Fishing Report Archives

Kentucky Lake’s late fall fishing scene has extended the fishing season for a lot of folks. How long will the mild weather last?

That’s what a lot of lakers have been asking themselves for the last few weeks and last weekend’s a cool spell and some overdue rain put things in perspective. Coveralls are now in demand!

The lion’s share of November saw unusually nice weather linger. Mild temps and light winds dominated for several weeks, offering anglers and pleasure boaters ample opportunities to get out on the lake.

It has indeed been a beautiful fall for the most part. Now that some cooler weather has arrived folks are slowly acclimating to chilly nights and days.

From the fishing scene comes pretty good reports from crappie fishermen who are still catching decent numbers of fish in a variety of depths.

Whenever light winds allow anglers to boat out to main lake areas or move about on the reservoir it sees the catch rates improve.

If fish are scattered then anglers can try a lot of different areas or experiment with different depth ranges in their pursuit of finicky crappie.

Some of the nice stringers taken lately have come from anglers still targeting main lake ledges or deep brushpiles and various manmade fish attractors. Depths of 16 to 20 feet have been producing good numbers of crappie.

Also productive have been some midrange structures in the 9 to 14 foo depth rang. Up West Sandy and Big Sandy a few crappie have been taken in 4 to 8 foot depths at times.

While most credit their catches to jigs there are some boaters using live minnows or tipping jigs with minnows to entice bites.

Sometimes is best to let the fish decide which one they prefer on any given day. Meanwhile, jig fishermen always seem to experiment with color combinations as their tackle box is full of many different styles and shades ranging from solid bodies to tube skirts and hair jigs as well.

Meanwhile, a lack of rain has kept Kentucky Lake clear pretty much all fall. Rains were in finally entering the region last weekend and earlier this week which may put a little stain in the lake for fishermen.

Lake levels have been stable, staying around the 355 elevation. Surface temperatures have been in the mid 50’s and changed slightly at midday. Cool nights have still had a little bite to them so the frosty mornings have kept the water cool.

With cooler weather now in progress look for surface temperatures to fall a few degrees this week.

Very little current has been present in the main Tennessee River channel which is not too surprising given the lack of rainfall up until this week.

Bass fishermen have been slugging away tossing swim baits and some crankbaits with moderate success. Some activity was reported in big bays where white bass were schooling and chasing shad busting the surface.

With them have been a few smallmouth and largemouth mixed in the flurry.

Right now activity on the lake has subsided as so many activities are pulling people away from the water. From a variety of hunting seasons to football games, folks are going in several different directions.

Pick your weather and wait for the nice days as the lake is somewhat quiet. And, there are still some nice days ahead mixed in-between a few cold fronts. The coveralls and thick coats are standard attire this time of year but remember you can always shed layers on the warm ups!