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Brought to you by: Fishtale Lodge
Steve McCadams'
Kentucky Lake Fishing Report for:
April 6th, 2007
COLD FRONT CONFUSES FISH AND FISHERMEN
ALIKE
Sooner or later it
had to happen. A spring cold front that is.
On Wednesday a
drastic weather change greeted anglers, escorted by bone chilling
northwest winds that sent fishermen back to the closet for more clothes.
Cold weather is expected to linger for a few days before a warm up
arrives on Monday.
Odds are the high
skies and cold temperatures will cool off the hot crappie spawn for a
few days here on Kentucky Lake. While action may slow down, anglers
really can’t complain much as it has been an above average spring thus
far in terms of both weather and fishing success.
Surface
temperatures were in the 68 to 70 degree range on Monday but by
Wednesday afternoon they were falling slowly to 65. Anglers can expect
the decline to continue throughout the weekend as cold nights will
continue to hold a grip.
Observed lake
levels are holding relatively stable. At Kentucky Dam the elevation was
predicted to be 355.8 going into the weekend. Upstream at New
Johnsonville and the Paris Landing sector lake levels were expected to
be in the 355.6 range. Those readings are up only a few inches from last
weekend.
Water color is
clear in the main lake but some stain has entered bays and creeks this
week in the aftermath of rains and high winds.
How will the cold
front affect the crappie spawn now underway? Anglers are likely to see
the shallow action diminish this weekend as the high pressure teams up
with rapidly falling surface temperatures to push crappie back out to
deeper depths and turn off the aggressive bite that has been underway
for over two weeks.
It appears the
first wave of crappie spawned last week as action was aggressive and
some hefty stringers of fish were taken in shallow zones around
structure. And, male crappie were really moving up fast too and
homesteading shallow structure such as stumps, brushpiles, and stakebeds
in 3 to 6 foot depths.
There are still
some crappie lingering on the main lake ledges that have not yet
spawned. A few good fish were taken in the 18 to 24 foot zone this week
as anglers tightlined jigs and bottom bumping minnow rigs around
drop-offs.
Other productive
techniques have been drifting, long-line pulling, and slow trolling
spider rigs as some fish were suspended in 9 to 13 foot depths out over
much deeper water.
Popular jig colors
have been chartreuse with glitter, red-chartreuse, blue-chartreuse, and
purple-green combos. Tipping jigs with minnows has helped stimulate
bites during the cold front.
Earlier in the week
casting curly tail grubs in the pearl, chartreuse with sparkle, and red
and white with glitter was working well. However, watch for crappie to
be sluggish for a few days and somewhat unwilling to run down fast
moving baits in favor of vertical presentations or baits moved very
slowly right in front of them.
The cold spell may
well see crappie back off the shallow areas and pull back toward deeper
water as they wait out the weather change. Suspending out over deeper
areas and not relating to structure may well be the norm for a few days
as the fish react to the drastic drop in surface temps.
Wednesday
afternoon I could detect a very finicky bite compared to the day before
and even that morning. Cold fronts have an adverse affect as the high
barometric pressure seems to have a negative influence for a few days.
Beds that had been
giving up 6 to 8 fish at a fast pace were only producing two or three
fish by Wednesday afternoon.
Spawning could
resume by next Tuesday or Wednesday but it’s unlikely anglers will see a
big migration of fish back toward shallow zones. Since many fish have
spawned early due to the unusually warm March weather, the late wave of
spawners may be lower in numbers with some fish spawning much deeper due
to the clear water.
Sometimes crappie
will reabsorb eggs and not spawn if cold surface temperatures disrupt
their second attempt. So a lot depends on the duration of the cold front
now at hand and next week’s weather as well.
Meanwhile, watch
for deep ledges in the main lake and suspended patterns to produce best
these next few days as crappie react to the weather change. There’s
still some decent fishing ahead but the cold front preceded by the warm
March weather has altered this spring’s spawning agenda.
Bass action has
also been affected by the cold front as those shallow fish that have
been running the gravel banks and rock points were already beginning to
move up toward spawning territory. A lot of buck bass were seen last
weekend working around very shallow structure and mud banks.
The shallow fish
may well have a mood swing with a temporary dose of lockjaw for a few
days until surface temps rebound early next week. Anglers had been
finding fish taking some topwater, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and
suspending jerkbaits and worms.
A slower approach
may be in order for a few days as fish are likely to avoid chasing down
a fast moving lure.
Rising lake levels
could put some water into shallow grassbeds by late next week and if
warm weather returns action could resume quickly.
Until this week it
had been a spring full of warm days and light winds. It was bound to
happen as cold fronts are part of spring fishing. Always have been;
always will be.
It just hurts
everyone’s feelings as things were going so good. Sunscreen one day and
overcoats the next. Right now the fish and the fishermen are a bit off
keel due to the weather change but soon the music will resume and so
will the dance.
For The Lake Barkley Report
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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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