KY Lake bass fishing
- Thread starter TNReb
- Start date
DP713
Well-Known Member
I will try to answer a few questions but the lake is dead.... Fish for 8 hours to get 3-5 bites kind of dead..
Displaced_Vol
Well-Known Member
Is this as bad as it's been in your opinion? I talked to some folks out there back last fall and they said things were starting to improve. Only slightly of course but it was the first time in a couple years I recall anyone having much positive to say about it at all.
its not dead, we just had a couple of years spawn failures, just like the crappie. 2017 was the best spawn year for LMB that has been seen on KY and Barkley since theyve kept records on spawn success and keeps in my prediction 2 years ago that 2021 and 2022 we will see a lot of keeper LMB.
the problem with most folks perception is from the 2008 spawn and the amount of large bass we had in the lake up to around 2017. the problem is the failed spawns we had after 2008 and there were no fish to replace the 2008 spawners when they end of lifed last year.
the same was said about white crappie 4 years ago and everyone was coming up with all minds of cocka maimy ideas about carp eating shad, fry, etc. it was partly the carp due to their spawn that one year but it was mainly due bad hydrology of severe wet springs and two back to back winter kills. but like anything in nature, rrproduction is usually above average after big kills. the crappie have bounced back as the 2015 spawned fish are showing up and even a 3.5 pounder was caught out of the big sandy recently.
after all that said, folks will still need to think outside the box to find fish because the carp will definately move and disrupt gamefish.
Where are the spawn studies? I have seen them before but can't find them. I think we had a good spawn in 2020 as well. Saw quite a few 3-4 inch bass in july-august under docks and shallow cover. Id have a school of 10-15 chase my bait out from under a dock.
KY fisheries site. they come out with a yearly report on their trapnet data. fyi, ky lake is pretty much a mirror image of barkley.
here ya go. look at the western fisheries district for ky and barkley. their data pretty much holds for what little data i can find from TWRA. heck they may even use KY's data for their fishing outlook. TVA used to publish similar data but they have quit fish sampling.
here are the LMB assessments, they do every few years to paint a picture of sportfish health in the lake. it will further explain some of the problems that the lake has experienced over the years as far as weak year classes.
DP713
Well-Known Member
I've been fishing the lake for 30 years and its the worst I have ever seen it... so bad that I have started to look for other lakes to fish or just don't fish. There are days that will give you a glimmer of hope only to be humbled the next 10 trips. This past fall is the first time I have seen any bait fish to speak of for the last 4-5 years. That was encouraging. I have a tournament there this next weekend so I will be optimistic going into it but not sure how things will be after this passed week of weather. Every creek on it was frozen all the way out to the main lake. Water temps are in the mid/upper 30's.
Displaced_Vol
Well-Known Member
Well I hope it starts to get better again. Like I said I was hearing the first optimistic talk I've heard in a couple years, but this was a lot of second hand info so take that into account. In my head I am planning to make a couple runs out to Barkley later this spring I can be to Cadiz in just under 2 hours. Course I'm not going after bass but still.
DP713
Well-Known Member
We have a place on lake Barkley in Blue Springs. Due to how poorly KY Lake has been fishing we have been spider rigging on Barkley for most of our spring fishing trips. All things considered, we have had 2 pretty solid years in a row crappie fishing. Nothing like it used to be but catching more than a lot of folks we talk to at the dock. Hoping that the state can continue the war on the carp, baitfish make their return, and vegetation finds its way back into KY Lake.
Displaced_Vol
Well-Known Member
Some duck hunters that know a lot more about hunting those big lakes than I do would certainly agree on the wish for vegetation.
I would love to see some vegetation back on the lake. It would really help things out for fishing and duck hunting.
yeah i dont know if that will ever happen again like it was before the 2010 flood. KY fisheries has been planting winter rye in some of the coves as a test project. i had thought about planting some myself but i dont know if it would be legal or not.
In my opinion carp and clearer water has made kylake harder to fish.Fish always seem super spookey and are on the move alot.On crappie it seems like the pattern changes daily,but theres still plenty to catch if you can adapt.I will say most of the bass i catch anymore crappie fishing are usually not to far from drops here lately,may be because they dont have to go far with all the bait fish we have had on kylake.
DP713
Well-Known Member
Pretty good article here:
https://www.nashvillescene.com/news...9CMzoA8TCXUdSKgVTI_7JtBXa7aRHscC2BEsXrU8Pwkiw
https://www.nashvillescene.com/news...9CMzoA8TCXUdSKgVTI_7JtBXa7aRHscC2BEsXrU8Pwkiw
