Fishing Report Archives

Hello from the Excel Bay Pro 230 “Fishful Thinking”. It has been a windy, cool, and tough week for being on the water. The fish are still there but I don’t think they have any more of a clue what to do than we do how to catch them.

Our surface temperatures are back down into the low to mid 60s, many of the crappie are still yet to spawn, and the bluegills and redears are wearing themselves out moving into then back out of their spawning areas.

It looks like rain for a few days then we may see a warmup. I’m ready for it! We have fished both Barkley and Kentucky with limited success. The wind has made spider rigging with the Livescope too hard to work with clients who have never done it. In that case, I resort to my old stand-by, Pico INT crankbaits.

Boat control is the name of the game with crappie fishing and Sunday was as challenging as I’ve ever tried to fish with clients. We would move to get out of the wind, get set up and fishing, then the wind would change and force us to do it all over again.

Let me say something here. I’ve been very critical of KY Fish and Wildlife for very sparse presence on the lakes the last few years. In the time I’ve been guiding, I had only been checked by the creel survey once and that was as I cleaned our catch at Eddy Creek Marina.

It looks like there is now an emphasis on boots on the water so to speak. I applaud that move! Sunday we were checked by the Fish and Wildlife COs then the creel survey. I was checked again by creel survey as I finished up our trip Monday. Adam Martin had done a creel survey on us a week earlier. Keep up the great work folks!

The kiss of death for a fishing trip is to catch a big fish immediately after starting fishing. We had that happen both Saturday and Monday. The first fish over the side were personal bests for both anglers. It’s downhill from there.

Don’t count me wrong, I’m always tickled to see a smiling face when a client holds up their largest crappie, catfish, redear, whatever. It just makes the rest of the trip a challenge to best that first fish.

Like I said, when the wind is not such an issue, crappie are being caught from 3-25 feet of water, especially around cover. Minnows and swim plastics are working shallow while the crankbaits, jig and minnows, and straight minnow rigs are all having their day.

This is the year to catch your personal best crappie, just don’t expect multiple limits. Quality over quantity is the rule here right now.

We are starting to pick up some nice channel cats on the cranks as well as white bass, yellow bass, and largemouths. One thing I’m seeing that is bringing a big smile to my face is the numbers of small, non 14 inch keeper size, sauger we are catching.

The sauger population on both lakes has been down for several years and to catch a 14 inch keeper sauger has been a surprise. Let’s hope this is a good sign for the future of this species.

If the weather will settle down and warm back up, we should see the bluegills and redears start their spawn and they should spawn each of the next couple of months on the full moon. With the warmer water, the catfish will also be closer to the rocky banks and rip-rap shores. Worms are always a good choice for both.

Wear your PFDs, leave the booze on the bank, and be careful out there.

Welcome to our slice of heaven.