Brought to you by: Fishtale Lodge
Steve McCadams'
Kentucky Lake Fishing Report for:
April 11th, 2003
CRAPPIE SPAWN SHOULD RESUME SOON
(ANGLERS BATTLE COLD WEATHER)
This
week’s fishing scene on Kentucky Lake has had all types of weather
confronting anglers. From warm sunshine and shirtsleeves to sleet and
snow, the unstable spring weather has shown many faces.
Despite
high winds and cold fronts, crappie and bass fishing have held up well
with some good stringers showing up.
Crappie
have attempted to spawn this past week but about the time surface
temperatures crossed the 62-degree threshold along came a bitter cold
front where north winds sent the thermometer on a downward blitz.
Monday
saw warm sunshine and calm winds for the first time in over a week but
by Tuesday, temperatures fell from 72 to 50 degrees. Then, on Tuesday
the high reached a mere 35 degrees with wind chills well below freezing.
Surface
temperatures were 62 degrees by Monday afternoon but had dropped to 56
by Wednesday night.
Crappie
continued to bite good this week as the strong urge to initiate the
spawn seemed to defy the drastic weather changes. Depths of 4 to 10 feet
were giving up some hefty stringers of slabs.
A lot of
fish were also coming from the 10 to 14 foot zones out on the Big Sandy
where flats with submerged stump fields were holding a lot of fish still
in a prespawn pattern.
Anglers
in the upper end of Big Sandy near New Hope and Country Junction were
finding fish in shallow structure. Depths of two to four feet were
producing there while deeper areas in West Sandy and down in the Paris
Landing area seemed to be the norm.
Kentucky
Lake has been rising all week with a lot of debris floating. The
reservoir is somewhat ahead of schedule as to TVA’s curve for filling.
Observed
lake elevation at Kentucky Dam was expected to be 358.1 by this weekend.
Similar readings were expected upstream at New Johnsonville.
Normally, the reservoir does not reach these stages until later in April
so levels are couple of feet above normal for this period of the month.
Water
color was clearing in the main lake but high winds and some runoff early
this week from heavy rains had created some stained water in the backs
of bays and in the upper Big Sandy embayment.
What
have this week’s cold fronts done to the crappie spawn? It appears the
fish backed off by midweek and retreated to slightly deeper areas as
they await warming trends. If sunshine returns this weekend look for
spawning phases to return in full swing by early next week as the fish
are ready.
Several
large females were taken this week but the vast majority was still
sporting eggs. Male crappie have their deep purple appearance and
continue to move into shallow structure and along rock banks.
Anglers
are finding a variety of techniques working well. Vertical jig
presentations over stakebeds and brushpiles are working, along with some
casting of grubs on light spinning tackle.
At the
same time the slow trolling patterns of spider rigging and pulling
multipole rigs are working too, not to mention those boats, which are
just drifting with the wind and catching fish.
The
highlight of the week in the crappie department has been the trophy
catch by Mike Taylor of Union City (see
related story). His huge crappie tipped the scales at Pat Mayer’s
grocery to the tune of 3 pounds, 14 and a half ounces! It knocked out
the 3.46 pound slab taken a couple of weeks ago in the big fish contest
there and it’s the largest crappie taken here in decades.
Bass
anglers are working the big rock points with crankbaits and having
success. However, action has improved this week around shallow logs and
structure thanks to the rising lake levels.
Spinnerbaits are working in the shallow structure, along with a variety
of jerk baits and tube jigs. And, jig and pig combos are producing as
well.
Look for
an improvement in shallow water bass action this next week as many
shallow grassbeds and crappie beds now have enough water around them to
attract bass.
Caroline
rigged worms and lizards were accounting for a few fish too as anglers
work sloping gravel points and mudflats adjacent to deep water that were
near the mouths of big bays.
With the
rising lake levels and a return to warm weather, bass anglers will see a
multitude of patterns develop on Kentucky Lake next week.
For The Lake Barkley Report
Click Here
For Other Kentucky Lake Fishing Reports
Click Here
Steve McCadams
is a professional hunting and fishing guide
here in the
Paris Landing area and host of The Outdoor Channel's television series IN-PURSUIT.
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