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This page brought to you by:
Steve Hale and John Wainscott from TN December 2016
Kentucky Lake Crappie Fishing
Crappie Action
Guide Service
WINTER FISHING HOLDS UP WELL…WARM MONTHS HAVE BEEN KIND
For most winter fishermen on Kentucky Lake the weather has been kind and
the fish have been biting. Both bass and crappie anglers have enjoyed
unusually warm weather throughout the months December and January and
anglers have made the most of it.
Even before winter months arrived crappie anglers were having good luck
throughout the late fall and it lasted well into the winter months and
the parade of success hasn’t stopped yet.
Hefty stringers of crappie have been caught lately by crappie fishermen
working main lake ledges. Depths of 18 to 22 feet have been giving up
several crappie.
Some anglers are using all jigs. Others are using all minnows. And, a
few are using a combination of jigs tipped with minnows. All seem to
have having some degree of success.
Also producing have been midrange stakebeds and brushpiles. Depths of 9
to 12 feet are accounting for plenty of fish too.
Some boaters were even casting jigs and working slip bobbers around
shallow areas such as boat docks or various structure and having good
luck too.
Bottom line is that crappie have been biting all winter as only a few
short segments of cold windy weather interrupted the party. That worked
well for fishermen but hurt the feelings of waterfowlers this season as
most suffered during the long spell of unseasonably warm weather.
Lake levels this week have been falling after a surge last week. Each
day the reservoir has fallen a few inches and TVA projects readings of
355 in elevation as the weekend approaches. Present levels are down
about two feet from last week at this time.
Surface temperatures have been above normal for this time of year, a
reflection of the warm winter weather. Readings have been in the mid to
upper 40’s lately. Fishermen enjoyed several warm days when the air
temps reached the mid to upper 60’s.
Not only have unseasonably warm days dominated but light winds have too.
That’s also rare for this time of year.
Crappie anglers aren’t the only ones having success as bass fishermen
have been out in droves too. Some hefty stringers have been taken by
anglers tossing crankbaits around boat docks and relative shallow areas
at time.
Some bass anglers have targeted shallow ledges at times using crankbaits,
swim baits, jig and craw combos, spoons, and Alabama rigs.
There have been some trophy largemouth taken this winter too as a few
buddy tournaments reported five fish limits eclipsing the 25-pound
range. Some lunkers exceeding the 10-pound range have been taken.
It has been a weird winter for both anglers and hunters but the anglers
have benefitted the most!
As the first week of February enters the picture some cooler weather in
instore. Watch for a rebound to warmer weather in the near future
however.
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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