Bass Fishing Forum

*October 13, 2017*

*Kentucky Lake: Water Level at Kentucky Dam - 355.43 Surface Temperature
- 74*
*Lake Barkley: Water Level at Barkley Dam - 355.25 Surface Temperature -
74*

*Both lakes are slightly more than one foot over winter. Kentucky Dam was
generating at an average rate of 38,000 cfs this morning. Barkley Dam was
generating at an average rate of 19,600 cfs this morning. **The latest
lake levels , current flows and forecasts for all the TVA lakes can be
found at http://www.tva.com/river/lakeinfo/index.htm.*

*Current Conditions: *First let me thank all those folks that contacted me
this week to check on my well being as I have not written a report in the
past 2 weeks. I failed to mention in my last report that I would be out of
town attending my annual military reunion and thus would not be writing a
report. I had a great time seeing all my old military buddies but happy to
be back on the water this week.

We finally got some cooler weather this week and dropped the water
temperatures a little more but we are still about 6 degrees above our
normal water temperatures for this time in October due to all the heat
waves we have experienced over the past few weeks. This up and down on the
water temperatures has prolonged the fall transition and for the most part
the fish are still scattered and folks are finding limits of bass hard to
come by. In the last few large tournaments here over the past 3 weeks
there have been some nice weights coming to the scales in the top 4-5 boats
but then the weights drop rapidly with a lot of anglers struggling to get a
limit of bass. It seems those bigger bags of bass are coming in from the
south end of the lake where a few anglers have found some nice schools of
bass feeding on top water lures but even those reports indicate that the
fishing was spotty and they were having to cover a lot of water to fill
their limits.

We caught bass on the north ends of both lakes this week with a lot of
action on shorter fish but have managed to put some keeper plus sized fish
in the boat. Our best producing techniques this week were shaky heads and
tube jigs fished slow on secondary points in the creeks and bays. I have
received a few reports of a scattered top water bite as well as crank bait
and spinner bait bite on the north ends of the lakes but the reports
indicate these patterns have been spotty.

The forecast for Saturday is for near record high temperature of 86 with a
night time low of 67 with south winds 10-15. Sunday's forecast is showing
a high of 69/ night time low of 45 with a frontal passage during the late
morning hours. A 70% chance of rain is forecasted for Sunday with winds
swapping from the south in the early morning to northwest at 10-15 mph.
With these wind forecasts, I would expect some rough water out there on the
lakes this weekend so plan your trips accordingly. The extended forecast
is showing a return to more seasonable temperatures though next week with
high's in the 70's and low's in the 40's with post frontal north and east
quadrant winds. Hopefully this forecast is correct and we can get these
water temperatures down and get the bass in a more active fall pattern.

*Largemouth Bass: *Largemouth are being taken on main lake points as well
as secondary points and channel banks in the creeks and bays. These fish
are being taken on medium running crank baits, spinner baits, Carolina
rigged creature baits, shaky heads and tube jigs. A few Largemouth are
being taken in shallow cuts on the main lake as well as on shallow flats in
the creeks and bays on top water lures, lipless crank baits and Senko type
baits near isolated wood cover.

*Smallmouth Bass: *Smallmouth are being taken on rocky main lake points
and rocky secondary points in the creeks and bays. These fish are being
taken on shaky heads and tube jigs. We had a few nice Smallmouth this week
on the tube jigs rigged stupid style.

*Crappie: *I had a few reports of Crappie now being taken around submerged
brush and stake beds in 7-10 feet of water in the creeks and bays by
vertically fishing with tube jigs and tube jigs tipped with minnows. These
reports indicated these fish were being taken on the overcast days we had
this week.

*Productive Lures:* Some of the productive lures reported this week are
Lucky Craft Sammy and Lucky Craft Gunfish in ghost pearl lemon, Strike King
spash baits in white, Strike King Red Eye Shad in chrome "woops"y shad and "woops"y
shad, Strike King square billed crank baits in "woops"y shad, Bandit medium
running crank baits in rootbeer/chartreuse, Slong's spinner baits in blue
glimmer, D&L jigs in "oops" and cumberland craw, Slong's jigs in
cumberland craw and mustang, Charmer lizards and timber pups on Texas rigs
and Carolina rigs in green pumpkin and watermelon/purple, Charmer slim
daddy's in blue craw on shaky heads in green pumpkin and Charmer tubes
rigged stupid style in green pumpkin/blue tail and green pumpkin/orange.



*IF YOU ARE PLANNING ON VISITING OUR LAKES I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE FOLLOWING
BUSINESSES FOR ALL YOUR FISHING AND BOATING NEEDS:*

*Fisherman's Headquarters* is located in Draffenville at the U.S. 68/U.S.
641 triangle, or the Draffenville "Y". FHQ stocks everything an angler
could need, from live bait, hooks and bobbers to top of the line tournament
bass tackle. More than a "bait and tackle" store, Fisherman's Headquarters
is a true "pro shop", offering advice, training and special order
assistance not found online or at the big box retailers. Services even
include custom electronics training and installation. The store offers a
wide variety of nationally known brands as well as many regional and hard
to find items we use on Kentucky and Barkley Lakes. They stock many of the
products I rely on daily, such as Charmer Baits, Slong's lures and Pro
Tungsten weights. From bluegill to bass and catfish to crappie, FHQ has you
covered! Stop by and visit or phone 270-527-5938 <(270)%20527-5938>.

*Jet-A-Marina:* If you have a problem with your boat while you are visiting
our great fisheries, let me recommend you have the folks in the service
department at Jet-a-Marina check it out. These folks have a well known
reputation for trying to keep our visitors on the water while they are here
if they can possibly do so, especially you tournament anglers. Hopefully
you will not need this kind of assistance but if you do, you can find
Jet-a-Marina located on U.S. 62 in Calvert City, just a couple of miles
north of Kentucky Dam. Jet-a-Marina also has a great showroom for all your
boating accessories and check out the new Ranger bass boats too as well as
bulk oil at rock bottom prices for your engine. Phone: 270-395-4030.

*GUIDE SERVICE:*

For those of you that may not be familiar with my service: I am a full time
catch and release bass fishing guide. I only guide for bass. I have been
guiding for bass full time on these lakes for over 20 years and bass
fishing the lakes for over 30 years. I do not go out and fish panfish for 4
or 5 days and then try to guide on bass for one or two days.

No one knows everything the bass are doing but one thing is for sure, if
you only fish for bass day in and day out, you will have a lot better idea
of what they are doing and also be familiar with all the different
techniques it takes to be a successful bass angler.

If you book with my service, you will have me as your guide and you will be
guided in the comfort of a late model Z522 Ranger Commanche equipped with
Lowrance HDS electronics and top of the line tackle. I provide just for fun
bass fishing trips, tournament preparation trips, focused teaching trips
and technique instruction. If you are in need of a bass fishing guide give
me a call or drop me an email.


*Available Dates:*

*October: 23, 24, 29, 31*
*November: A number of dates available. Call or email to book a date for
the fall fishing. I am also now booking dates for next year. Book now to
get the dates(s) you want.*


*Captain Dave Stewart*
*Bass Buster Guide Service*
*www.kentuckylakeguide.com <http://www.kentuckylakeguide.com> *
* <>*
*270-362-9987 <(270)%20362-9987>*
*"Fish With A Professional"*

Dave thanks again for your great report and sounds like the fishing can be tuff and you have to cover lots of water to find them. ~sweat