Fishing Report Archives

A midweek cool snap sure had a nice feel to it. Lower humidity and temperatures put a little pep in the step of Kentucky Lake’s fishing scene again this week.

Chilly nights saw the temps fall into the upper 50’s in some areas and low 60’s in others. It was a welcomed change.

Days have definitely had a fall feel this week although autumn doesn’t officially arrive until September 23. And, the weatherman indicates warmer days are in the forecast for next week but fishermen are enjoying the party of cool weather while it lasts.

Surface temperatures this week have fallen slightly as readings were starting out the mornings around 81 to 82 degrees and warming to 85 by midday. By this weekend water temps will likely fall into the low 70’s at night low 80’s during the day.

Water color remains clear across the reservoir. Lake levels in the Kentucky Dam area and across the reservoir have fallen slightly and are down to the 355.8 level, which is the lowest elevation since TVA’s annual drawdown began back on July 1.

Both recreational boaters and fishermen need to pay close attention to channel markers as they navigate across Kentucky Lake. Taking shortcuts can produce problems when the reservoir is down.

There’s still pretty good current in the main Tennessee River channel as TVA is discharging 47,000 cfs (cubic feet per second) through Kentucky Dam.

That much current moving should maintain a good bite for catfishermen stalking the main channel areas. Last week the current diminished but has returned, which will likely stimulate the bite courtesy of shad movement.

Once current kicks in it stirs up phytoplankton and zooplankton and that triggers schools of shad to move about on feeding sprees. Movement throughout the food chain occurs and anglers are the beneficiary of meandering balls of shad with catfish hot on their trail.

Depths of 25 to 40 feet have given up fish this week. It appears the cooler days are pushing a few fish to move up to midrange depths.

Although several boats continue to pursue catfish along the main river channel banks, fish have moved up to midrange depths lately as crappie fishermen are encountering them as they fish 9 to 13 foot depths around manmade fish attractors.

Nightcrawlers are still the bait of choice among the ranks of catfishermen. Crappie have transitioned this week as they slowly stair-step their way toward shallow to midrange depths. Some fish have been taken in 5 to 8 foot depths in Big Sandy and West Sandy this week while most anglers in the Paris Landing sector were fishing a bit deeper.

A few larger fish have been taken in 18 to 22 foot depths but numbers there were scattered. Midrange depths of 12 to 15 feet appear to be holding a few more fish but anglers are having to cull out a lot of smaller fish at times.

For those tipping jigs with minnows or just using live minnow presentations it’s that time of the year when pesky schools of yellow bass move up and occupy shallow crappie beds too. Like a school of piranha the feisty little rascals are fun to catch and quite aggressive but quite annoying at times. They will steal your bait at the blink of an eye.

As fall approaches and days grow shorter and hopefully cooler, crappie should continue to move up to the 8 to 12 foot zones in good numbers.

Anglers fishing jigs in a vertical presentation are catching decent numbers but pretty much everyone is having to move about and knock on a lot of doors to accumulate numbers.

Once surface temps fall back into the mid to upper 60’s and remains there crappie should take on a more aggressive mood.

Bass anglers have been struggling at times in their quest to find baitfish schools. Some shad are roaming the backs of bays and a few are showing up along gravel banks in the early morning and late afternoon.

Shad usually begin feeding sprees in the lowlight hours as they feast on midge (small insects) hatches, especially in the early morning and late afternoon periods. It can be a good topwater bite for short periods.

Still stalking main lake ledges are boaters staying with the summer patterns. Tossing swim baits, crankbaits and some Texas rigged worms had paid dividends at times.

Some decent size smallmouth have been taken by anglers finesse fishing deeper sandbars and humps.

Warm weather has been stubborn to depart for long periods but each passing day brings fall closer to the fishing scene. Soon those jacket mornings and shirt sleeve afternoons will be the norm.