Fishing Report Archives

Time seems to fly by! It is already mid March and early spring patterns are underway. At about February 15 of each year many of the bass that spent the winter on ledges off shore make the move to shallower water and scatter themselves along banks, points, and any shallow cover they can find.

Here at Kentucky Lake shallow cover is hard to find, so bass have a hard time finding a comfortable place to ambush baitfish or your bait. Add shallow cover to the shallow water in the right places and instantly fisherman will catch more bass.

You're not going read about this fact in any book but by fishing and having many home lakes I have seen this to be true. Case in point is Lake Monroe near Bloomington, Indiana. Monroe at one time was full of the submerged vegetation know as milfoil and also had acres of giant and small lily pads.

Back those days it was actually one of the best lakes in the country. High water during the late 90s destroyed the lily pads and milfoil the fishing in the lake took a dive. Since the dive occurred every few years some milfoil comes back for a year or two and when it does the fishing is instantly better because the fish have a comfortable, effective place to hide and ambush your bait.

When milfoil is present the limits of bass weighed in during bass tournaments triples! Milfoil can be transplanted, it adds oxygen to the water and air, provides a huge erosion control buffer, and in time the population of all fish will multiply by four times per surface acre of milfoil.

Recently the State of Kentucky has created and built shallow water fish habitat. Much of it is along shallow spawning banks. From what I have seen they have done a bang up great job. It looks real good and will give bass, crappie, and sunfish more protection during the spawn from the invasive Asian Carp that proliferates the shallow game fish spawning areas during the spring.

A couple of other good things taking place here at Kentucky and Barkley Lakes are that somehow the TVA has been able to keep the water at winter pool during heavy winter/spring rains. This should allow more of the yellow mustard weed to grow and inhabit the shallow waters where many fish will spawn during summer pool levels.

This weed did not grow well the last two years due to high water. Another great note is that I have seen and made many observations of increased populations of threadfin shad both in the fry stage and especially mature adult bait/forage fish.

Many of these baitfish stayed shallow all winter. I know because I saw them with my eye while walking the banks when hunting. I saw more during the late fall while guiding and fishing the shallow flats. During the fall the biggest threadfin shad were glued to certain banks and quality bass were nearby.

The point is good things are happening: cover is being built and added to the shallow water in an exceptional manner and the shad population is on the rise. One of the best things that could happen is to see the submerged vegetation come back in the lake as it adds so many environmental benefits for the fish, the air, and erosion control. It can be transplanted. Back to fishing in March. I spent the last few days out camping and fishing and I caught bass from some ledges and really enjoyed catching them from very shallow water. I caught some really good ones very shallow. They can be caught there or deep keeping in mind that fronts can upset shallow fish.

I am really excited about the new year and have got a lot of guide trips set up already - it's going to be a good year. So far it appears that the bass may spawn early again this year.

I have won one hundred or more tournaments using a weightless trick worm in different states and have been using the technique long before most fishermen ever had one in the tackle arsenal. So come out and fish with me to learn this deal. It is worth a lot more than a daily guide fee. Using the trick worm and understanding the bass spawn goes hand in hand and I have understood it mastered it since 1990.

This will be my 30th year! If you’re coming here to fish for fun or you have a tournament I am here to help you. Book a combination Fishing/Turkey hunting trip this spring we can do both in the same area and have an awesome shore lunch. I can help you with lodging or camping.

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