Fishing Report Archives

Kentucky Lake’s late August fishing scene had a touch of fall in the air this week. Anglers are wondering how long it will last?

According to the long range forecast things will begin heat up by Labor Day as daytime highs are forecast to return to the upper 80’s and hang around most of next week.

Lake levels have been falling slowly this week and TVA’s forecast heading into the weekend projects an elevation of 356.6, which a minor change from last weekend’s level. Water color is clear across the reservoir.

Surface temperatures are in the 83 to 85 degree range. The short hiatus from hot and humid weather sure helped the attitude of anglers but it had a minor effect on water temps.

A steady current has held up well for catfish and bass anglers working the main lake areas.

TVA has been keeping a steady flow through Kentucky Dam and discharging around 57,000 cubic feet per second (cfs). That has provided ample current in the main channel area and maintained the aggressive bite of both blue and channel catfish schools who are following the paths of shad balls.

Catfishermen know that current - as long as it’s not too swift - is their bread and butter. Moving water stimulates movement of baitfish. And, the baitfish are moving because their forage base (shad) are meandering about feeding on zooplankton.

Current puts life in the main channel areas and without it the bite diminishes. The fish just don’t move around and feed much when stagnant current descends.

Sometimes the bite will change throughout the day if low flows exist early but increase throughout the day as power demands increase. There are times when anglers just have to wait it out.

Checking the TVA website (TVA.com) for Kentucky reservoir will provide a three-day forecast on both lake levels and discharge rates, which helps anglers make plans but even that’s subject to change on short notice.

Nice stringers have been taken as anglers work the edge of the Tennessee River channel banks plus submerged humps and bends in the riverbank. Depths of 40 to 50 feet have produced but a few fish have been taken suspending around the baitfish balls.

Topping the preferred bait list is still nightcrawlers. They’re pretty hard to beat for consistency. Chicken liver, big minnows, cut shad/bluegill, hotdogs dipped in homemade concoctions, shrimp and catalpa worms (if you can find them) are always good choices as well.

Bass activity had some improvements as current has helped that bite too out on main lake ledges. A few nice smallmouth and largemouth have been relating to the down current sides of sandbars and humps.

Depths of 12 to 20 feet have given up some dandies in the 4 to 5 pound plus range as of late. Swim baits and deep diving crankbaits have worked but so have Texas rigged worms and Carolina rigged worms and grubs in the pumpkin pepper, green pumpkin pepper, red shad and Tequila sunrise colors just to name a few.

Scattered schools of white bass are showing up on main lake sandbars too when big schools of shad are present. Some surface activity has been seen on calm days when the fish go into a feeding frenzie.

Crappie have been fair with scattered success stories from anglers fishing live minnows and jigs tipped with minnows. Depths of 12 to 16 feet produced a few fish as have some deeper structures in the 18 to 25 foot depth zone.

Most anglers are tightlining their bait presentation and bumping bottom at times as the fish are tight in the cover. Look for more crappie to move up to midrange depths in the days and weeks ahead. Early September kick starts a transition time for Kentucky Lake crappie to slowly begin putting some of their deep summer hideouts in the rearview mirror.