Weather temperatures are expected to hit 34 degrees this evening, before reaching a high of 61 on Friday.

Friday evening brings a low of 35 degrees, but the weather warms to 66 on Saturday, but don’t forget – water temperatures do not adjust as quick.

Fishing Report

Gibson County Lake

Water temperature: upper 60s

Bass: Bass fishing continues to be slow. Try shaky heads with a watermelon red worm or a black shad worm on cloudy days.

Crappie: Not that active, but catfish and shell crackers are, especially on red worms.

Pickwick Lake

Water temperature: 67 degrees

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 60s

Bass: Largemouth bass 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.

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 have been 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.

Catfish: Sluggish on most of the lake, but the ledges close to the dams have produced some good fish on cut skipjack and shad.

David Thomas, Twitter– @DavidThomasWNWS
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