Fishing Report Archives

Everything seems to be looking good for the 2023 fishing season here at Kentucky and Barkley Lakes. Both lakes are in an upward climb and anglers are catching a lot of quality fish.

There have been reports of anglers catching lots of keeper sized crappies on both lakes. During the last few weeks I have caught both keeper sized yellow bass and big bluegills fishing in 6 to 21 feet of water catching them nearly every cast.

Of course many times when you catch them like that they end up moving or you catch them all out the school.

The bass fishing has been excellent and local tournament results from both large and small events tell the story. Many mixed bags are coming to the scales with both small mouth and large mouth with five fish limits exceeding 20lbs. As the largemouth population has been growing during the last few years the smallmouth population has exploded with many 4 and 5 pounders being caught.

The smallmouth population has been on the rise since 2019 while the largemouth began their comeback in 2020. Let's hope this trend keeps going and that fishing pressure and or to many tournaments doesn’t hurt this growth spurt.

Although I do more bass fishing than anything I have taken many people out fishing for red ear, bluegill, and catfish. Recently I caught some nice bluegill and yellow bass that were in large groups or schools and I used a bottom rig with red worms as bait.

I remember back in 2016 there were many short stretches of banks where crappie would stage before and after spawning the fishing was easy - throw a jig at them and real it in.

That changed in 2017 when 3 to 4lb Asian carp where everywhere. Now that 2/3 or more of the Asian carp are gone these banks may come alive again. One thing is for sure crappie anglers are catching them good right now.

Bass fishermen have been catching a lot of quality bass largemouth and smallmouth. A lot of these fish are being taken out on the main lake in current breaks. I wrote a short article about current breaks a few years ago so I will add it to Shelldivers Guide Service Facebook page for anyone that wants to read it.

Most bass fisherman are fishing shallow right now using jerkbaits, crankbaits, jigs, and swimbaits. As I always say you can catch a big limit of bass from an offshore ledge on any day here at Kentucky Lake.

The other way to target largemouth bass this time of year is by fishing very shallow in the backs of bays, creek arms, and or any small pocket or cove. They could be roaming the flats or pinned to some form of cover especially wood that has at least 2 feet of water around it.

In the last few years at this time of year same water temperatures I hit groups of largemouth bass in the back of big bays where I was catching them fast using a spinnerbait and even a buzzbait when the afternoon water temperature was 56 degrees or higher and especially if it warms into the 60 degree range.

The largemouth bass spawn will start soon and it may come one week early. The start of the spawn is all about the time of year, morning water temperature at about 62 degrees, a few sunny days in a row, and near a full or dark moon.

Many years the largemouth bass spawn may start a week or two later on Barkley than on Kentucky Lake. The spawn will last 4 to 5 weeks. The spawn period here at Kentucky Lake is a great time to learn about the bass spawn and for me a time to catch bass that may not see another lure or one that’s to big and loud that spooks them.

I like the weightless trick this time of year and I'm fishing in shallow to ultra shallow water using stealth so as not to spook the fish.

Casts are to hard to hit targets in shallow water. This technique is deadly on all lakes this time of year and underutilized by most anglers. As a guide I am here to pass it along to others - that’s what I do.

Everybody has trick worms in the tackle bags but few know my technique using spawning behavior, accurate casting, and technique to catch a lot of bass. The morning water temperature will be right for the spawn to happen next week but it may occur the week after next week.

I still have openings in April and May so if you want to learn about spawning bass or see how I catch them with a weightless trick worm call me. This technique is priceless and worth more than a guide fee. Please checkout and like my Shelldivers Guide Service Facebook page and read two articles I just posted about fishing current breaks and the bass spawn.