| Kentucky Lake Fishing Guides Report | |
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| Kentucky Lake Fishing Guides Report | |
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Sporting Goods, Bait and Tackle Hunting Stories and Information
Fishing Stories |
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Some overdue rain danced around the Paris Landing area Wednesday night and early Thursday morning with a wind change and some cool air but nothing too drastic for anglers.
Fall is a season with the reputation for stability and with the
exception of a couple cool fronts the last several weeks have been just
what the doctor ordered for fishermen. Those jacket mornings and shirt
sleeve afternoons have been the ticket for bass, crappie, and
catfishermen.
Lake levels have been relatively stable the last few days but fell
slightly earlier in the week. Kentucky Lake is resting near its winter
pool level and will likely stay there unless some unforeseen weather
sneaks into the fishing scene.
Elevation at Kentucky Dam will be in the 355 range this weekend while
upstream at New Johnsonville Steam Plant readings are slightly lower in
the 354.9 range. Lake levels are down slightly from last week at this
time but anglers shouldn’t see much fluctuation in the week ahead.
Water color is quite clear across most of the reservoir. Surface
temps have been slow to cool down as the warm days have held a grip and
kept readings in the 71 to 73 degree range all week. With some cooler
air arriving expect to see a slight drop in surface temps the next few
days.
Crappie continue to bite good as anglers are finding good numbers of
fish showing up in the Paris Landing area and elsewhere across the
reservoir. Popular depth range has been the 9 to 14 foot zone, which is
pretty common for fall fish that find a real comfort zone in the
midrange depths.
Cloudy days and a few foggy mornings have helped the bite in shallow
areas but clear water and bright sunny days when stagnant winds arrived
at midday have seen fish turn sluggish at times. Those morning when
light winds and cloud cover teamed up have produced some nice fishing
conditions and crappie responded favorably.
There are good numbers of crappie right at the 10-inch length limit
range, which indicates a strong 2 ½ year class of fish out there.
Several exceed the minimum length so you can find plenty of keepers
mixed in with the small fish but it’s not unusual to require frequent
measurements during the course of the day.
Some of those true black crappie are hefty but usually not as long
as the profile of the white crappie. It appears this age class will
provide some good fishing for the late winter and early spring time
frame as they grow and mature.
Patterns have seen the crappie holding tight to structure on most
days as those stakebeds and brushpiles have attracted fish but you have
to put the jig or minnow right in their front door before strikes occur
on most days. Bites have been light so the fish have to have the bait
presented on their terms.
Popular colors have been some black/chartreuse, white/orange,
blue/chartreuse, and dull colors such as motor oil or sliver with
sparkle type skirts. I’ve found some hair jigs in the brown or white
body producing well when fished with chartreuse, white, yellow and black
leadheads. Tipping jigs continues to work well as the Berkley Power Bait crappie nibbles are popular choices in such colors as white, chartreuse, and gold with metal flake. Live minnows have been fair.
More good crappie fishing in on the horizon so better take advantage
of this fall fling underway.
Bass action has been fair with some flurry of activity at times when
wind and cloud cover entered the picture. The fish are chasing shad
along gravel banks and roadbeds at times while also busting the surface
near the shallow sides of main lake ledges. Shad colored variations of crankbaits are working well. A few fish were taking jerk baits and Texas rigged worms at times.
Most of the fish are running shad around the rock banks and points
that have deeper water nearby. Roadbeds and bridge piers have produced
some fish as have some shallow stumps.
This fall bass fishing can have several patterns working at one time
so don’t be afraid to experiment with some fluke style works at times
and jig and craw combos fish in a slow but steady retrieve. Carolina
rigs have a time and place too this time of year, especially on those
sloping gravel points.
There are a lot of bluegill showing up around submerged crappie beds
lately so you can tie into some dandies this time of year if you care to
fish for them.
Catfish have been moving up too as crappie anglers are tying into
them daily around the midrange depths. Colors keep fading across the shorelines and the trees seem to be changing now on a daily basis. Not every day is perfect but your odds of getting good fishing conditions this time of year make it well worthwhile to plan a fall fishing trip.
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