Gibson County Lake
Water temperature: upper 40s, lower 50s

Bass: “Some big bass have been caught on shallow bumps – five-to-eight-feet – next to deep drop-offs, using football jigs,” Trenton’s Brent Smith said. “Water levels at Gibson County Lake are low, but no problems putting the boat in.”

Crappie: “Crappie fishing has been hit and miss in 20-to-25-feet of water … suspended at 12-to-15-feet around stump piles, on jigs and minnows.

Pickwick Lake
Water temperature: mid 50s

Bass: “I’ve caught several bass fishing with Strike King Series 5 crankbaits on the new Lews Cranking Rod,” Clagett Talley said. “When fishing these crankbaits, make sure you use a medium rod that allows the the crankbait to work.”

Clagett, a tour guide from Savannah, said he has had pretty good luck on main lake rocky points and structure around the Pickwick Dam.

“If you can stand the swift current below the Dam, you should be able to pick up a few bass on live bait,” Clagett said. “Just drift split shots with live minnows along rocky banks and you will pick up a few bass and some real nice smallmouth.

“The smallmouth are hard to count on day to day, but you can still catch a few big ones if you stick with it.”

Stripers: “Every once in a while, we will come across a striper or two around the dam this time of year, trolling big Strike King Series 6 or 10XD crankbaits or drifting live bait.”

Catfish: Clagett said catfish are still biting – in some areas.

“I like to use nightcrawlers and red worms,” Clagett said. “We even catch a few while sauger fishing with minnows. We have been catching a few in the 15-to-20-foot range, and some have come out of deeper water.”

Sauger: “Sauger fishing is still in its beginning stages and will get better and better until next spring, and sometimes it actually improves during the spring,” Clagett said. “Right now, you will have good and bad days, and there will be no excuse for the bad day, because you can do the exact same thing you did the day before, and it just will not work.”

Clagett said on some drifts, you will catch two or three, return, and not catch any.

“But this usually stabilizes throughout the winter where you can count on them a little better,” Clagett said. “And something to keep in mind is, although you hear that sauger fishing is better when the weather is miserable, I find that not to be true.

“I often go on pretty days in the middle of really cold days, and if the fish were biting on the bad day before, they also bite on the pretty days as well.”

Want more from the “Mayor of Pickwick Lake?” Give Clagett Talley a call (731) 607-5266, or visit pickwickareaguide.com

Kentucky Lake/Lake Barkley
Water temperatures: Lakes are running 47-to-51 degrees

Both lakes are stable at 354.05 and are predicted to stay steady for the foreseeable future.

Bass: “Bass anglers are non-existent right now, except for a few (who are) picking up some pretty nice Striper “Rockfish” on deeper main lake points and roadbeds on the east side of Kentucky Lake using Umbrella rigs with four-inch blue pearl shad bodies and curl tails,” Darrell Van Vactor said.

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

Crappie: Darrell said crappie are hitting, but they are very scattered.

“Most are coming from 18-to-24-foot structures using live bait and tube jigs tipped with Crappie Nibbles,” Darrell said. “Presentation has to be very slow and the bite will be light.”

Darrell said most fish are running just above the 10-inch keeper size mark with only a few one-pound plus crappie coming in.

“We did have a few fish caught in stake beds in the 12-foot range on a couple of sunny days last week,” Darrell said.

Sauger: “They are beginning to show up on main lake drops (while) using large minnows tipped on a one-ounce jig and rigged with a stinger hook,” Darrell said. “Blue/Silver jigs have worked best in these areas.”

Darrell said tailwaters are also producing some really big sauger, but are sporadic at this point.

“Cumberland River below Barkley Dam has been the best,” Darrell said. “Concentrate on the humps in the area of the lock wall and along the concrete wall itself to find these tasty critters.”

Catfish: “Catfish, especially blue cat are staging at the Barkley end on the canal between the lakes in the deep river channel water around 57-feet deep,” Darrell said. “Large minnows are working the best for them and the fish are running two-to-eight pounds.

David Thomas, Twitter – @DavidThomasWNWS
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