Fishing Report Archives

Hey Y'all from the Excel Storm Cat 230. Last week was another feast or famine week. The weather and current played havoc with fishing plans.

Jeremy Mattingly of Crappie Monster Baits and the upcoming fishing show "On The Hook" had scheduled a day to film a Kentucky Lake show with Mark Ridl of Cornfield Fishing Gear and myself.

Mark is a local success story. He and his lovely wife Paula of Illinois began camping on Kentucky Lake a few years ago. He also became a member of Crappie.com and attended one of our shindig outings and cookout. Mark and I spent a couple of hours side-by-side cooking crappie for the large crowd.

Later we learned Mark is an accomplished machinist and owned his own successful business. As crappie fishermen are by nature, always looking for a better mousetrap, we started encouraging him to consider making mounts for marine electronics. Long story short, he began designing the best mounts and accessories in the business.

He and Paula then bought a house near Moors. The urge to move their operation out of the Land of Lincoln hit and they decided to move here. A building near their home came available so Cornfield Crappie Gear was born. The name was recently changed to be more inclusive of all fishermen. Not that he wasn't already.

Mark builds the best, most innovative and secure marine accessories in the business. His company has grown by leaps and bounds to the point he has a hard time finding time to do what got him here in the first place, fishing for big KY and Barkley crappie.

I spent all the day prior to the show filming trying to find some quality crappie. It didn't happen. I limped home with my tail between my legs. Jeremy and I even considered filming some other time. We decided to chance it. Good move!

Monday found us in Jeremy's Nitro boat dragging cranks in several spots. Mark and Jeremy got to sit on the rear deck reeling in crappie while I found fish and ran the trolling motor. We ended up with several good fish and some great footage. I'll let you know when the show will air on The Pursuit Channel.

My client trips are gearing down and I'm having to work harder for fewer fish. My recent trips have been teaching occasions with many different species caught in one trip. We did have one very notable catch, a 12.25 inch Redear on a crankbait. That fish was very healthy and the weight would have been approaching two pounds. It was caught on a deep point, probably 15 feet, that extended off a deep ledge on the main lake.

I've been trying to move into some shallower areas but the dropping lake levels have scattered those crappie. Most of my fish have been suspended 12-18 feet deep over deep water near the mouths of major bays.

Once we get stability in the lake levels, and cooler water temperatures, the crappie will follow the shad into shallower water.

These cooler nights should set the stage for some good fall fishing.

I'm going to shut down my trips on November 20 so I still have a few dates left.

Be careful out there. Watch out for the other boaters and the gremlins that shallow water brings.

Welcome to our slice of Heaven.