Fishing Report

Gibson County Lake

Water temperature: mid 80s.

Bass: “Bass fishing continues to be slow,” Trenton’s Brent Smith said. “(Try) shaky heads with a watermelon red worm or a black shad worm on cloudy days.”

Brent said crappie were not active, but catfish and shell crackers are, especially on red worms.

Pickwick Lake
Water temperature: 85 degrees. Elevation 414 feet

Bass: The top-water bite continues to produce a good number of bass. Start fishing with a top-water bait in shallow water in the main lake., and you can use the same bait to catch a few bass in the backs of coves.

The “Spit N King” by Strike King is the perfect size bait to start your day on the lake or below the dam for bass, stripers or white bass, so it is a good idea to have one tied on when you start fishing early.

It is recommended you make short jerks with your rod not to disturb the surface with the mouth of the bait. If the bass are active, they with hit it.

Remember, some people like to over jerk their bait, and this simply does not attract the bass as much as the subtle action of the Spit ‘N King.

You might want to use medium action rods for better activity when fishing any top-water bait, which is also more forgiving when a fish hits, and you react too hard with a hook set.

One of the biggest mistakes people make when fishing a top-water bait for active fish is the natural reaction of jerking the bait out of the fishes mouth. It is best to let the fish take it and keep the drag set with a little slack.

After the top-water bite ends, try fishing a football head jig with a plastic crawfish in the same areas.

If you are catching fish on top-water baits in rocky areas, throw the football head jig in the same area and other similar rocky areas. If you are catching fish on top-water baits in grassy areas, fish the same grassy areas with the jigs.

Kentucky Lake/Lake Barkley

Water temperature: upper 70s.

“With fall transition starting on both lakes, it should be a great week to go fishing,” Darrell Van Vactor said. “The recent reduction in water temperatures have started the fall migration of shad, especially threadfin shad to start moving back into the bays and creeks on Kentucky and Barkley lakes.

Darrell Van Vactor is the Operations Manager, Crappie USA/Cabela’s King Kat Trail in Benton, Kentucky.

Bass: “Bass and Crappie that have been in their summer patterns for months, are now following the baitfish into the shallower areas and settling into their fall habitat,” Darrell said. “Largemouth are being caught in three distinct areas – shallow flats at the mouths of the bays on shaky heads and creature baits, main lake and secondary points on flat billed crankbaits and top-water baits and in the backs of the bays around schools of small threadfin shad on top-water baits, spinner baits and lipless cranks.”

Darrell said smallmouth bass remain a little slow, but they are being caught in rocky points with big chunk rock and close to deep water on shaky heads and jigs during the day and top-water baits early and late.

Crappie: “They are doing very well with fish being taken on main lake flats on Jenko “love struck” color cranks in 10-to-14-feet of water, and on wood cover in the mouths of the bays on plastics and live bait in 12 to 17 feet where “bait balls” are present,” Darrell said. “Some really good numbers are being caught right now.”

Catfish: Darrell said catfish are sluggish on most of the lake, but the ledges close to the dams are still producing some good fish on cut skipjack and shad.

“Below the dams have heated up for the blue cat with good numbers being caught below both dams on cut skipjack,” Darrell said.

Darrell said white bass are being caught by crappie anglers trolling crankbaits, but a few are still hanging out on the main lake creek/river channel intersections. White lead spoons jigged off the bottom and blade baits have been best this week.

David Thomas, Twitter– @DavidThomasWNWS
https://www.facebook.com/NewsTalk1015/