Brandon Hunter

Hello again from Kentucky Lake! Summer time has made its way here to Kentucky and it brought those hot and humid days with it. 105 to 110 Heat Index here recently has made it extremely tough to put a full day in on the water. Let’s dive right in.

Lake Conditions and What's Happening on the Lake

Water Temp: High 80s
Lake Level: Full Summer Pool 359’
Water Color: Clean Normal

Here we are again already almost through the month of June. Where does the time go? The lake has fished very good this summer with some great days on the water for numbers and quality both. It seems like this year the fish came out later on some of the more community areas. The water temps were very slow to warm up this year and when they finally did, the fish started to get going right away.

The Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour was here on the lakes recently and the weights very good. They caught a lot of fish and proved that our lakes are headed in the right direction. I keep hearing people say “the lakes back”. I wouldn’t jump the gun just yet and say its back. I seen what it was when it was in its prime and its far from “back”.

Now, are we headed in the right direction? Absolutely! The lake is fishing well with several good schools of fish being found offshore and a great number of fish up shallow running the crazy amount of bait right now. Great spawns, shad population strong, and reduced numbers of carp are all part of the lake coming back.

Now keep in mind, the lake is getting a huge deal of pressure right now and you may find that the fish are hard to catch. I am a firm believer that the tough years were all brought due to pressure and bad spawns. The best lakes in the country will go through bad cycles and fishing pressure is usually the major factor here. 10 years ago we had a lot more fish in the lake and lot more big schools of fish and it could withstand a little more pressure.

Now that the lake is coming back around and getting its head above water, we are throwing that pressure right back at it awfully fast. I just hope we do our part to protect it and do things the right way on the water with fish care being number one priority. I believe in the next 2-4 years, we will experience something special again here on The South’s Great Lake! If you have had the chance to fish this summer, I think you know we are well on our way.

The fish are getting harder to catch as those hot summer days are getting here early this year. With that comes that tougher bite, so don’t be surprised if you have to downsize to the finesse baits to get bites. Dragging is not my deal, but sometimes that’s what it takes is to slow down. The bites will come, just bounce around and hit as many places as you can and you will eventually land on some that will bite.

Techniques & Where

Swimjig- The Shad on Kentucky Lake are everywhere right now with a lot of shad up shallow. Green Laydowns or wood is key to targeting fish shallow with a Swimjig.

Specifics – Dirty Jigs Swimjigs

Colors- White or Chart Shad

Swimbait- If you want to get bites right now you can take a small swimbait and run gravel or pockets off the main lake and get bite. Quality may not be as good, but bites are up there shallow around all the bait.

Specifics- 6th Sense Fishing Finesse Swimbait Head 5/16, Divine 3.2 Swimbaits, Ignite 4” Frenzy

Colors- Pro Blue, Platinum White, Sexified Shad, Pro Shad, TVA Hitch, Ky Lake Special, Sexy Shad

Deep Cranking- Deep Cranking is more of an early deal when fish start to move out. For the most part this bite is over with, but still a few to be caught if you time things right. Fish will start to move up on top of the bars here soon in that 10-15’ range with the summer heat.

Specifics- 6th Sense Fishing Crush DD 300

Colors- Blue Treuse, Citrus Scales, Smash Fest

Minnow Bait- A jighead minnow of your choice and a minnow style bait has been proven on smallmouth and largemouth both. FFS is a great tool and it’s proven to be dominate today. When those fish feel pressured, this is a great bait to toss at them to make them bite.

Specifics- 6th Sense Fishing Ozzie, Juggle Minnow, Ignite Baits Nicotine Minnow

Colors- Ghost Ice Minnow, Ghost Minnow, Threadfin Shad, Forty4, GBG, Gizzard

Neko Rig or Dropshot- When fish start to feel pressured in the summer months, the neko and dropshot will likely get you bites when nothing else will. The bite is starting to get tough like it always does later in the summer, but these baits will put some fish in the boat. Offshore ledges 18-22’.

Specifics- 6th Sense Fishing Bamboosa, 6th Sense Fishing Glitch Worm Colors- Blue Fleck or Plum, Morning Dawn

Big Spoon- The big Magnum Spoon is still catching some good ones. When fish are pressured and hard to catch, you can still get them fired up on the Mag Spoon. What a fun bite!

Specifics- Nichols Magum Spoon and Mini Mag Spoon

Colors- Silver Chrome

Carolina Rig- A Carolina rig is a great bait this time of year when the moving baits aren’t working anymore. If you want to feel the bottom and get bit when nothing else will work, a ball and chain can do it. Shallower areas with shells or wood are key off the main river and secondary ledges. 12-18’ have been key.

Specifics- 1/2 or 3/4 oz weights or 6th Sense Pre Rig, Boosa Shakey Worm, Ridge Lizard, Hogwalla

Colors- Plum Bug, Watermelon Candy Texas Rig Worm or Big Shakey Head- Both of these techniques are staples on Kentucky Lake when fish get offshore, especially late summer when they move to structure. Look around brush and stumps up on top of the flats or shallow ledges in that 10-15’ range.

Specifics- 1/4 or 3/8 Bullet Weight or Shakey Head, 6th Sense Boosa Ribbon Tail or Boosa Shakey Worm

Colors- Plum Bug, Blue Fleck

Topwater- Fish are starting to school and chase bait. You can run shallow gravel for the first few hours of the day or last hour of the day and get a topwater bite. Always have one on the deck this time of year for those single schoolers that come up offshore chasing those big gizzard shad.

Specifics- 6th Sense Catwalk, Scramble Colors- Shad Scales, Bone Pearl

*All of the 6th Sense Fishing Baits mentioned in this report can be purchased at 6thsensefishing.com and use code “BHFISHING10” at checkout and save some money.

For those of you who are not familiar with my service, I competed for eight years on the Major League Fishing Tour before deciding to stay home and raise my family. The travel was too much for me with kids at home. Kentucky Lake is a destination lake and I chose to start teaching people what I had learned from so much time traveling the country and my knowledge of fishing offshore.

I am a full time, Licensed and Insured Captain, with First Aid and CPR Certification. I offer one-on-one training, technique-specific trips, fun bass fishing trips, and electronics training in your boat. I would love the opportunity to share a day with you in my Vexus VXS21 or in your own boat to get your electronics dialed in. I am here to help you and to help you become a better angler and to give you confidence in your equipment.

If you plan to visit us on the north end of the lake, I want to invite you to our Electronics Shop, Sonar Solutions. We are a full service marine electronics retail and install shop. If you are looking at upgrading your marine electronics, needing products installed, or need help learning about your system, give us a call at 270-460-0733 or visit us online at sonar-solutions.com.

Kentucky Lake Outdoors and Fast Eddie’s are both great tackle shops here on the north end of the lake. Be sure to check them out if you are in the area.

Be sure to follow me on Facebook and Instagram @brandonhunterfishing and @bhunterfishing for anything fishing. Make sure you are following along and subscribe to my YouTube Channel BrandonHunterFishing for updated reports and tips. Please visit brandonhunterfishing.com and shoot me an email to book your next trip. See you on the water!