If it’s any indication, the way bass is fishing picking up, it should a good sign when the temperatures warm. If you are looking for bass and fishing at least 20-feet deep, don’t be surprised if you find crappie, catfish or even sauger on the other end of your line.
That said, here is this week’s …
Fishing Report
Gibson County Lake
Water temperature: upper 40s, lower 50s.
- Bass: “They cover enough water, you can find schools in the shallows hitting lipless cranks,” Trenton’s Brent Smith said.
- Catfish: Brent said large catfish are being snagged in 20-plus feet of water on cut shad.
Kentucky Lake/Lake Barkley
Water temperatures: 49 to 51 degrees at both. Lakes are falling gently at 354.5 and should be down to 354.1 today.
- Bass: “Bass are picking up quite well with fish being caught in three-to-20-feet of water,” Darrell Van Vactor said. “They are really scattered with shallow water fish hitting a finesse presentation of light line and Big Bite June Bug color six-inch worms rigged Texas style.”
Darrell, the president/CEO of Outdoor Promotions in Benton, Kentucky, said deeper fish can be found on main lake extended points in eight-to-20-feet, with some really big fish showing up and hitting A-rigs with five-inch shad twin baits and deep lip crankbaits retrieved slowly.
“If you can find a big old stump on one of these deep extended points, you can actually catch several bass around that one stump many times,” Darrell said.
- Crappie: “They are still biting well, but have moved a little deeper with recent rains and cooler weather,” Darrell said. “We are finding keeper fish in 12-to-20-foot depths right now, hitting black/chartreuse Big Bite jigs and Crappie Magnet baits in red/chartreuse.”
Darrell said there are still a lot of smaller fish in 10-to-12-foot stake beds and brush piles, but the keeper fish have moved to the deeper areas.
“The bite is easy – so watch the line – sometimes you won’t feel the bite at all but can see the line move just a little,” Darrell said. “One new bait; the Jenko paddle fry is showing a lot of promise as well, and I can’t wait to try these in shallower water this spring.”
- Catfish: Darrell said catfish have slowed a bit, but some are still hanging out in the deep main river channel areas.
“If you have the patience to wait them out, they are hitting cut shad and skip jack,” Darrell said. “But (they are) also biting really light for this time of year.”
Pickwick Lake
Water temperature: 50 degrees. Elevation: 410 feet.
- Bass: With the weather changing, it has been hard to pattern bass over the last week, but some fishermen have actually caught more fish during the colder days. The most luck has been in the afternoons.
Best for bait – craw-fish colored Strike King Series 3, 4 & 5 crankbaits, although jerk baits have also caught a good number of quality bass.
Craw-fish color in the Series 3 crank baits have worked well along rocky banks and should continue to work well throughout the spring. Jerk baits with orange bellies has been a better than average bait over the past few weeks and will continue to be good for a few more weeks.
- White bass: “You should be able to catch white bass on small white grubs right now, and Smaller Strike King crankbaits. The Series 3XD has been catching a lot of Kentucky Bass and white bass in the river below Pickwick Dam.
They are schooling in different areas between the Pickwick Dam and Savannah.
- Stripers: The condition of the river is not a favorite for stripers – for the time being – but it should improve soon. The stripers should be congregating around the dam any day now.
- Sauger: If it’s sauger you are looking for, continue to fish with a jig throughout February and mid-March. When April arrives, troll small crankbaits along 12-to-15-feet of water. If you get in a good area you can catch a lot of fish fast.
(PHOTO: Greenbriar Lake in Northwest Jackson)
David Thomas, Twitter – @DavidThomasWNWS
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