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Steve McCadams'
Kentucky Lake Fishing Report for:
October 10th, 2003
Fall
fishing patterns are holding up well for bass and crappie anglers as
pretty weather returned this week. Stable conditions with warm days and
light winds replaced last week's cold front where brisk north winds had
white caps dancing on Kentucky Lake.
Observed lake elevation is down from last week. TVA has been pulling
water all week and lake levels in the Paris Landing and New Johnsonville
area are in the 354.9 range.
Surface
temperatures have cooled into the 64 to 66 degree range, thanks to some
cool nights last week.
Watercolor is dingy on the Tennessee River but clear throughout most of
the Big Sandy basin.
Crappie
have been hitting good this week. However, there are a lot of small fish
being caught that are just shy of the 10-inch minimum length limit.
Depths
of 8 to 12 feet have produced a lot of crappie this week. Stakebeds,
brush piles, and shallow stumps are holding a lot of fish but there's
still a lot of fish on the main lake ledges in depths of 16 to 20 feet.
The fall
lake levels have likely contributed to the deep-water venues, as crappie
will often pull back to drop-offs or ledges when draw down occurs.
I found
a lot of fish taking chartreuse jigs mixed with red metal flake. And,
tipping with a minnow seemed to help in some cases. Fishing double hook
rigs on the main lake ledges were also producing well when baited with
live shiner minnows.
Lake
levels are likely to stabilize this week, which will likely stimulate
movement from deep to shallow areas for crappie.
Bass
action is good with some of the larger smallmouth coming from ledge or
points at the mouth of large bays along the Tennessee River. Some
success has come from anglers working ledges with jig and pig combos,
small hair jigs, Carolina rigs, and large crankbaits.
There's
still a lot of fish shallow with gravel banks, exposed crappie beds,
logs, roadbeds, and boathouses holding fish. Pitching a worm or lizard
around boat docks has worked well, with Zoom's Brush Hog in the
green-pumpkin pepper producing well, along with the red shad color.
Crankbaits such as Rapala's Shad-Rap in the silver and black back, along
with Bandit's Tennessee Shad and Root Beer colors have worked well too.
A few fish have been taken off jerk baits such as Smithwick's Rattling
Rogue.
Surface
action continues in the early morning and late afternoons if you find a
gravel bank where the shad are jumping. The lowlight midge hatch
attracts the small baitfish each morning and afternoon with some top
water action.
Rebel's
Pop-R, Storm's Chug-Bug, and various buzzbaits are accounting for some
fast fun.
There
are a few more weeks of good fall fishing ahead. With the lower lake
levels be sure to use caution out there and follow the buoys to avoid
shallow water hazards.
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Also check out our past:
Kentucky Lake Fishing Reports
Steve McCadams
Steve McCadams is one of the nation's best known Crappie fishermen
and a full time resident of Paris Tennessee. Steve is also a
professional hunting and fishing guide here in the Paris Landing area.
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