Fishing Report Archives

Over the Memorial Day weekend fishermen on Kentucky Lake thought the calendar skipped spring and went straight to summer. Things heated up a bit and surface temps have climbed to the 73 to 75 degree range.

Daytime highs hit the upper 80’s a day or two! Also rising this week have been lake levels. Seems a bit odd that TVA has allowed the reservoir to surge several inches and climb to the 360.3 range the last few days---normal summer pool elevation is 359---but rise it has!

That rise has sent water back to shoreline structure where buck bushes and submerged weed patches are now inundated. There’s ample water in the shallow cover which may work in favor of survival rates for young of the year fry that recently hatched to discover plenty of refuge awaiting them.

The fry can hide in an abundance of places during higher lake levels so this isn’t all bad for the future fishing scene. Perhaps miniature schools of crappie, bluegill, redear and bass fry can pull off a decent year class, along with forage such as threadfin shad. Time will tell.

When lake levels are high the younger fish can hide from predators in the abundance of flooded habitat.

Bass anglers this week have targeted the stickups and continued the flipping and pitching techniques. Right now they have a Mecca of habitat in all the bays and also along river islands.

Pitching Texas rigged lizards, craws and worms will continue to be the most popular choices but also tied on the lines of anglers are chatter baits, shallow crankbaits and a wide assortment of topwater offerings.

Floating fluke style worms worked quietly over submerged grass should be quite effective as long as lake levels stay a bit high and hold bass up on shorelines. Water color is relatively clear.

Although surface temps have warmed since last week the shallow bite should hold up. However, some boats are staying with offshore areas and already turning to their summer arsenal of big deep diving crankbaits, Carolina rigs, swim baits, jig and pig combos and huge Texas rigged worms fished on ledges and humps.

Bluegill and redear have sort of played hide-and-seek with anglers at times. The spring bite hasn’t been bad but inconsistent best describes it.

Some decent catches of bluegill have been taken but veteran anglers report lower numbers than times past. Also, many bedding areas that have produced over the years have not drawn bedding fish back to familiar locales.

Redear have not returned to proven weeds and buck bush areas in big numbers and bluegill haven’t been found in traditional spots either.

That has baffled a lot of anglers lately. No doubt the cool spring may have altered the timing of peak spawn this year. Still, many anglers find it a mystery that fish seemed to shy away from traditional hotspots this spring.

Meanwhile, the next full moon arrives on June 5th according to the calendar and that could signal a surge in spawning activity for these two popular species.

Watch for improvement next week as another late spawning phase takes place.

Crappie have been showing up for a few anglers beginning to troll crankbaits out over main lake flats and ledges.

The fish seemed to be a bit scattered and suspended, which isn’t unusual this time of year, especially when lake levels start to rise a bit. Some decent stringers were taken by boaters trolling Bandit crankbaits and still dragging Roadrunner style jigs in chartreuse colors.

A few crappie were taken by boaters vertical fishing jigs and live minnows too. Brushpiles and stakebeds in the 9 to 14 foot depths were giving up some fish. That location and pattern may improve next week once lake levels recede back to normal summer pool.

The falling lake levels often pull fish back to structure and early June usually sees crappie congregating back to midrange hideouts anyway. June is usually a pretty good month for crappie although many anglers overlook it!

Catfish have held up consistently for anglers throughout most of May. The fish seemed to navigate toward rocky banks earlier this month in their usual spawning phases and held true to their rock seeking reputations.

There have been some dandy stringers taken by anglers fishing nightcrawlers and big minnows. Some credited shrimp and cut shad as a successful offering but worms have been the most popular choice among the ranks.

Catfish should hold up another week or so and begin to filter out to midrange depths as their spawning phases will soon draw to a close.