“Easy” Edd Burke, a contributor to our weekly outdoors notebook claimed first place overall when the Henderson County Bass Anglers held a bass tournament March 19 at Pickwick Lake.
Edd reeled in 16.33 pounds of bass and Wayne Holmes (10.93 pounds) finished second and Boskie Snelling (10.58 pounds) third.
Cody Burke snagged a 5.31 pounder to win the Big Fish award.
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 (731) 695-1654.
Fishing Report
Beech Lake
Water temperature: 66 degrees
Bass: Best for bait – plastic worms and top-water baits. Fish shallow.
Crappie: They’ve picked up, but still running small. Use jigs.
Kentucky Lake/Lake Barkley
Water temperature: 58 degrees
“The lakes are settling back down to a more normal condition after recent cold weather and rain,” Darrell Van Vactor said. “The lakes are at 355.7 (feet), almost two feet over winter pool and on a gentle rise. Water temperatures are a full five degrees warmer than last week with the south part of Kentucky Lake seeing 58 degree water and the mid-section around 56 degrees.”
Darrell Van Vactor is the president/CEO of Outdoor Promotions, Inc., Benton, Kentucky.
Bass: “Bass are still being caught on the main lake ledges on Alabama rigs and blue/black jigs, plus – in the feeder creeks – running shallow in the larger bays on lipless crank baits and shaky heads,” Darrell said. “We should see more movement toward the spawn in the next few days if we can just get three or four days of sunshine on the water. A few larger smallmouth (bass) are being taken, but for the most part largemouth are the ticket right now.”
Crappie: “They are moving to the banks with males already in two-to-five-feet of water from mid-lake south and are feeding like crazy,” Darrell said. “We had several males over two pounds weigh in over the weekend at our tournament in Paris, Tennessee. Most of those big males were caught from New Johnsonville to Leatherwood Bay on the banks fishing slip floats and blue/white or green/chartreuse jigs fished around two-to-four-feet deep.”
Darrell said the tournament had a 3.22 pound female tip the scale on Friday.
“It truly was the fish of a lifetime for anyone, and a welcome site since we had not weighed in a three-pounder on Kentucky Lake over the past 30-plus years of tournaments,” Darrell said.
Darrell said the north end of Lake Barkley was hot last week with a great number of both black and white crappie coming in from the Little River area of Barkley.
“Most were caught fishing in 10-to-14 foot areas with wood cover,” Darrell said. “The fish were holding very tight in the cover and hit minnows better than plastic in that area.”
Catfish: “Catfish are doing well in feeder creeks and on the secondary channel using Amish chicken and shad,” Darrell said. “Most are being caught in 15-to-25-feet of water around old submerged stumps and man-made crappie beds.”
(PHOTO: Edd Burke, Lexington won the Henderson County Bass Anglers tournament at Pickwick Lake)
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