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June 8, 2012
FISHING SCENE HOLDING UP WELL
Early summer patterns are on schedule for anglers who have chalked up
some hefty stringers of bass, crappie and bluegill this week on Kentucky
Lake.
Despite a few days with annoying north winds that whipped up whitecaps
the fishing scene has held up well as the first week of June dealt
pretty decent cards. Rain earlier in the week helped bring some cooler
conditions and lower humidity.
Surface temperatures are starting out around 78 degrees in the mornings
and warming to the 82 degree range at midday. Water color is clear in
the main lake with a slight stain in some bays where winds whipped up
sediments.
Lake levels are up slightly from last week but still more than a foot
below summer pool’s 359 mark. A few thunderstorms passed through the
region earlier in the week but haven’t dumped enough water to alter
levels much, according to TVA.
Projections for the weekend will be 357.6 at Kentucky Dam and 357.4 for
the New Johnsonville sector. There has been slight current in the main
river at times.
Anglers continue to deal with below normal lake levels but it hasn’t
diminished the catch rates for bass, crappie or bluegill fishermen who
continue to score as they adjust to the patterns.
Good stringers of crappie continued this week as the 10 to 14 foot depth
range has produced well. There is a good grade of fish mixed in with
some smaller fish as they share the comfort zone of midrange depths
where structure is located.
Stakebeds, stumprows, and brushpiles are holding nice numbers and the
early June bite will likely last for some time. Once the fish pull off
shallow spawning territory and discover structure in the midrange depths
the pattern generally holds up for several weeks.
Popular presentations have been various shades of chartreuse jigs tipped
with live minnows or Berkley Power bait crappie nibbles. Live minows
have worked well too on tightline rigs.
Bass patterns are on track for the early summer gig as hefty catches
have been taken this week by anglers working main lake ledges and
midrange grassbeds near deep water.
In the recent Triton Boat Owner’s tournament held June 1-2 out of Paris
Landing there were some awesome stringers weighed in that recorded sever
fish in the 9-pound plus range and two that tipped the scales over 10
pounds!
On two different days teams landed stringers that weighed 27 and 28
pounds for an average weight of 5.77 pounds! Big bass of the event was a
10.38 pound lunker and it took 48.57 pounds to win the two-day tourney.
While most have been working ledges with big deep diving crankbaits,
large Texas rigged worms, hopping spoons or jig and craw combos there
have been some milfoil grassbeds producing well as anglers put together
spinnerbait, topwater and flipping patterns.
The ledge pattern has been on for quite some time but grassbeds have
increased in the last few weeks, especially south around the New
Johnsonville area where mats are showing up near ditches and deeper
sloughs. Lots of baitfish are relating to the aquatic vegetation and the
grass near deep water has held some of the year’s best bass thus far.
Late bedding bluegill were still sporting an attitude this week and
decent catches were taken from deeper bedding spots in the 4 to 7 foot
depths. A lot of late spawning females are now occupying the bedding
areas and that’s not unusual this time of year as the second wave of
spawning takes place.
There are still a few good bull bream hitting on the beds but a lot of
the big males are showing up in deeper water as they leave the fanning
areas and scatter into open water zones where mayfly larva is beginning
to show up.
Some good bluegill action remains but anglers may have to cull out a lot
of smaller fish and some females as the last phase of the spawning time
is in its eleventh hour. Watch for another mayfly hatch at any time.
Also check out our past:
Kentucky Lake Fishing Reports
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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