Which lakes are most affected by falling water?

[L'RaisinAngler31]

I know over the past couple of years we have had a lot of rain and most lakes get the bottom pulled out of them around spring time... It is always nice to fish the flooded bushes and trees but as soon as the water starts to go down I begin to struggle (which from what I hear is sometimes the hardest water to fish).. Which here it is time for fishing to start getting good and some of the lakes are seeing almost a foot of drawdown a day and some are even higher than that.. I will be headed to Barren this weekend and noticed that this past weekend they were really whackin em down there but I don't think with the cold front and the 4000 cfs they are pulling that the fishing inst going to be nearly as good.. On our way home Saturday we thought about stopping and fishing Nolin the following Sunday but it is being pulled the most right now out of most of the lakes I fish and I have never really fished it when the water is coming down so fast, so I was just going to see what you guys thought about falling water and which lakes are the least affected by the change.. Thanks!!!

[bplgocards]

Dont go to rough, the dropping water really turns the bass off there.

[walkeraviator]

I find that any of these lakes that dont see a lot of current (pretty much all of em except Kentucky and Barkley) get hard to fish when they introduce current. These fish arent used to swimming against current. I find that at Barren, the pull out and suspend off the points. Get a jerk bait down to their depth and you can sometimes salvage an otherwise awful day.

[Big T @ E.C.]

I went to nolin last sunday, fished from around 10:00 'til 2:30, lake time,
we caught 6, had 1 around 2lbs. My buddie went the next day, and caught 17, in approx 1 1/2 hrs. Had 2 around 3 lbs. That's the difference 1 day can make. If you go, try fishing the lower, or "dam" side of points, start out around 5-6 feet, work done to 15' or so. I agree 100% with w.a. The fish in these small c.o.e. Lakes just are not used to current. I think they get on the lower side of points, rip-rap or whatever, and just hold up...tr

[elnutsmalljaws]

I think the more shallow a lake the more it is affected by falling water. Even though fish can travel a long distance they are basically lazy creatures and want to use as little energy as possible. That being said the deeper the lake the more the fish can move vertically and change depts versus horizonatally to move the same dept in a shallow lake. With the majority of lakes being around summer pool or above at this time, I have found fish will move out to where the "original" shoreline would normally be at this time of year. Fish that have spawned in the past will return to the same areas and some use the same beds. Some people make the mistake and still fish too shallow in falling water. My thought is they are worried that the water will disappear around them and will not just move out a couple of feet but may move out to the first point, drop off and such. I know a couple of years at Ky Lake when the water was 4 feet over summer pool in early April and you would have thought they would all be in the flooded buck brush, they were actually right on the "original" shoreline and were very easily taken with texas rigged creature baits and crankbaits targeting this depth.

[joey heller]

roughr river was on fire sat and sunday. just off points or flats with any crank.

[mkmsports41]

Last year Barren was way over summer pool from May-August. It prodiced some great fish for me. When it was up and the bottom was being pulled out of it fish loaded up on points. You just had to fish the original shore line like many have stated. I fished in the 8-12ft range all year last year and caught fish. I have never seen that much current at Barren. Just had to find a point with the right current break and you would generally find a load of fish.

Just remember, right now fish have two things on there mind. Eating to support their eggs, and laying their eggs. Try not to over analize it too much.

[L'RaisinAngler31]

I generally fish in that range year around down on that lake but just in general in any lake, other than Kentucky Lake, when they are generating a lot I usually have a tough time putting some type of pattern together.. I know you have to let the fish tell you what they want but from my experience I can usually catch a handful of fish throwin a crankbait but I never get a good bite and when I slow it down and throw a jig or shakeyhead I can never get that quality bite.. It may be because I haven't pulled out far enough and I am fishing right above the old shoreline that the fish are staging at.. I plan on throwing something a little smaller than I usually do to locate the fish and then if I can find a certain depth then I can upsize my presentation and hopefully the size of the fish as well..

I appreciate all the info guys..