Fishing Report Archives

From the deck of the Kick’n Bass pontoon...

FINALLY the wind has died down. It had to be the windiest April and May ever but the KnB pontoon persevered.

Caught fish every trip and the size of crappies has been very large. We have had plenty of 16 inch crappies and plenty of 15’s that no matter how we stretched them we could not get to 16 inches!!

We have also caught tons of 6 to 9 1/2 inch crappies too. Kentucky Lake is on the upswing for sure. Throw in some sauger, yes sauger, and a bunch of all the other fish that swim in the lake.

Some huge whitebass this early in the spring will bode well for the summer I’m hoping. Watching our boat pull in keeper Largemouth has been great also.

Lake Conditions

The TVA has the water level staying at about 359.0 elevation for the time being. Seems they are going to keep summer levels for awhile. Pulling about 25,000 cubic feet per second right now. More math than I can figure.

Crappies

We have been pulling crankbaits in deep water with mid to great success this spring. The Jenko lure that has been hot for at least two weeks now has been the Purple Passion.

Pink combos and orange combos have been steady producers also. 1.8 mph has been the magic speed but boat control has been a little tough with all this wind.

I have been managing with my Ulterra and occasionally the big motor with the trolling plate down.

No line in the motor yet so that makes the old Captain happy. I do a lot of teaching of pulling crankbait techniques while fishing. Lots of folks looking at covering more water for scattered fish.

Whitebass and Yellowbass

We have been catching some big white bass and big yellow bass while crappie fishing. Most have been females with a couple of males in the mix. The yellows have been keeper sized and the whites size has improved drastically this month. Haven’t fished just for them yet but incidental caught fish eat well too. We will start fishing for white and yellow bass very soon.

Catfish

We have caught some channel and bluecats up to 8 pounds. Quite a fight on a 14 foot Jenko trolling rod. It proves catfish will eat just about anything.

Largemouth and smallmouth

Haven’t fished for either but have caught a few short large-mouth and small mouth but lately the largemouth size has gotten to keeper sizes.

Bluegill and Red Ear

These fish have just moved up and this hot weather will heat up their bite. Crickets on a Phyllis bug under an ESB slip bobber is deadly. Try that ESB slip bobber. It comes with the string for the slip knot right in the package with the float. And the ball is glued into the slip bobber so you don’t have to fool with that little ball rolling around in your boat! They have all sizes from bluegill up to catfish size.

ATTABOY:

"Rich always does his homework and we catch both numbers and good quality fish. Most importantly, he is a great patient teacher for those new to the outdoors. I would highly recommend Rich and Kick’nBass Guide Service to anyone wanting to catch crappie, whitebass and anything else that swims. I’ll guarantee you’ll have a new friend in the process." —Tony M, Benton, Ky.