www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMpNtRYu9tI. If you love to fish then youll find everything from bass, crappie, to spring spawnand much more. Second, if the water is rising slowly on Kentucky and Barkley, in this case, and expanding the territory where crappie like to spawn, you'll have a "line" up. Kentucky Lake provides some of the best fishing in the world, bass and crappie being the most popular. All the midnight colors in the Jenko cranks have been hot! Check out our Kentucky Lake area hotel and campgrounds. Using an ESB Slip Bobber coupled with a Crappie Hut Jigs Crazy Cricket and a live cricket together is the best way to catch these fish. Kentucky Lake is a great place to learn how to fish. Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 and on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter. The weather has cooled for a bit, but turning into fantastic sunny days with the air temp just right to be pleasant all morning. Buchanan Resort is proud to work with several local professional fishing guides. All rights reserved. TVA has a phone app also. One-third of those fish were keeper size, he mentioned. Dont have your fishing license for Kentucky? This fairly new development over the last few years in the makeup of the population has extended the better spring fishing, especially earlier than the traditional mid-April time frame. Your professional guide will provide everything necessary for your day on the lake, giving you not only modern equipment, but good old- fashioned knowledge of the hot spots as well. It won't take long to come across some debris on the edges, where fish will stack up over cover before rushing the bank to do what they do this time of year. TWRA communications manager Doug Markham said its not surprising crappie anglers on Kentucky Lake have become frustrated and are worried about the effect Asian carp are making. The density of the (Asian carp) population is just not enough to cause problems with reproduction or food availability for young crappie right now.. Secure a guide for a half or full day if this is your first time to Kentucky Lake. "Those who get someone to show them how to do it, what to look for and familiarize them with the water usually have a much better experience. Anglers should consider taking a look for themselves this spring. Remember, don't always rely on the notion that spring spawning runs are going to hit around mid-April every year. Were hoping theyre migrating.. The issue, Broadbent said, is the result of an inexplicable poor survival rate young crappie experienced in Kentucky Lake from 2011-13. o give crappie a try this spring. Then all of a sudden it went to 71 degrees in no time and then fell back out again. How was your visit? Thank you sooo much Captain Rich you truly are a saint sir! So the success was not as good. Redear/ bluegills are firing up as I write this report. Broadbent said the agency is monitoring the Asian carp population and attempting to curtail it. I just hope he shares his rod with me haha. Be sure to drop some jigs down into those spots. If you're looking for somewhere good down in the heart of the Bluegrass State, you might want to check out Taylorsville Lake in Anderson, Spencer and Nelson counties. The Redears we caught were post-spawn but the gills are just getting started. Each season brings new fishing opportunities! Are you planning a Kentucky Lake Fishing getaway? This confines and concentrates fish in the main-river channel. You can check the link below for more info. Here is a video we shot with Ky Afield TV a couple years ago that explains most of what we do while Crankin for Crappies. Fish locator equipment would be handy to find schools and cover out on the feeding flats. From a party of one to a large group anyone can enjoy a day of fine fishing with the best host. There is nothing better than fishing on Kentucky Lake as the sun rises over the water. You may also want to request a copy of the 2006 Kentucky Fishing Forecast from the KDFWR at (800) 858-1549, or simply go online at fw.ky.gov and review or download both publications under the "Fishing" tab on the state's homepage. On Buckhorn, Frey said fishing along the main-river channel is the place to catch more and bigger crappie through April. This is a great sign of very good fishing left for this spring. Buckhorn doesn't get a lot of attention on the crappie circuit, but Frey's most recent fish study information suggests the lake's papermouth population is in excellent condition. Black crappie tend to come shallow sooner, and stay there longer, before returning to deeper ledges and dropoffs. If youre planning a trip, call in advance for best possible guide availability. We have been catching some very nice blues and channels in the eater type sizes. All Rights Reserved. Have two or three colors of twistertails or jigheads in your tackle box to experiment with until you find what works best. Find a local fishing guide service below. If weather conditions like a mild winter occur, it's much more likely crappie fishing will come on sooner than you might expect.

With the water being above summer pool (359 feet) the crappies seem to be schooling up to feed in the brushpiles. Waterfront Cottages, Resort History If you're going to connect with crappie on Taylorsville, then fishing woody cover is most often the ticket you'll need to cash in. Some fishermen haven't quite caught on to that yet. Please go to my sponsors page and check out their products. Both have oodles of submerged habitat, which can be located with a depthfinder without too much trouble. Unless there's a great difference in water color or temperature, you should find fish at about the same depth in any of the embayments on the lake," Prather noted.

