|
 Fishing
Reports
John Morgan's
Fishing Report
March 8, 2010
The first few days of March
have not been very warm. Forecast for the weekend
looks great. Highs in the upper 50's and lows around
28 will really turn these crappie and bass on. Water
temps are not getting much above 40 degrees. This
will start to change over the weekend.
Crappie have been good at Big
Sandy and Blood River. My numbers have been better
in Big Sandy but the size is a lot better in Blood.
A lot of just barely legal black crappie are in west
Sandy. The white crappie seem to be a little larger.
In Blood both species seem to be a little bigger
than in Sandy. Blood has some real hawgs in it right
now. Thursday I had 46 keepers of which 4 were 2
pounds plus.
Fish have not moved up that
much but are still in deep basins just waiting to
move in. As this water warms start to look for these
fish to use old creeks and flats to move shallower.
I have been fishing vertical mostly until today. We
tried casting a couple spots and they were on. Half
or more of my fish today came on curly tails casted
over brush in 10 to 12 feet.
Bass are starting to move up
some especially during the warmest parts of the day.
I think these bass are eating crawfish around the
shore lines. I am throwing the Dt 6 rapala in perch
color. Also lipless crank baits in craw patterns are
working well. If you can catch one on a bank you can
usually catch 2 or 3 more close to the shore area.
Lots of no keepers but as the water warms I think
some big one's will move in. Big drum and chain
pickerel are also around the bank now.
Save some
for seed,
John Morgan
Angling Adventures with John Morgan
Murray, KY
johndm@wk.net
270-978-0307 or 270-436-2810
John Morgan's
Fishing Report
February
2, 2010
Snow came down the 29th of January here around the
lakes area. In Murray we had 5 to 6 inches.
Temperatures are going to be cold until Tuesday,
February 2nd. Then it's going to be lows in the 30's
and highs in the upper 40's. Water levels are going
up every day and forecasted to reach 357.5 by
Tuesday. The Ohio River is at flood stage and TVA is
holding water to keep it from getting worse.
Last
week I was able to go two days. The first day was on
Blood River. We had some wind to contend with but
were still able to catch 21 keepers. We saw several
other boats in the area but couldn't tell if they
were catching too. Water color in Blood is great in
the outer two-thirds of the bay. The back third is a
little stained and didn't seem to be holding as many
fish.
Everything we caught in Blood was in 22 to 24 feet.
Most were around cover but some were just suspended
close to the ledge. Our jigs were 5/16 ounce round
heads loaded with stingers or Bobby Garland slab
slayers. Slow vertical presentation was the best.
Second
day out last week was a trip to West Sandy. The fish
there acted completely different. We ended up with
42 keepers of which most were black crappie. These
fish came on flats and slight depth changes in the
Brittan's Ford area. We must have caught 30 or 40
non-keepers as well. In this shallower water we used
the spider rig and six poles out the front. These
were loaded with 3/8 ounce weights and 18 to 20 inch
leaders of 6 pound fluorocarbon and 1/32 ounce jig
heads. We used assorted plastics in tubes and
stingers. These fish were eating everything so color
didn't seem to matter much.
Last
week I also rigged my boat with the new HDS locator
with side scan and bottom scan from Lowrance. I was
blown away. I know the lake very well but this tool
just helps back up what you thought you knew. I put
out a lot of brush piles and stake beds in Blood
River and a few in Big Sandy but this thing can show
you everything. Bait schools and brush piles can't
hide from this technology.
I have
not been bass fishing yet but I'm hearing the
occasional report. This weather warms a little and
I'm going to get after them too. Jerk baits and
grubs or tubes should get a few bites even in the
cold weather. If it warms up those fish will move to
the rocks and a DT-6 or lipless crank bait will work
best.
Check out the Catch of the Day for last weeks photos
@
jmorganfishing.com.
If the weather permits, I'm going every day next
week.
Save some for seed,
John Morgan
Angling Adventures with John Morgan
Murray, KY
johndm@wk.net
270-978-0307 or 270-436-2810
Dave Shelton's
Fishing Report
June 10,
2009, water surface temp. 77 lake level 359.40
Summer has arrived with nice comfortable mornings
and plenty of sun during the day. The bass bite is
still good, the bluegill are biting and the white
bass action is here. Once again it's a great time to
be on Kentucky Lake.
Largemouth Bass
Early morning topwater is my favorite, so thats
what I've been doing, Zara spooks and buzzbaits will
catch fish on main lake points, secondary points,
flats on the main lake and in the backs of the
creeks. The ledge bite during the day and when there
is current has been where the heavyweights are being
caught. The Bassmaster Elite Series last week
produced a 4 day total weight of over 97 lbs. off
the ledges of Ky lake. Deep diving crank baits,
carolina rigs and jigs will do the trick. FLW Tour
is here this week and I'm sure their weights will be
close.
