Fishing Report

Gibson County Lake
Water temperature: lower 60s

Bass: You might find the best time for bass fishing is in the early morning using top-water poppers.

Crappie: Your best bet is using minnows about 16-feet deep. If they are still shallow, try green and black jigs in the back flats and creeks.

Pickwick Lake
Water temperature: 65 degrees. Elevation 414

Bass: “You can find bass in shallow and deep water right now,” Clagett Talley said. “For the most part, I am catching most of the fish shallow … they are a little easier to target in shallow water. The deep water areas change in location more than the shallow areas.”

Clagett Talley is a tour guide from Savannah.

“To start off the day, I am using a small Strike King Series 3 crank bait on main lake points,” Clagett said. “I will also cover the main lake bank, and the bank in the cove approximately 100-feet each way of these points, with the crank bait – if it is a productive point.”

Clagett said during the day he continues to concentrate on shallow water.

“Most of the fish I have caught lately have came out of one-to-five-feet of water,” Clagett said. “Red eye Shad and soft plastic lures have accounted for the biggest number of fish I have caught in shallow water.”

Clagett said fishing below the dam, he has snagged several bass on live minnows drifting along the banks.

Best for bait – Clagett said the Strike King Series 3 Crank Baits have accounted for most of the bass above and below the dam.

White Bass: Clagett said white bass are still easy to catch.

“If you are after numbers, now is the time to go fish for white bass,” Clagett said. “I catch a lot of white grubs on 1/4 ounce jigs close to the bank. I also catch a lot on small crank baits, and white or crawfish colored crank baits work well.”

Stripers: “Big stripers are starting to show up,” Clagett said. “In the morning and late afternoon, you can catch them shallow by fishing a plastic bait around the boils. I am catching most of the big fish drifting downstream with a big crank bait such as a Strike King Series 6XD.”

Sauger: “Sauger can still be caught by trolling crank baits,” Clagett said. “The ideal crank bait for me has been a Strike King Series 3 in bright colors.”

Catfish: “You can still catch catfish in shallow water right now,” Clagett said. “To catch these shallow catfish, I usually fish with a live worm and float in three-to-six-feet of water.”

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

Kentucky Lake/Lake Barkley
Water temperatures: 67 to 70 degrees on the north end of both lakes. Water color: clear on the main lakes, stained in the bays.

Bass: “Finally a few days of warm temperatures to get the fish going,” Darrell Van Vactor said. “They have moved to the bushes the past few days and are doing pretty good on creature baits and jigs. A few really nice fish are also being caught around boat docks that are close to deeper water on spinner baits and Texas rigged worms.”

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

Crappie: “Finally, we are catching a better number of fish, most are skinny, 9.5 inchers, but a few good fish are mixed in as well,” Darrell said. “Most of the fish are definitely malnourished and even an 11-inch fish does not offer enough fillet to make you want to keep it.”

Darrell said the best bite on the larger fish has been in 15-to-20-feet wood cover hitting red/chartreuse and black/chartreuse tubes and smaller ones in four-to-six-feet of water casting green or chartreuse curl tails.

Redear and Bluegill: “First reports of the season on good catches are coming in from the south end of Kentucky Lake, and a couple of decent catches the past couple of days from the Big Sandy area,” Darrell said. “We are not yet finding any decent numbers at all on the north end, but we should be picking them up any day.”

Catfish: “Catches of three-to-five-pound blues are coming in from the main river channel drops in front of Jonathan Creek,” Darrell said. “Night crawlers have been the best bait – right now.”

David Thomas, Twitter – @DavidThomasWNWS
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