Current on Barkley and Ky Lake

[Jordan Bozarth]

Is it good to thro the lure are reel it with the current or reel it against the current... Thanks

[bigrod]

90% of the time you want to throw up current and bring the lure back to the boat with current.

[olducker]

90% of the time you want to throw up current and bring the lure back to the boat with current.

hmmm....70%

[CTFSHWHISKER]

90% of the time you want to throw up current and bring the lure back to the boat with current.

i have always heard this,wonder why,i have fished small rivers and streams for years and i can't say i have ever saw minnows or any big fish swim with the current,they most always are going against it and using current breaks.here in the beech fork river i used to catch lots of crappie,ky's and even hybrids by throwing grubs in the middle of the river in the strong current and just letting it drift on tight line,when it would get paralell with with the bank i would bring it slowly back,stopping it and just letting the current work the grub tail,that's when they almost always hit.i would catch some in the middle if there was a log or root to break the current..i could never get a bait to work right throwing up river and bringing it down..

[FiletAndRelease]

I always been told to throw up current and retrieve down so the fish dont have to swim as fast to catch up with it. But sometmes just the opposite works.

[donwiggins]

Fish always face upstream because of the way they are shaped. If they faced downstream they would just get pushed downstream. Since they are normally facing upstream they are watching thing as they come downstream. You're catching those types of fish that way because they prefer slack water. There are times when an upstream retrieve does work just depends on a lot of variables.

[Col Forbin]

I've never seen the current strong enough on either of these lakes to make a huge difference. When fishing rivers with a continuous or steady current, I throw upstream and retrieve with the current. Bass (for the most part) ambush thier prey. Usually hide behind rocks and logs on the backside of the current and snatch up prey as they pass by. Used to fish the elkhorn and cumberland river often, and this was the best way to go about it.

However, on KY lake and Barkley - current can have a huge impact on the ledge fishing. However, not to the extend as a river would. The individual ledge I am fishing dictactes how I will fish it, not the current. That being said there are a few ledges i will always hit when they are pulling alot of water that will usually produce more than others. Most of the time I usually fish perpendicular to the ledges here - unless I can get on a good crankbait bite at a certain depth - then I will fish parallel to them - that is when I can locate balls of shad and bass are active. Most of the time I am ledge fishing I will drag a jig down the ledge.

[davidsa]

I used to wonder the same thing, then I started doing some fishing on the Kenia river in Alaska where you can see the fish in the river. I learned the fish look into the current. In heavy current they will only eat what drifts into them; nothing else in nature could move opposite that the would eat.

To a very small bait fish, the current around a point or boulder will be signficant relative to the energy and power they posses and they will go with the flow under normal conditions. The lazzy preditor will set up in a lower current spot looking for the bait to float by. It will not look as natural if the bait flows opposite current.

When I notice this pattern most is in a heavy wind and not when current is being pulled in a ****. In a shallow flat on KYL that is say 3ft deep a 15mph current will create a current and fish will look into the wind for baitfish being pushed to them. I have been in the boat when we landed 60 crappie in an hour in a big wind on jigs. My partner starting killing them and me none until I started throwing into the wind at his exact angle. Then we were doing doubles for about 30 minutes straight.