Fishing Report Archives

To say conditions here on Kentucky lake are not ideal is definitely an understatement. Most of the winter we had above average discharge through the lake. Many days were above 200000 cfs. Despite all that flow the TVA did a great job of keeping the water levels low.

On March 25th the levels began to rise rapidly. Today April 2nd the lake will crest at 362.2. TVA predicts a slight fall of a couple inches a day for the next 3 days.

As if we didn't have enough excuses not to catch fish add Coronavirus to the mix. This pretty much wiped my calendar clear for what will be the best part of the crappie run for spring.

The good thing is that the crappie haven't been slowed much by the conditions or the lack of folks out there fishing. Blood River has been a great place for social distancing.

This past week I started off by slow vertical trolling over flats in 8 to 12 feet. Now with the elevation change those same flats are 8 feet deeper. The first few days the water came up the fish slowly moved up with it. Staying in that 8 to 12 foot of water.

After a cold front moved through they seemed to hold up. I'm sure some fish moved on up with the water but most I feel held up and were waiting for the lake to stabilize. The last couple days I have caught several male white crappie from areas on the bank where they would normally be under normal conditions.

The only difference is that they are in 12 feet of water instead of 5 feet. If the water stays high for long I expect the crappie to move all the way up into the shallow cover around the shore. This always scatters the fish and makes them harder for me to catch.

With the water all the way up in the trees, its hard to get a boat in to the fish. Sometimes wading is the only way to get back in far enough.

It's my opinion that the TVA will bring the water back down to summer pool or lower if possible. With this in mind I hope its before the fish go in and try to spawn in that shallow water. If the water gets back to less than summer pool we could still see some good fishing on the bank.

I'll be fishing mostly by myself and trying to social distance. Hopefully after this is over everyone can get back out there and enjoy this great place. Be safe and stay well.