Fishing Report Archives

Rising lake levels this week in the aftermath of torrential rains sort of had anglers concerned. Seems temperatures are rising too as some spring like weather enters the picture.

Kentucky Lake’s fishing scene is now seeing rising lake stages coincide with rising temps and actually the present day scenario isn’t too bad as lots of folks were worried about flooding conditions across the region.

So far the TVA has done a good job of pushing a large volume of water through Kentucky Dam this week and managed to keep the reservoir only a few above normal winter pool. Given the flooding around the region last weekend that’s a pretty good accomplishment.

Presently lake levels are in the 356.5 range and crested earlier in the week around 357 at Kentucky Dam. Things could change, however, as the status of discharge levels here are somewhat at the mercy of what happens along both the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.

So far, the TVA has been able to release a lot of the flood water through Kentucky Dam. As a result the reservoir began falling slowing at midweek.

Anglers and boaters were dodging a lot of floating debris this week as the quick rise put all sorts of shoreline logs and limbs drifting about. Boaters need to be cautious when rising lake stages occur.

Surface temperatures at midweek were around the 44 degree range but will be warming each passing day courtesy of the warmer forecast that is expected to go past the weekend.

Water color has been muddy in the main Tennessee River channel this week. The upper Big Sandy and portions of West Sandy were muddy to dingy too but there were some zones that offered a pretty good color for fishing at the mouth of Big Sandy and up past the power lines.

Falling lake levels will help pull some of the muddy and dingy water out of big bays so those areas should improve for fishing quickly if the slow fall continues. Right now anglers are keeping a close eye on the daily lake stages as the TVA continues to revise lake levels every twelve hours.

Crappie anglers are rebounding and heading back out in force as nice weather lures them back to areas that were frozen solid a few short weeks ago. To say there have been drastic changes in the fishing scene these last few weeks would be a gross understatement.

Embracing the spring like conditions now descending have been bass fishermen too. In fact, the first major bass tournament of the year kicks off Saturday out of Kentucky Dam Marina at Gilbertsville with the launch of the LBL Division of the Phoenix Bass Fishing League.

Bass fishermen have been out this week testing the water and attempting to put together a pattern during all the changing conditions. That can be challenging when water levels are jumping around and muddy water and current are present.

Still, there’s always a few fishermen who make it happen and use the conditions to their advantage. Lots of anglers are tossing loud colored crankbaits such as firetiger and various florescent reds and greens around rocky points or gravel roadbeds. Rip-rap shorelines will be popular too, especially if current is passing by.

March has always been a month that produced some big bass here on Kentucky Lake as the fish are coming off their winter hiatus and ready to put on the feed bag. Those big sow bass will weigh heavy in the weeks ahead.

Meanwhile, crappie fishermen have been stalking everything from deep main lake creek channels to some midrange manmade fish attractors in their quest to locate crappie that are on the move. Changing lake levels often scattered the fish but it seems a variety of depths have paid off this week.

Watch for more crappie to return to shallow or midrange depths in the days ahead as surface temps rise. Depths of 6 to 12 feet should start producing. Stakebeds and brushpiles in that depth range will be productive is anglers can find decent colored water.

Earlier this week a few reports came in from some boats targeting extremely deep water. A few anglers found fish in the 25 foot depth range and some were even deeper! Fish were scattered out there but they managed to locate a little deep structure and both baitfish and crappie were hiding out there in the deep venues.

Productive jig colors ranged from pearl white to some loud florescent chartreuse and blue combinations just to name a few.

With dingy water now present anglers can shuffle the tackle box and resort to some off the wall skirts and leadheads that may well appeal to fish in colored water. Sometimes those loud, freaky looking colors have a time and place!

Tipping jigs with minnows is worthy of consideration at times too.

Multipole presentations and single pole jig fishermen bumping bottom or brushing up against the deep structure will be out in force since the warm weather has stimulated spring fever. Watch out fish!