The possibility of inclement weather has canceled the Henderson County Bass Anglers Thursday Night Bass Tournament at Beech Lake, today.

With the amount of rainfall we’ve had (and expecting) in the region, we thought we might want to revisit the approach fishermen might want to take when out on the water.

Remember, bass adjust to rising water and follows it as it rises, so it is recommended you fish visible cover – trees, stumps, brush – using spinner baits, buzz baits, top-water baits and shallow running crankbaits.

Fishing Report

Gibson County Lake
Water temperature: lower 80s. Water color: cloudy

Bass: Larger bass seem to be zeroed in on jigs and giant plastic baits around timber.

Shellcrackers and bream: You might want to try red worms and crickets in five-to-10-feet of water.

Pickwick Lake
Water temperature: 82 degrees: Elevation: 413.5 feet

Bass: With the hot weather and heavy boat traffic, it is better to stick with early morning and late afternoon fishing. You can just about count on big bass exploding the surface to hit top-water baits in the morning, but you can also count on no current flow from the Dam during the morning hours, so the activity is usually short lived.

If you are out of the wind, and the water is calm, your first move should be to throw a walking bait – namely a Strike King Sexy Dawg.

If you are tempted to fish a windy bank, use a buzz bait. After the top-water bite ends, you should find the better bass are in 12-to-20-feet throughout the day.

Results have been pretty fair when fishing big crankbaits along deep bluffs, open water humps and ledges.

Carolina rigging has worked well with plastic Strike King Rail Tail crawfish and lizards. Grubs have been working well in the lake and river. As the sun sets, you should get the opportunity at a little more top-water action.

Kentucky Lake/Lake Barkley
Water temperature: 78 degrees. Water levels: Kentucky Lake continues to fall (for now) at 356.2 feet, and (should) continue a slow fall through the weekend.

Bass: “Largemouth bass are being caught on main lake points and ledges adjacent to deep water during the day and on main and secondary points late evening and after dark,” Darrell Van Vactor said. “Purple and black spinner baits are working after dark, and some really good size fish are being caught. During the day, Swim Baits, Shaky Heads, Creature Baits and 10-inch worms fished Carolina style are doing the trick.”

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

“Smallmouth bass are being caught on the main lake points early and late, mostly on Jigs and Creature Baits,” Darrell said. “Watch for small bait fish action in these areas and smallmouth should be beneath them.”

Crappie: Darrell said crappie are doing well in the larger bays in 15-20-feet of water trolling Junko silver/black back crankbaits when the water is dingy, cloud cover is present or real early and late.

“When the sun is bright, switch to pink/black back and chartreuse/green back,” Darrell said. “Several limits are being caught, but you (will) spend a lot of time taking the yellow bass off the baits – they seem to be everywhere in great numbers.”

Catfish: “They are doing great on main river channel drops on cut skipjack and shad,” Darrell said. “It is an excellent time to fill the freezer for winter if you like the two-to-three-pound bluecat.”

(PHOTO: Lake Graham, Jackson)
David Thomas, Twitter– @DavidThomasWNWS
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