Redear/bluegills are coming on strong right now. Fishing License

In April, fish will move up on woody structure along the banks, where a jig with a twistertail or minnow will provide solid hits. Nature just doesn't work that way. Jug fishing has done very well lately also, very shallow.

Third, try to catch a period when the water isn't overly muddy. To get started, click the link below to visit mymagnow.com and learn how to access your digital magazine. Theres a lot of prey fish in the population. Fish generally start out on the flats at 10 to 15 feet. Yes it seems like a lot of bait but we think that presentation stops us from catching smaller fish and catching the bigger eater-sized fish. Gift certificates available call 270-205-7603 email kylakefish@gmail.com website kicknbass.net. "We've got wording on the attractor markers asking anglers to give us a call and let us know how they do around these things. "We've got these new attractors, marked as experimental, tied on underneath about 60 buoys in the two lakes. Since my last report, crappie fishing has picked back up with some very big and fat fish! Catfish, bluegill, and stripes are also fun to catch. And the fight on a 14-foot Jenko slab city trolling rod is a blast. "Once you determine how far down they are, you should look for other cover in that same range. Spawn was on in the flooded backs of the bays and flipping those bushes produced some huge bags for the tournament guys and gals. So ifit's notAsian carpthat are keeping anglers from catching crappie in the manner in which theyre accustomed to on Kentucky Lake, what is it? Depending on the weather, it's possible that crappie could already be up in the shallows on some Kentucky reservoirs, and after you finish reading this magazine, you may want to make a call or two and find out. This means you have the option to read your magazine on most popular phones and tablets. We have been catching a bunch on crankbaits and the size has picked up considerably as of late. Taylorsville has a lot of lumber in the water. Want to host your tournament here? Buchanan Resort also offers fish cleaning and fish freezing facilities so you can take your catch back home with you. Ive watched the fisherman for years and years and when you go through a few bad years on a very popular fish like crappie they tend to get nervous and they think somethings going on, Markham said. Best Regards, Scott Parry, Book now with Captain Rich! Any eggs left are negligible and will be reabsorbed by the fish. | One way of getting rid of some of the Asian carp is to get commercial anglers ore interested in targeting them. I think the mainly-black cranks have been best because of more abundant light on these nice sunny days. One of the toughest things to do when fishing for a species like crappie, where it's best to do it during their spawning period, is judging when, exactly, to get out there. One other little 1,200-acre hole of water that biologist Kevin Frey recommends this spring is Buckhorn Lake in southeastern Kentucky. Rister noted that crappie anglers have to be flexible to hit the timing just right. If we can get the commercial fishermen involved more than they are now then it would help, Broadbent said. Dig out your light tackle and hit a shoreline. Were doing larva light traps at night trying to determine if those fish reproduced in the lake, or if theyre migrating through the locks in the Ohio River. For a complete fishing directory on Kentucky Lake visit Fishermansyellowpages.com, Kentucky Lake Convention You may just need some guidance on fishing this new body of water. Early on, fish 8 to 15 feet deep, and probe the dropoffs along channel contours. "The fish are there, we just need a little luck with normal weather patterns to create the best fishing conditions for success," the biologist said. Nothing better than a 4-pound blue cat fillet!! Contact. Call 800-467-7145 or email: Looking for a tournament on KY Lake? "There's just a tremendous amount of habitat out there for crappie, and anglers shouldn't have too much trouble finding it, and hopefully some good fish associated with it, too," the biologist said. Watch the weather and water temperatures every few days starting in mid-March, and if black crappie are what you're after, be ready to go a little earlier than you might have in the past. If you go before the actual spawn hits, you can still find crappie with a little patience and persistence. Spider-rigging or straight lining the deeper cover are two good methods to use in those situations. And once you learn, you can do it on your own and come out on top most of the time," Rister said. It still seems to perform pretty well, though, for crappie in the spring. We are at 360.08 and rising some more but not much. One fishing problem on Kentucky Lake has nothing to do with another. It could be anywhere from mid-March to early May, if you're trying to catch crappie on the banks and in full feeding and spawning mode. & Visitors Bureau, Sign up for our email newsletter to stay in touch with Kentucky Lake. Or, you may want to bring the family for a fishing adventure. Fish ought to be in less than 8 feet of water when you find 60-degee surface temperatures, and along cover close to the bank, such as blowdowns. There is so much to do near Kentucky Lake! They can give you great tips on fishing this expansive body of water along with showing you a great time on the lake.