White
Bass
The white and the yellow bass action is
producing plenty of fish especially when there is
wind or current from the dam. Most fish are coming
off main lake ledges and just off the river ledge.
Inline spinners, spoons and trolling will catch
these fish.
Bluegill / Shellcracker
The panfishing still has been producing good
numbers using slip floats or split shot rigs close
to the banks, red worms, wax worms and pieces of
crawlers work good with small jigs.
Come and
enjoy a great day of fishing and sun chasing at
Paradise.
Catch Ya Later
Dave Shelton 270-362-1999 270-205-7741
Dave Shelton's
Fishing Report
April
20th, water temp. 60 degrees lake level 360.2
The weather seems to be the biggest topic on the
dock lately, and hopefully the weather people are
correct this week. The temps are to be stable in the
mid to upper 70's this week with no rain and that
means rising water temps and what I think to be a
big push of fish to the shallows. The crappie bite
is as good as it's been all year and improving every
day with several large crappie in the 2 to 2 and a
half pound range coming to the dock from our guests.
Spider rigging, casting roadrunners, jigs, and
bobbers around laydowns and crappie cover have all
been catching fish. I've been practicing a new
technique for crappie the last few weeks due to the
coldfronts that have moved through the area and
works great when other fisherman seem to be
struggling or the fish are inactive due to
conditions. A few redear have been caught as well as
white, yellow and largemouth bass, perch and
bluegill using this technique and is very useful to
people who are unfamiliar with fishing on Kentucky
Lake.
Crappie: The most consistent bite for
me has been in 8-10' of water over brush piles with
1/16 to 1/8 oz jigs tipped with tubes. On the warmer
days when the sun is up casting jigs or bobbers with
minnows to the banks with laydowns and crappie cover
has been producing. With the warmer temps coming
these fish are sure to be shallower in the coming
weeks.
Largemouth Bass: I've been catching
larger females the past couple weeks farther back in
the bays due to warming water temps. I believe the
best is still to come. When the wind is blowing, a
spinnerbait or rattletrap is hard to beat, and on
the calmer days a jig or shakeyhead worm will catch
plenty of fish. I suspect the topwater bite should
really turn on in the next few weeks as the weather
warms.
Catch Ya Later
Dave Shelton 270-362-1999 270-205-7741
Dave Shelton's
Fishing Report
April 6,
2009
Air temp. 40 Degrees Lake level 359.10
Water temp. 58 degrees
The weather here in the lakes area has been more
than unstable the last week, but with a little
determination you can still catch plenty of fish.
When the wind isn't blowing the crappie are eager to
bite on many patterns, and on the not so nice days
the bass bite is where it's at.
Crappie: The crappie bite has been good on
the days Mother nature is nice, casting to the banks
with small jigs with tubes or twister tails. With
the cold fronts blowing in and out, the fish seem to
be holding tight to bottom and deeper in the cover,
so spider rigging or casting jigs to brush piles and
counting them down to preferred depths to touch the
cover will get the fish to bite. The forecast for
the weekend looks good to improve the shallow bite.
Largemouth Bass: The bass are simply
biting, a great time to introduce a youngster to
bass fishing, plenty of fish in the 12 to 15 inch
range. Beat the banks with a spinnerbait when the
wind is present, and a shakey head worm when the
lake is calm. The bigger females haven't shown up
shallow yet but are nearby staging for the spawn.
Was experimenting with a new bait this weekend, in
the shallow vegetation, and watched several buck
bass come up on the bait and just inhale it- can't
wait for the big girls to move in.
Catch ya
later, Dave Shelton
270-362-1999 cell # 270-205-7741
kydave@bellsouth.net
John Morgan Fishing Report
Crappie
hit the bank in Blood River big time yesterday. I
mostly have been fishing ledges and flats with
spider rigs but yesterday I went to check the best
bank I know in Blood River. There wasn't much going
on in the morning but at 12:30 we went back for a
second try and finished our limit in about an hour.
The water is clear (2-4 feet visibility) so these
fish don't seem to want to get real shallow. Most
were in 5 to 8 feet. We threw 1/16 ounce jigs under
floats set about 2 1/2 feet down. Small jigs seem to
work best in this clear water. Black and white
females were there together and some male white
crappie were mixed in. Seems like to me that the
black crappie are more eager after the sun gets up
high than the white crappie are to bite. Casting to
these fish is the best method because it's just too
shallow to fish vertical, although the float will
give you the vertical presentation while keeping
your boat back off the spot.
If we
don't get some rain soon to dirty the water, you
need to stick to small fluorocarbon line so the fish
can't see it. One option to this is to use a swivel
and use the fluorocarbon line as a leader. This
really helps if the sun is out.
