Ky / barkley

[AllBoutBass]

So, after the weekend rain...Whats the story with these lakes? Did anyone get a chance to fish them these past couple days? Going down Tuesday... HELP !!

[jpm537]

They have been pulling the bottom out of Barkely. I was there this last weekend and they were pulling over 100,000 CFS all weekend. The main lake was in bad shape. We put in at Devils Elbow and went south from there. It was muddy on the main lake with lots of logs and high waves at times. My boater lost his motor's cowling when we were jumping waves and hitting logs. Amazingly we found it a mile back down river. Be Careful. The fish were in the creeks. The tourny guys were hitting the males that were guarding fry really hard and leaving the fry unprotected. This lead to fry being chased by small buck bass. We were found some bass in the brush and some in creek channels on rock. I would recommend if they are still pulling that you try deep and slow first to see if they are there and if not work your way shallower. Honestly your best bet if you have the option would be to fish Kentucky and not Barkley but it all depends on if you have an option. This was my first time on Barkely and it was fun. You can go to www.tva.gov/lakes/bah_r.htm to get and update on how much water they are pulling from Barkley. Just Checked and the last 48 hours has not gone below 110,800 CFS. Amazingly with all that they are pulling they have only dropped it less than a half inch because of the new water coming in from the rain so I would expect it to go on for a while. Good Luck and be safe!