Mickey Lewis, a member of the Madison County Bass Anglers, snagged an 11.91 pound bass while participating in the Tennessee BASS Nation state tournament at Lake Chickamauga in Dayton, Tennessee.

A resident of Huntingdon, Mickey said he used a Baby Brush Hog for bait when he reeled in the largemouth bass March 9.

Mickey, an employee of Kellogg in Jackson for 32 years, placed 10th in the tournament that attracted 88 participants – 44 boats.

Fishing Report
Gibson County Lake
Water temperature: mid 50s and warming. Water level: remains low

Bass: “Bass have been good about 10-feet, dragging a crank or slow-rolling a spinner bait, but they are moving in shallow,” Trenton’s Brent Smith said.

Crappie: “They are doing well shallow,” Brent said. “Three feet to mud … black and green jigs.”

Kentucky Lake/Lake Barkley
Water temperature: 51 to 53 degrees. Water levels: 355.4

Bass: “They are staging in a pre-spawn mode with some big fish being caught on 15-foot humps in front of large bays using Alabama rigs with ¼ ounce jig heads and four-inch shad bodies,” Darrell Van Vactor said. “Recent cold nights have caused a shad kill and many bass followed the dead shad into the bays and were feeding heavy on the bounty.”

Darrell said when this happens it is easy to “follow the white birds” to put you right on the fish.

“As water starts to warm, the fish are moving back into the bays and are hitting jerk baits fished very slowly,” Darrell said. “The main key right now is slow down the presentation.”

Darrell Van Vactor is the president/CEO of Outdoor Promotions, Inc., Benton, Kentucky.

Crappie: “They are continuing to bite, but are slower than last week due to the cooler water,” Darrell said. “Target wood cover, 12-to-15-feet, and fish right down in the middle of the heaviest cover possible with a jig and minnow combination,” Darrell said. “Red/chartreuse and black/chartreuse are working well, but they are wanting a little meat on the hook with the jig right now.”

Darrell said there are a lot of yellow bass mixed in with the crappie right now, that will work on a bucket of minnows for you.

Catfish: “They remain slow this week, with little activity on them at all,” Darrell said.

Bass tournament

The Henderson County Bass Anglers Thursday Night Bass Tournament at Beech Lake – 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. – returns April 6. Visitors are welcome to participate. For more information, call ‘Easy‘ Edd Burke (731) 695-1654.

David Thomas, Twitter – @DavidThomas@WNWS
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