One is when water temperatures hit the upper 50s and low 60s. The fish had been scattered so in theory covering a lot of water will give us an advantage to catch these crappies. Frey reports "good distribution and numbers" of crappie are available, and that fishing tends to be best in the upper portion of the lake during early spring. Over on Barkley, the outlook is very good as well, with good size distribution in the crappie population and several strong year-classes available to maintain quality fishing. The fish were there. The water level is on the way up. Pulling Jenko crankbaits has been key to our success and earlier in the spring we were pulling at about 1.6 mph but 1.8 mph is best right now. Remember to approach cover as quietly as possible, and if you find a few fish in a given location, come back again later in the day. "We get several calls each spring from anglers about their experiences, and invariably there are some who come to fish these lakes, stay three or four days and still have a very difficult time catching fish. 2022 www.tennessean.com. Either way, we have guides available to help you. More so than the lakes in central and western Kentucky, eastern reservoirs experience a pretty heavy drawdown in the winter. Another tip for finding spring crappie on either lake is to look for any of more than 300 fish attractors that the KDFWR has placed in these reservoirs, anything from stakebeds to the newest thing going, an O-No Hang fish attractor. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. With less rainfall in the last couple of years, the remnant black crappie population in some lakes is beginning to stretch its legs in the clearer water conditions. Often you just have to take your best shot.

Again, thank you so much sir and God bless you!

We had water temperatures in the upper 50s through the end of April. All Game & Fish subscribers now have digital access to their magazine content. Call Andy at

Fish around cover in the head of Ashes Creek, which is off to the right when you come out of Settler's Trace Marina. "I suspect this year should be pretty good on Kentucky and Barkley, if anglers are watching the weather, and be aware that the black crappie will be on the move sooner than what the white crappie have done in years past," he concluded. Unfortunately, we have a lot of 10-inch Asian carp in the reservoir this year, Broadbent said. White crappie like more turbid, dingy conditions in order to thrive, but some lakes haven't seen their usual water color in the spring in recent times. "Anglers tell us the black crappie can be caught in really shallow water, and using various techniques such as drifting and slow-trolling jigs about 2 feet deep over flats adjacent to the creek channel works pretty well, for example," Rister said. Big waters, such as Kentucky and Barkley lakes or smaller impoundments, are where you'll find our best papermouth angling this spring. Wherever there may be cover along that channel, you can bet fish will be on it. Smaller weights and sizes of trailers tend to catch both aggressive and less active fish sometimes, and make the fight a little more exciting on lighter tackle. Water temp is hovering near 66 degrees overnight and heating up to about 70 by afternoon. He reported they still remain in pretty shallow water along ditches, ledges and drops associated with the main channel, even into the heat of August. That is what the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is telling anglers who are having trouble catching crappie and believe the invasive Asian carp population is to blame. Going to hit them hard after I finish writing. "Actually, we've had a pretty good spawn of both black and white crappie the past couple of years, and we expect those year-classes to provide good fishing this spring and maybe for another year or two," Prather said. It's sometimes amazing how consistent fish behavior is and the depths and cover preferences they choose throughout a reservoir. Eventually, as the lake level rises, crappie will move out onto the flats and into the bank cover, but most are going to be on a ledge or dropoff somewhere along the river channel in March and April. Using a combination jig tipped with a minnow also attracts hungry crappie, and these lures can usually be worked fairly easy through submerged tree limbs in 5 or 6 feet of water. As the spring wears on, Frey said crappie transition to the mud flats to feed on schools of shad. Close to the mouths of Coal Branch, Langdon, Bills, Trace and Wilder Branch, when the water is up enough, are good spots to find crappie. Helped a grandpa with some fishing gear and he sent me this nice thank you. tva.gov/Environment/Lake-Levels/Kentucky. We have many. You can purchase one. Kentucky Lake plays host to many fishing tournaments each year. The males still have their dark spawning colors so we know the spawn is just now complete. Crappie then gradually move into the banks as the water comes up, gets warmer and allows them to swim in no more than 2-foot depths over shoreline cover. "On the other line, one of our staff will be talking to someone else who has slayed them over the same weekend, and is telling us about who their guide was and how great their trip was. I may need to go fishing with him to remind me of which is which!!! There's only a 9-inch size limit on crappie in Taylorsville, and Prather reports he's "got a whole lot more" fish at, or above 9 inches out there waiting to be caught. Before the fish get right up on the bank, white crappie will be found out in a little deeper water, around some type of cover, often along a dropoff where brushpiles have been placed.

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