Fishing Report Archives

The fishing here at Kentucky and Barkley Lakes has been excellent. It's a great feeling to get out on the lake during a warm sunny day and for a while forget about Covid 19. That is exactly what people are doing. The lakes have been busy with people out fishing. Of course many local folks are taking advantage of this virus down time but there are many out of state people fishing.  Some hotels and resorts are open and others are closed.

We had five nights of below-average temperatures that certainly halted the bass from spawning further. This is the first time in years I have seen morning water temperatures dip below 60 degrees after morning temperatures had already made it into the 60s.  That cold spell is gone and the bass are back to spawning.

The bass started the spawn early this year, even though we did not have many periods of three or more sunny days in a row, hich greatly help with hatching eggs laid. Even with conditions being a little tough for spawning, I have seen females and males on beds most days I've been on the water. Bass should continue to spawn until the middle of May.

My bait of choice remains the weightless trick worm using black or white. Many other colors will work fine, but it's the presentation and the action of this deadly technique that entices the bass to strike. I rig it Texas-style with a 4.0 hook and 14 or 12lb line and softly cast or pitch it to targets where bass are holding (whether they are on a nest or not).

Once they move shallow during the spawn they get very spooky. The bass I am catching are so shallow and spooky most of them will not be caught by other anglers because most anglers are fishing points or just to deep. Understanding the spawn, where bass like to spawn, and eliminating unproductive water will increase the catch. That's what I teach people how to do. On all of my fishing days during the spawn I fish some new water or areas that I have not been to this year. I never know for sure what area will be the best - it changes every day. I also keep a creature bait tied on for pitching heavy cover and a spinnerbait and buzzbait for ripping through large flat areas.

While I have focused more on catching bass I have had some great crappie fishing days catching crappies in two to eight feet using jigs and minnows. Jigs with a little pink in them do well. I like green with a dash of pink. I got bored one day when the fishing was slow and decided to slowly drag minnows along a deep ledge and caught a sack of two-pound catfish which fried up very well.

If your wanting to advance your tournament fishing game I am here to help you. I have monitored the spawn since 1990 on many home lakes and won many tournaments large and small. This time of year is when I catch most of my fish with a weightless trick worm with the technique I developed on my own.

Every angler has them in their tackle box only a few have mastered it. I make myself available to anyone that wants to learn the art and science of using it especially during the spawn.

As a guide I specialize in taking people fishing to make sure they get to catch as many fish as possible. However, one of the best values to fishing with me is what you can learn in a day. I know for certain I am as good as anyone can be at teaching any aspect of bass fishing. I use the same skills I honed as a baseball and wrestling coach to help anglers better their fishing game!

I have traveled to clients home lakes where I have never fished to teach them how to catch more fish and win tournaments on their favorite lakes/bodies of water. Please checkout and Like my Shelldivers Guide Service Facebook Page and my updated shelldiversguide.com website.