Fishing Report Archives

It appears and feels like spring is here to stay. This is the time of year where most of the fish move into shallow water and are feeding up for their up-coming spawning cycles.

Bass and crappie will be some of the first fish to spawn and both species have already started moving shallow. Both bass and crappie are occupying water in the 15 feet down to 2 feet of water zone.

The smallmouth bass have most likely begun their spawning cycle and many of the Largemouth bass are set up in or cruising around in super shallow water waiting for the morning water temperature to hit 62 degrees which is when their spawn starts.

If you compare Kentucky and Barkley lakes together take note that Kentucky Lake warms a little faster than Barkley so the spawning cycles can start a week or so sooner on Kentucky Lake.

Crappie are biting really good right now. Yesterday I caught some nice crappie in 10 to 15 feet of water. They were back in a bay holding in large stake beds.

On another day I caught them in 10 to 4 feet in various submerged brushpiles. The crappie fishing has really started to bounce back from previous years. To catch crappie consistently, it's best to fish around submerged brushpiles and stake beds.

In previous years, a fisherman could cast to certain stretches of shoreline where the crappie were staged and many of those old faithful banks just don’t hold them like they used to. I am sure it has something to do with the Asian carp.

There are a lot of reports about how good the bass fishing is and how the lake has bounced back and it is mostly true as the winning tournament weights have went up dramatically during the last couple years

Smallmouth bass fishing is getting most of the attention. The other reason the winning weights in bass tournaments have increased is because of the forward facing sonar. This allows fisherman to find fish easier and to even single-out the biggest fish among a group of fish.

Garmin's Panoptix/Livescope forward facing sonar has been around for several years now but its popularity has sky rocketed to the extent that most tournament anglers have to have it to compete. Some anglers have learned to be extremely effective with it. I upgraded all of my electronics and my trolling motor to Garmin.

The Garmin down imaging and side view are a lot better than my former units. The Livescope is amazing. I am comfortable in saying "go Garmin." Most of the crappie I have caught where with Livescope and I watched the fish swim up to take the bait.

The baits I have been using for crappie fishing are jigs and minnows. There are so many types of jigs and color combinations its hard to describe. White, pink, different shades of green, blue, and black are all good colors and most jigs have combined colors.

You cast jigs on a light weight spinning outfit, spider rig, long line trolling jigs or small crankbaits, and long pole where you have 9-foot plus long rod and you basically dunk your bait right into the brushpile.

For bass fishing, jerkbaits, crankbaits, jigs, spinner baits, finesse worms, drop shot, umbrella rigs and swimbaits all will work right now. Most tournament fisherman are using the Livescope technique but you don’t have to have it.

An angler can still win big without it. There are plenty of largemouth bass in the far back ends of creek arms and bays that tournament anglers aren’t targeting. Sometimes these bass will group up on a flat and you can catch a load very fast. For being consistent in the super shallow backwater its best to target pieces of wood, logs, stumps, and brush.

If your in town fishing for fun or here preparing for a tournament I am sure I can help you in either department. If you just want to enjoy a day of catching quality bass, panfish, catfish or are wanting to learn how to effectively fish offshore I am as good as it gets!

I had excellent results in my career as a baseball and wrestling coach and use the same skills to help my clients learn bass fishing. I have over thirty years of ledge fishing experience and have spent 4000 hours diving underwater on various bodies of water observing fish in their home.

If you want to book a trip with me please try to call me as the communication over the phone is much more effective and consumes less time than emails. I do respond to all forms of communication as quick as I can.

Please check out and like/follow my Shelldivers Guide Service Facebook page. I will have additional pictures posted there - some are underwater photos of fish and shellbeds.