Note: The following article was written by Kentucky Lake Guide Scott Patton.
Here in Paris, Tenn. on Kentucky Lake we get a lot of anglers coming down to fish this fantastic ledge fishing factory!
Of course it’s known for great crank baits, hair jigs and swim baits. You better have those baits available when you do fish here. A lot of the mentioned lures are king in June and that’s because of the current flowing from the spring rains.
Come July and August is a different situation. There’s just not going to be that much current here on those dog day months.
That’s when I will do something a little different and slow down. One of my first choices is ZOOMs Mag Ole Monster and Ole Monster worms. I will fish them real slow crawling the worm across the bottom feeling for the mussel beds that the fish like to relate to on these ledges.
Color is always important but I always have Plum, Red Bug, June Bug on my boat! I will fish the big worm early on top of the ledges and as the sun starts to rise, that’s when I will pull out my Lews drop shot rod.
I will catch a big part of my summertime bass on the drop shot. I love ZOOMs Z3 Swamp Crawler and Z Drop worm in Morning Dawn. Now both of these baits are Morning Dawn but the Z3 Swamp Crawler is a slight different color. It is a brighter worm and it seems to really stand out in deeper water or cloudy days for me.
On bright sunny days the Z Drop in Morning Dawn seems to do better for me on Kentucky Lake. I will use Seaguar braid with a fluorocarbon leader and a 3/8 or 1/2 ounce Tungsten drop shot weight depending on the wind.
Now there is something else that happens in the morning on Kentucky Lake! You will see the bass push the schools of gizzard shad up to the surface. I’ve seen schools of five and six pounders explode of the gizzard shad right in front of me.
So you better make sure you keep a Lucky Craft Sammy in some
type of shad pattern rigged up and have it ready, because when
it happens, you can catch them fast. I always use 20 pound
monofilament line when fishing the Sammy.
Note about the author:
Scott Patton is a professional fishing guide on Kentucky Lake
March through November and on Lake Okeechobee in December
through February. You can contact
him at 731-227-9499 or email at
scottpattonfishing@yahoo.com. His sponsors are:
Protungsten.com, Renewalky.com, Lowrance, Under Amour, Lews,
Kentucky Battery Outlet, Power Pole, Seaguar, Motorguide, ZOOM,
Lucky Craft
