Fishing Report Archives

March was warmer than usual and April has been hot. Our spring season is two weeks ahead of normal. The morning water temperature was 61/62 April 1st and normally it doesn’t get there until April 15th. Barkley is usually a week behind Kentucky Lake due to the Cumberland River being cooler.

During March and early April I had some great days catching crappies and bass. All of the bass have been relatively shallow and the crappies have been near the shoreline and from deeper brush and structure.

Smallmouth started spawning back in March and the Largemouth started about April 1st. I’m sure some crappies have started to spawn and just like largemouth they need a morning water temperature of 61/62 degrees.

A second wave of Largemouth has moved up in the shallows to spawn in the last couple days and more will follow. Because Kentucky and Barkley Lakes are so big there truly are waves of fish moving into spawn and when a wave moves in there are still other bass out deeper so you can fish the shallow spawning water or go after the pre-spawn bass.

I like to catch the shallow bass that are in the spawning mode as they don’t have the pressure on them... its just the way I like fish. For the shallow largemouths that are in the spawning mode I use a weightless trick worm. I rig it Texas-style with no weight and fish it very slow.

Black is a color that use a lot but when I am fishing with clients I use white or pink so that the clients that are learning to fish the trick worm can see it. I will post an article about the bass spawn on my Shelldivers Guide Service Facebook page for anyone interested in learning about the Largemouth bass spawn.

The nest that smallmouth bass make is at least twice the size and depth from a largemouth’s nest. I saw a row of smallmouth nests in a stream in Indianapolis where the nests were made in the middle of a jagged, chunck rock, fist-sized bottom. Those smallmouths had to push the rocks by nose or bite them and lift them to have moved them!

Anglers catch crappie at Kentucky and Barkley Lake by long line trolling, spider rigging, using a long pole, casting jigs, jig and bobber, or a live minnow and slip bobber. I like the jig and float and even a minnow under a slip bobber. Many color combinations can work and it can change day to day.

Catfish are moving in shallow and red ears will spawn soon with bluegills spawning next. The bluegill and red ear fishing last year was super good.

If you’re 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.