Fishing Report Archives

Hello from the Excel Storm Cat.

Some of my fondest memories were when my Dad ran Port Ken Bar (now Green Turtle Bay Marina). I was a pre-teen but one of my chosen jobs was cleaning fish for those who wanted me to for 10 cents per fish.

It didn’t matter what species or size, it was a dime. I learned really fast if I wanted to have fingers as an adult, I needed to learn how to safely use a Rapala fillet knife. Nobody had thought of sneaking Grandma’s electric knife out of the kitchen drawer to try it on fish yet.

One of my favorite fish to clean was a sauger. Easiest fish to fillet ever. I cleaned a ton of them for the likes of Dutch Owens and the other guides who fished out of Port Ken Bar.

As a young adult, one of my favorite fish to pursue and eat were sauger. My beginning trolling tactics were crude but effective. Limits of sauger were common. Then something happened. Sauger became scarce, then almost non-existent in our local lakes. Catching a 14 inch keeper became noteworthy.

The past few years saw very few show up in my livewell. Then something happened. The past couple of years I have often mentioned I was starting to see a sauger revival of sorts. A keeper would show up occasionally. Those under 14 inches started showing up often.

I’m not going to shout from the rooftops that the good ol’ days are here again but sauger numbers are definitely on the rebound and the quality is starting to be there, too. I can only surmise that the great spawns of recent years have also been good for the sauger.

Monday found the crappie - once again - moved from previous days, so I started checking some areas of depth changes and deep flats and guess what came to dinner? Sauger! There were still plenty of crappie, but they took a back seat to the toothy neighbors who also love crankbaits.

The bulk of our catch were just shy of 14 inches, but several were over. Later, when the Kentucky Fish & Wildlife Creel Survey guy stopped us to see how we were doing, he seemed surprised that a big part of our catch at that time were sauger as well as the numbers we had released.

This has to cheer up a lot of old-timers like me, who remember the glory days of big sauger and big white bass. I’m seeing a bunch of those, too.

The post-spawn crappie are moving every day. Schools of baitfish are the key to success. Find the bait, find the crappie. Don’t bet the bank on finding them in the morning where they are today.

Deep breaks with cover are a good starting place. Several days this past week we have pulled Off Shore Tackle OR12 planer boards so we can cover a much wider swath of lake with each pass. It is a fun way to fish and my clients love it once they get past the shock of me initially showing them how it needs to be done. If you would like to learn how to run planer boards, book a trip and I’ll be glad to teach you how.

The bluegill and redear bite has slowed with the dark of the moon but should pick back us as we get to full moon in the first week of June. Catfish are picking up and some fishermen are starting to target them along rocky banks and areas of riprap.

Recreational traffic is picking up so please be careful out there. Many folks get too wrapped up in watching the kids and grandkids having fun on a tube or on skis and don’t pay enough attention to their surroundings. We all have an equal right to use these lakes safely, regardless of our preferred choice of fun. Wear those PFDs.

Miss Vicki is doing well after her recent cervical spine surgery. Thanks for all your prayers!

Welcome to our slice of Heaven.