Fishing Report Archives

Hey y’all from the new Excel Bay Pro 230 Elite. Yep, new ride. Miss Vicki asked me in October when I was planning on selling my Storm Cat? My plans were for a summer 2024 sale and new boat. A call to Excel Boats started the process much earlier.

The Storm Cat was stripped of the crappie rigging and retrofitted for catfish, its intended function. The sale process ended up taking much longer than I hoped and for less $$. Thanks to the high interest rates and winter timeframe, I settled for less than what it would have sold for in summer. It now resides on the east coast after I delivered it to North Carolina.

The 230 Elite was picked up on January 4th and the rigging began. I’m too picky on my rigging to let anybody but my cousin Rickie and myself to do it. Since the weather was frigid and the lake frozen, the boat wasn’t ran until last Monday. The final calibrations for electronics will take place this week.

Excel wanted the boat shown this past weekend at the Grizzly Jig show in Caruthersville, MO. It will also be at the Catfish and Crappie Conference in Louisville Feb. 23-24 at Freedom Hall.

Vicki has always liked the bay boat center console models for fishing. She has her eyes on retiring in the near future and wants me to slow down so we can fish together more. Until then, it will be guiding as usual.

The new boat will fish four adults plus myself. I plan on offering several different tactics for the species we chase.

I’ve been in touch with friends who have taken advantage of open water after the ice thawed. Their results have been mixed with some nice crappie being caught in depths of 5 feet to 25 feet. The depth depends on the tactics used. Some are casting to suspended shallow roaming crappie, some are slow trolling spider rigs in mid-depths, and others are vertical fishing minnows or jigs using live sonar.

The surface temps some days have started below 40 degrees but warming slightly on sunny afternoons. As we get later into February, these temperatures should begin a slow rise to spring.

I’m seeing some folks on social media saying the spawn is upon us because the crappie have eggs! I had to laugh. Those same crappie have had eggs since early fall. They won’t mature until the water temperatures reach the high 50s to low 60s.

The spawn will NOT begin until nature says it does. The calendar has nothing to do with it. The spawn here will also take place over a period of weeks rather than days. The belief that one can only catch crappie during the spawn has been disproved for years but some still hang on to that wives tale.

I’m now taking bookings for this year. There are several good dates available but inquiries are coming in daily. One change for this year is I am no longer meeting clients at personal docks or campgrounds and I’m limiting my trips to the north end of Barkley and Kentucky Lake to the Hwy 79 bridge. Please be aware I’m going to give clients the absolute best chance to have a great day and that may involve you meeting me rather than me coming to you.

Lots of folks are getting the itch to start fishing. Please be sure your boat is safe and will start before you get to the ramp. I harp on this every year and every year come into contact with those who think the ramp is the place to load their boat or work on it. Blocking ramps will not make you any friends.

Most every ramp has an area to get your boat ready BEFORE you line up with a lane on a ramp. Same is said for pulling your boat out of the water. Wiping your pride and joy down on the ramp after a trip is not the place. Use, then clear ramps as quickly as possible. Everybody is as eager to get on or off the water as you are. Try to keep your rig in one lane on multi-lane ramps.

Cold water can kill! Please use your PFD and keep extra clothing in case you end up wet.

One huge safety item many fishermen never think of until they need it is a ladder on the transom. There are many folding ladder options out there that are very reasonably priced. Many of us are not in the physical shape we used to be. Taking a dunking then trying to get back into the boat kills many each year. A boarding ladder would have saved most of those.

Be careful out there! Help those who need help. That guy who is broken down on the lake might be you tomorrow.

Welcome to our slice of Heaven!