Get ya
some,
John Morgan
Angling Adventures Guide Service--Murray, KY
270-436-2810 or 270-978-0307
johndm@wk.net
Dave Shelton Fishing Report
March
15, 2009: Kentucky Lake water level 355.18 water
temp. 51 degrees air temp. 55 degrees
Crappie Report:
Fished today with a Dad and 2 sons from Canada
looking for Ky lake crappie. Started late morning
but the action was still pretty good. As normal on
my boat the youngest on board is usually the one who
catches the big fish, which is fine with me. 6 year
old Jason caught a 2 pound slab on a slip bobber
with an 1/8th oz. jig, black and blue Southern Pro
2'' Lil Hustler tube jig. Our fish came off main
lake ledges 10 to 20 feet tight lining jigs. Some
reports of fish being caught shallower, but we were
on our fish and having a great time. The crappie
bite is on and the weather forecast for the next
week is looking great for the bite to get even
better.
Largemouth Bass:
Bass
fishing is on the upswing, with better weather
conditions bringing fish shallower. Fish are being
caught on many patterns but I prefer crankbaits and
spinnerbaits on main lake points and secondary
points. On sunny days, back of creeks with
rattletraps. The rising temps and longer days are
moving fish to their spawning flats and the fish are
feeding preparing for the spawn. This makes for a
great time to be on Ky Lake.
Book a trip today!
Dave Shelton's Guide Service
270-205-7741
kydave@bellsouth.net
Dave Shelton Fishing Report
March 7,
2009: Kentucky Lake water level 355.72 and 46
degrees.
Fished Sat. and Sun. with 20-30 mph winds so
conditions were tough but the bass were still
biting. Most of my fish came off main lake points
and secondary points with rocky banks on crawfish
colored crankbaits, rattletraps and jerkbaits.
Sunday the winds were even higher but still managed
to catch fish on spinnerbaits where you could get
out of the wind. Monday eve 73 degrees air temp.50
degree water temp. fished with my 12 yr old son for
crappie and managed to catch a few on 1/8th oz jigs
on the ledges on the main lake and even a few up
shallow around docks. The bass fishing on Ky. lake
is real good right now and the pressure is still at
a minimum. My biggest fish of the year to date on Ky
lake have come in March, so book a trip today.
Dave
Shelton's Guide Service
cell # 270-205-7741 or 270-362-1999
email
kydave@bellsouth.net
John Morgan Fishing Report
Good to
be back on the water after a long summer and fall
farming season. This winter has been loaded with
adverse conditions for fishermen. We have been
getting lots of rain and have had ice storms and
very cold weather. And the wind has blown almost
every day since October. I have gone fishing less
since Christmas than I ever remember.
It's just been too bad most days.
My first trip of the new year was January 9, 2009.
Myself and Dale Mullins fished Blood River for about
six hours that day and had 31 keeper crappies. We
also caught several undersize fish which was a
welcome sight. Next trip took place the next Friday,
January 16. I went to Big Sandy and started at the
mouth near the main lake. There was no wind and the
current had slowed and water level was stable at
356.5. We fished for an hour before our first bite.
After that, we fished around 5 1/2 more hours and
only managed to catch 10 keepers. It was slower than
slow. Both of these trips we used two still poles
each and one hand pole to jig with. The still poles
were rigged with tubes and stingers. Our jigging
poles had 3/8 ounce heads tipped with Bobby Garland
2 inch slab slayers. Pink and chartreuse (electric
chicken) was our best color. Water was a little
stained so this color was the way to go. We didn't
try any minnows but I think they might have helped.
I'll carry some next time.
Since these two trips, we have had a huge shad kill
in the Blood River area. I have not heard of anyone
trying there, but it sure is discouraging to see
those shad spinning around on their backs right
where you are planning to fish. I don't think this
has happened in Big Sandy. I was there on January 21
and caught 20 keepers. We saw no sign of shad dying
there. Of all my crappie fishing outings, the fish
seemed to be in 20 to 22 feet of water. All fish
were around cover and close to deeper water.
Couple weekends ago I tried sauger fishing at
Smithland Dam. It was busted. Water was down below
the wing wall but cold and muddy. We never had a
bite. Then on Sunday, myself and David Fields went
to New Johnsonville to try the Duck River area.
Things got off to a slow start but heated up
quickly. We ended up with 20 sauger by 11 o'clock
and decided to try some fishing inside the steam
plant. Water temperature inside this area was 58
degrees while on the lake it was 37 degrees. We
found one area holding some big stripers and ended
up catching 10 of them in the 5 to 6 pound range on
our sauger jigs and minnow combos.
Weather has been rough the past week with the ice
storm that came through, so will have to update you
as soon as weather permits for my next trip.
Hopefully it will be soon.
Stay warm and be safe,
John Morgan
Angling Adventures with John Morgan
Murray, KY johndm@wk.net
270-436-2810 or 270-978-0307
|
