Steve McCadams

Above average temperatures the last week to ten days worked in favor of Kentucky Lake fishermen. Crappie and bass anglers wasted no time in getting back out on the water after the frigid temps two weeks ago.

No sooner had the winds shifted from the bitter cold north that southwest breezes shifted and brought a quick warming trend to the Kentucky Lake fishing scene last week.

Anglers know they best seize the opportunity whenever warm days descend this time of year. Lately they’ve done just that as area boat ramps have been filled with both bass and crappie boats launching and testing the water on these warm days. It felt more like spring than winter.

Best enjoy the honeymoon with this nice warm weather as all the meteorologists this side of the Mason-Dixon Line are singing the same song; cold days are coming and will arrive on Monday with a vengeance.

Starting Sunday the forecast will begin to change to very chilly weather as the daytime high on Monday will only reach 28 degrees! That’s the high. The low will fall to 20 degrees that night.

So, best cut a little more firewood and toss more logs on the fire. The winter fishing scene will have a bit of a reprieve in the warm stretch but the long range forecast indicates things will moderate after a few days in the deep freezer.

Meanwhile, water levels have remained low with readings in the 354.7 range lately. Very little rainfall has delivered any runoff.

Water color is clear. Not much current out there as TVA was discharging only 17,000 cfs (cubic feet per second) through Kentucky Dam.

Surface temps were in the 47 degree range but will no doubt see a decline in the days ahead.

A few decent stringers of crappie were taken during the warm spell. Bass fishermen were out too and managed to score a few fish while tossing jig and pig, Rattle Traps, crawfish and shad colored crankbaits along with swimbaits.

Crappie anglers credited jigs but jigs tipped with minnows worked well too.

Depths of 7 to 14 feet produced fish but others credited their catch to 14 to 16 food depths. Odds are the fish moved up a bit during the warming trend the last week to ten days.

Button up the jackets and zip up the coveralls. Winter will reenter the picture for a few days as the holiday period will experience the weather roller coaster at work!