Fishing Report Archives

Hey Y’all from the Excel Storm Cat 230. Lots of folks have asked over the years what the “more” stands for in Crappie-gills-n-more.com. Sometimes it stands for the odd catch during good crappie times.

In times like now, it stands for the more catfish, bass, drums, sauger, etc we catch, the less we tend to worry about a slow crappie bite. The crappie bite has been slow for me lately. Of course, I could pull out the Livescope, but we’ve been there before.

Monday at 6 a.m. will find me at Murray-Calloway County Hospital with a surgery appointment with Dr. Derek Morgan for my left hip replacement. This came as a surprise since I haven’t had the long-time chronic pain I had with my right hip.

The pain started this spring and kept getting worse. Summer Dog Days sounded like a good time to be in my recliner under the air conditioning, healing.

If my right hip replacement was an indicator, this should be a couple weeks down, a couple weeks doing physical therapy then back in the boat for a few days to see how things have healed. By the way, our annual trip to Grenada and Enid, MS will be the weekend of the 2nd week of August. I may get to ride along and take a seat in my boat while my buddies take the helm. I might give some friendly advice.

My friendly advice for those fishing right now. You might consider getting those “honey Do’s” done like I have lately. There hasn’t been a paint brush made that fits my hand but that old excuse has seen its days.

Vicki kept hinting that our exterior doors sure could use some sprucing up. The hint was becoming a firm talking-to so before it became a yell, I painted all our exterior doors including garage doors. I haven’t sweated like that on purpose in years. Vicki is happy and that job won’t have to be repeated for some time (I hope!).

If chores around the house aren’t your style, you might volunteer to use that expensive fishing boat to pull the grandkids around for a few hours on a tube. They love it and you’ll be shocked how fast the Brownie Points will add up. You will need those points to cash in later in September and October when you find out the fish are chewing the paint off your buddy’s boat.

Lately we have done a biology lesson for those uneducated in the multiple species we have here on Kentucky and Barkley Lakes. Catfish, bass, sauger, white and yellow bass have made up most of my bag I’ve dragged to the cleaning station at Sportsman's.

Yes, I said bass. My clients are entitled to keep six bass per day each if they chose, says KY Fish and Wildlife as legal creel. I don’t think I’ve ever had a client limit out on bass on my trips. Very many clients choose not to keep bass for whatever reason. Their choice. I’ve cleaned enough in my lifetime to sink the Storm Cat but many of those came well before we ever heard of "catch and release."

I don’t target bass. Bass target me. I’ve said a million times, any fish that eats a minnow will eat a crankbait. Pure and simple. I happen to be where a hungry bass is looking for an easy meal.

Fishing has been tough, but some days are much better than others. Main lake ledges and drop-offs of 12 to 20 feet have been my staple. Lots of crappie are very tight to cover and don’t want to leave that cover to chase a bait when a few minutes from now there will be the next baitball of shad coming along. I am tickled to see the massive swarms of baitfish that are now hugging main lake cover. Those balls of shad and other minnows are what will give our gamefish the best chance to be healthy come winter and the coming spring spawn.

Right now, I’m planning on starting my booking calendar back up in mid-August. If I see that things aren’t progressing well, I can push that back. September and October can be some of our best fishing of the year. I have plenty of dates going forward.

I’ll be posting on Facebook on my, and the business account, how I’m doing.

Be careful out there! Help those who need help and watch out for those who won’t watch out for you. Wear your PFDs. Welcome to our slice of Heaven.