MAYFLY HATCHES UNDERWAY AS BASS/CRAPPIE BITE CONTINUES

 

    Summer fishing is alive and well and this week’s Kentucky Lake fishing update continues to reflect consistent catches for a variety of species. The summer season officially arrived last Saturday but fish have been in their early summer patterns for quite some time.

    Lake levels have been falling slowly the last few days. Presently, readings at Kentucky Dam are 358.9. Upstream at New Johnsonville the elevation is slightly lower with readings in the 358.7 range. (Normal summer pool is 359.)

    Water color remains clear across the reservoir as not much rain has entered the picture since last week.

    Surface temperatures are in the 83 to 86 degree range.

    Hefty stringers of bass continue to come in from area tournament anglers and those just fishing for fun. Most of the winning stringers in tournaments this past week were averaging about 21 pounds!

    The bass bite at Kentucky Lake this year has been above average. Good numbers of fish have been consistently showing up in the creel of anglers since way back in late February and early March.

    Recent patterns have shown the largest stringers coming from main lake ledges where some fish are relating to the deep sides of drop-offs around stumps and manmade structure. Several fish have been caught in that 15 to 20 foot depth range.

    Carolina rigged lizards and worms continue to produce as those humps and ledges around deeper water have been the ticket. Several success stories have come in from anglers tossing big Texas rigged worms, along with jig and pig combos.

    Some big crankbaits have accounted for some nice stringers too, especially when the fish are on top of the ledges and running shad.

    Shallow water patterns have ranged from working grassbeds along river islands to some blowdowns and buck bushes where pin minnows are now residing. Spinnerbaits, worms and some topwater have worked well in shallow venues.

    Recently mayfly hatches have attracted a lot of bass to the river islands and shorelines of secondary bays where a buffet of bait awaits them. Large numbers of bass in the 12 to 15 inch range are roaming those shallow areas so you can get your string pulled on a regular basis.

    Crappie are still hitting good and the warm weather has not slowed them down. Some hefty catches were still coming from those 12 to 14 foot stakebeds and brushpiles this week.

    At the same time the deep ledges were producing as plenty of fish are present in the 16 to 22 foot zone out on the main lake area where structure is located.

    Summer crappie patterns here in the Paris Landing area are right on track as the fish have been biting throughout the month of June.

    I’ve had nice catches this week and continue to have the highest success rate on jogs tipped with minnows. Some days when the fish are aggressive they have taken just jigs but most of the time adding that live minnows has stimulated bites, especially on some calm mornings when conditions were stagnant and fish were sluggish.

    Popular colors have ranged from chartreuse leadheads with assorted skirts to some white leadheads with brown feather bodies. A few days the chartreuse/black combo worked well as did the white/red but action has come on a variety of color combinations when tipped with live shiner minnows.

    Several year classes of crappie are showing up as you can catch some dandies mixed in with the small fish but that’s good news for the fall as it appears a lot of short fish are on the threshold of being keepers.

    Mayfly hatches were underway this week in Swamp Creek and up Big Sandy and West Sandy with some flies seen on river islands near Shannon Creek to the north and the Lick Creek islands to the south.

    Watch for some big hatches to occur in the weeks ahead which should stimulate bluegill action in those shallow areas.

    Some crappie and bluegill reports continue to flow in from the backwaters of West Sandy. Springville pumphouse has been dewatering the area the last few weeks but enough water was there to offer anglers plenty of places to fish.

    Catfish have been taken by anglers jug fishing across the area with baits of choice being nightcrawlers, chicken liver, small bluegill, and hot dogs dipped in commercial stink baits.

    All in all the summer fishing scene is good.