Fishing Report Archives

Hello from Kentucky Lake!

Since I last checked in we have had - what I consider - a windy of an April as I can remember. Cold front after cold front saw winds howling out of the south, to howling out of the north. This pushed myself and many other anglers from being able to fish where I wanted to fishing where I could. This gave me the opportunity to find new places to look and find fish. Some days I was successful, while other days I was not.

While the temperature fluctuations and the wind made for tough fishing conditions, we did have pretty stable water levels. TVA did a good job of holding water, knowing that the lake needs stability during the spawn. This will hopefully equivalate to a better spawn this year.

In my last report I told you about the bite out of my boat on the north end being tough. Let me explain a little more where I'm coming from. When I say the north end, I am referring to the far north end, which I consider to be anything north of Jonathan Creek.

I consider Jonathan Creek to basically be its own entity because of its size. Both big Jonathan and Little Jonathan comprise a large body of water. The vastness of it, along with deep water ledges and shallow flats give it unique characteristics. In my opinion, in fishes different than any of the smaller bays on the lake because of its size. So, keep in mind that I do not include this area when I speak of fishing the north end.

Now back to talking about the spawn. As I said before, fairly stable water levels this spring should hopefully make for good spawning conditions. Bass tournament numbers gained some momentum, as well as most of all the tournament anglers weighing in limits of fish. This has been different than the last couple of years where a lot of boats came in with nothing. I see this as a positive sign, and hopefully it continues to trend in that direction.

As stated in my last report, the crappie bite had continued to be tough. But like the bass, this also seems to be trending in a positive direction. I have seen some pictures of decent and even some good catches. This is awesome to see since we have so many folks who come to fish for this species.

A lot of folks might want to give me crap about saying it was tough for me, but that's okay, I have big shoulders and I can handle it. I just call it like I see it, and up until 2 1/2 weeks ago it’s still seemed tough for a lot of folks.

I know there are a lot of fishermen who are better than me, that fish a lot of different techniques, and they struggled too. It is good to see that they are starting to have good catches. Regardless of what technique they use, it’s good to see fish being caught, and also hear of some short fish for the future being caught as well. Hopefully a good spawn will happen, and it will help us three years down the road.

May marks the month for the hottest bluegill bite. With warm temps and more favorable wind conditions, folks have been hitting the water in mass in search of this hard fighting, tasty fish. As with other species we have talked about, spawning conditions should be good. We can only hope for an amazing spawn with these fish as well. This is a a great time to take a kid fishing and introduce them to the outdoors.

The catfish bite should be heating up as well. I have heard of some good catches already, and I’m sure it is only going to get better. They should be spawning before long and that makes for a fun time catching them under the cork. This bite should last up until June, providing plenty of opportunities to take home a mess of fish.

I want to say thank you to everyone who takes the time to read my report. Like I said before, I call it like I see it, and I don’t sugarcoat things. It is good to finally see the lake trending in a positive direction, and hopefully we will have an amazing spawn. I am not ready to say it’s all rainbows and unicorns yet, but it’s good to see people starting to come to the area and catch fish again.

I will be out again tomorrow to see what I can find. I am an opportunist and will be out searching for tugs of any kind to stretch the lines of my customers. If I can’t provide what you are looking for, I will be happy to point you in the direction of someone who can. I just want folks to have a good time and catch some fish while they are in the area.

I want to give a big shout out to Brad Culp at Sportsmans Bait, Tackle and Marine repair for all he does for my guide service. I am not sponsored by anyone but my wallet in my right back pocket, but Brad and all the folks who work there go out of their way to take good care of me. Look him up if you're in the area for all your fishing and boating needs. I am sure he will take good care of you as well.

As always thanks for your time!

Tight lines!!