Lake Conditions:  Fair - 59° / Lake Temperature  57° - 356.70'
Cadiz, Kentucky
Cadiz, Kentucky
Cadiz, Kentucky
Closer Than You Think

Kentucky Lake Continues To Produce Quality Crappie Fishing Experiences

Written by Doug Wynn - Published on May 8, 2023

Hey Y’all from the Excel Storm Cat 230.

Life has been happening around my house and fishing has taken a back seat. Miss Vicki had cervical spine fusion surgery this past week, so I’ve taken on the role of caregiver, cook, and general go-fer.

Thank goodness she has taught me well with all the times she has waited on me over the years. The care at Baptist Paducah was second to none. She is progressing well even though she hates the massive neck brace she has to wear for several weeks.

I was able to sandwich the past week between great trips the past two Saturdays. Have you ever been told something that you knew was not so then had the chance to prove it was the way you knew it was after all? I had that chance last week.

Soon after my guests boarded my boat at Lynnhurst, I was told that one of the guests was convinced there were no longer any good crappie in KY Lake. Challenge accepted! I told them that I was going to do my best to prove that statement wrong.

Conditions were less than desirable with rain the whole trip, sometimes hard rain. Thankfully the Storm Cat is equipped with a custom top that helps keep us mostly dry. Rain gear did the rest. It didn’t take long for my crankbait technique to produce a large pre-spawn crappie, then another, then several.

The tactic was new to all my clients, but they were quick learners, and better listeners. They performed flawlessly when I asked them to do something they were not familiar with. The end result was a gallon bag of fillets and a renewed understanding that our lakes still produce quality crappie as well as some big white bass.

Moving ahead to this Saturday. Mostly cloudy gave way to beautiful sunshine and the south winds were manageable. I had decided to pull out another trick from my bag of them.

Luckily my 4 clients were somewhat familiar with pulling cranks behind Off Shore Tackle OR12 planer boards. Now, this tactic gets some funny looks, and many boats get closer than needed to see what those yellow things are next to my boat.

The planer boards have been called directional bobbers by some and I guess one could see that. They do let you know when a fish hits your bait, but their main job is to pull the baits away from the boat. I am convinced by getting your bait away from the boat, you not only cover a lot more water, but also spooky fish aren’t affected by the boat.

We sat out a combination of different colors, patterns, and depth-diving cranks. Having been off the lake for a week, I was hoping to set up a pattern quickly. I did. The now post-spawn crappie have moved out to the closest drop-offs off the spawning areas and are ready to feed back up after the rigors of the spawn. We ended up with a cooler full of nice crappie, some big white bass, and our first keeper sauger of the season. Happy clients! Happy Doug!

Thankfully the water temps have kept rising and now most of the crappie we caught Saturday are spawned out. Both TVA and Mother Nature have done their parts. Conditions should be ripe for another great spawn. The bluegills and redears are being caught on spawning beds also. I’m still puzzled by the lack of catfish in the 15-25 feet deep areas we have been covering. I’m sure they are still around as are the baitballs of shad I’m already seeing.

Be careful out there!

Welcome to our slice of Heaven.



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