complaints about not getting enough rain, huh????????

I think it will help the fishermen get on the fish, the fish should be in the backs of the creeks and bays, if it comes up a foot or two you would find me with a flippin stick in my hand the hole time, if it muddies up the fish will relate to something, and I think they will be in or out in front of the buck brush, wish I were their, good luck, GO TO THE BACK AND FLIP!!! JMO

P.S. be on the look out for floaters.... let us know how you did

Gary

If we get the rains forecasted I would expect Barkley to get a lot of color or even muddy up some time early next week...some creeks will get a lot of color immediately and some won't. Better be careful tomorrow...big storms are also coming with that rain including lightning, wind and chances of tornadoes. I am not going to be out there...that should tell you something. Sunday is iffy right now. Wind warnings on the lakes today and it is blowing.

Accuweather now is predicting almost 8 inches of rain Saturday and Sunday. The lake will for sure be up in the picnic tables in the backyards in a couple of days if this forecast pans out. With the lake level already a foot plus above summer pool there is no room for the extra water, the lakes have to go up into the trees. I would guess if the 8 inches does materialize the lake level this time next week will be 366 plus and still rising.

If you plan to fish next week be verrrrrrrrry careful because with a very rapid rise in the lake level the creeks and the main lake will be full of wood and other trash floating. Put on a wood cutting prop on your motor and slow down.

[QUOTE=bullmerc;412368]Accuweather now is predicting almost 8 inches of rain Saturday and Sunday. The lake will for sure be up in the picnic tables in the backyards in a couple of days if this forecast pans out. With the lake level already a foot plus above summer pool there is no room for the extra water, the lakes have to go up into the trees. I would guess if the 8 inches does materialize the lake level this time next week will be 366 plus and still rising.

If you plan to fish next week be verrrrrrrrry careful because with a very rapid rise in the lake level the creeks and the main lake will be full of wood and other trash floating. Put on a wood cutting prop on your motor and slow down.[/QUOTE]
If we get that much rain they may hold it a few days because you know the ohio,cumberland rivers will be blew out also I cancelled my trip for tommorrow may go down next sun. if the weathers not that bad

[QUOTE=863 bassmaster;412370]If we get that much rain they may hold it a few days because you know the ohio,cumberland rivers will be blew out also I cancelled my trip for tommorrow may go down next sun. if the weathers not that bad[/QUOTE]

I don't know if they can hold it or not. The highest on record is something like 367 or 368, with the level at 365 and the really big water not here yet they have to get it through the dam somwhow. Barkley has come up over 5 feet in less than a day and the Tennessee water is still on the way. In my opinion Barkley and probably Kentucky lake will be well over record flood levels before all this water gets released.

I cancelled my trip this week also and will probably not even look at going down until after Memorial day. If the lakes stabilize, even with the high water, you can catch fish but with it jumping several feet a day and the dam probably being opened fully the fishing will get tough for some time. I know some people like fishing very high water but when the lake is 7 or 8 feet above summer pool I personally don't like to fish it like that.