Fishing Report Archives

Hey Y'all from the Excel Storm Cat 230 "Fishful Thinking". If you like mud, wind, and rain, you've come to the right place.

My trips over this past weekend ended up being cancellations. I love to fish as much as anybody, and I love meeting new people and hopefully catch some fish while teaching them some new tricks. BUT, as I've gotten older, having rain run down my neck while fighting for boat control aren't high on my list of priorities. Maybe we will be seeing less bad weather and more fishing weather as we get toward the end of March.

I'm getting some good reports on crappie catches in Tennessee on Kentucky Lake. While I don't guide there, the reports of limits of nice fish keep making their way to my phone and computer. As is the norm for this time of year, the three methods for catching crappie are spider rigging, longline trolling and vertical fishing with Livescope.

It seems the areas of Kentucky Lake south of the border have fared better in recent years when it comes to successful crappie spawns. There has always been a lag time from south to north on Kentucky and Barkley Lakes as it come to surface temperatures. The area of, say Big Sandy, will warm up several degrees than, say Jonathan Creek, at a given date.

Yesterday, we started out of Sportsman's Resort early with the surface temperature barely above 52 degrees and ended our trip around noon with the temp at 55-56. At the same time, the surface temperature near Buchanan Resort was 5-6 degrees warmer according to a friend of ours.

The crappie spawn will start when the surface temperature stabilizes in the low to mid 60s. Fluctuating surface temperatures like we see now will have the crappie starting to stage in mid-depth areas, waiting for the right conditions to spawn. 5-6 degrees higher surface temperatures mean the crappie on the south end of Kentucky Lake may start to spawn 2 weeks or more earlier than the north end.

That 2-3 weeks may very well be a huge factor in whether a spawn is successful or not.

In recent years, we have seen sudden rises then falls right about the time the crappie spawn on the north end of both lakes takes place. A spawn when the water is rising then falling quickly will rarely be good. If that spawn has started 2-3 weeks earlier, the fry (small crappie) will be large enough to find cover and start to grow with the water level fluctuation then move away from shore cover as the water recedes.

If the spawn takes place as water is rising then quickly falling, the fry many times end up high and dry with falling levels or are so small they end up being targeted more easily by larger predators.

Kentucky and Barkley Lakes are managed for flood control. The levels here are dictated not only by the rains we get here, but also by rains that may fall hundreds of miles south of us. The Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers run south to north, so we get the rush of water from all the lakes all the way from Alabama north.

TVA and Corps of Engineers aren't in the fishing business. They are in the water level and flood control business. Many of us would much rather see the lakes rise earlier in the season and stay at upper pool levels much later in the season. The powers that be seem to have different ideas so we play with the hand we are dealt.

Where does this all lead to? Vicki and I watched both days the weigh-ins at the Grenada Lake, Mississippi Crappie Master's Qualifier tournament last Friday and Saturday. That tournament saw literally dozens of crappie weighed in OVER 3 POUNDS! The top 2 winning teams weighed in bags that AVERAGED over 3 pounds per fish, seven fish per day.

The heaviest crappie weighed in was over 3.7 pounds. Many professional fishermen, many who have crappie fished for several decades, caught their personal best fish in that event.

What does that have to do with our situation? That event and the quality of fish caught were a direct result of a properly managed lake where the maximum level for the year is when the crappie are spawning and the fry can take advantage of the maximum amount of cover. The level is then let down S-L-O-W-L-Y so the small fish of all species can hop-scotch from cover to cover as the water level recedes. That is why the lakes in Mississippi can produce quality crappie for years and sustain all the fishing pressure they receive.

Here's hoping we can see great spawns over the next several years. There is an abundance of small crappie that should be keepers (above 10 inches) in both lakes now. Those smaller keepers can be the difference in a so-so day and a good day of fishing.

My cousin Rickie and I spent part of the day Tuesday on the lake, trying out new tackle and making doubly sure all systems on the Storm Cat are ready for the guide season. I spent a good bit of time over the winter pouring, painting, and rigging different kinds of jigs and lures.

Since trolling is in my blood, many of those lures are the horse-head blade baits most people know as RoadRunners. We pulled the horseheads behind Off Shore planer boards and had some success on a day that many other good crappie fishermen struggled. All our fish came from 6-15 feet of water and we covered several miles.

One thing about longline trolling is you are without a doubt going to lose a lot of jigs/lures. The sting of losing lures is slightly lessened by the fact I didn't have to pay tackle store prices for them. Our color choices were all over the spectrum and none seemed much better than another.

While Livescope seems to be getting all the attention right now (with good reason), I'm working hard to develop tactics that will allow two or more clients to all benefit from the technology.  Several of my trips to other lakes over the winter were for that very reason. I've spent countless hours glued to YouTube fishing videos, trying to find that one tactic that might not be mainstream, but will allow me to maximize the quality of my clients' catch and fun on the water.

My calendar is slower filling up this year than in the past and I feel many folks are in areas of the country that are still locked down with Covid restrictions. Let me assure you, we are open for business here. You will still be required to wear masks in some places of business but since my place of business is the Great Outdoors, masks are not required. If you fell better about wearing one, feel free to. Check out www.crappie-gills-n-more.com and check my booking calendar for available dates.

Please be careful out there. Right now, the lake level is below 355 feet and the gremlins are everywhere, both on the bottom and floating. Wear your PFD and keep some dry clothes in the boat. Many folks will soon be putting their boats in the water for the first time since last summer, many since crappie fishing last spring. Keep an eye out for those who might be having boat engine trouble and give them a hand. Next time it might be you who needs help.

Welcome to our slice of Heaven!