Bring back the grass and watch the fishing improve dramatically.
^ exactly ^
From what I’ve been told by reputable sources, the vast majority of those balls of baitfish we are all seeing are emerald shiners and silversides. Great size for smaller fish, but we need those threadfin and big gizzard shad to come back if we want these fish to get back to the size we are used to on this lake.
Has anyone seen any gizzards on ky lake recently? I haven’t for years.
Murray State Alum
2007 Champion 210 with all the toys
I agree w/Maddog. Think back 7-8 years. Almost every boat in a BFL hauled around 2 livewells full of 4,5,6 pounders all day. Add in the big national tourneys and all the other ones going on. Thats not sustainable for very long. There are about 3 year classes of bass missing from the lake population. Lots of 10-14" fish and some big ones. Very few in between. I don't know how long it takes a bass in Ky. Lake to reach 4 lbs., but I think if you look back it would correspond to high water fluctuation years. As others have said, Im not a biologist but I do fish ky. lake 100+ days a year. I also think the fish have adapted. I now catch fish in places I never caught any 5 yrs. ago.
For all you people that don’t like to Carp in the lake Don’t come here no more find you another place to fish It makes it better for us
If you have fish you think are carp fry please catch them if possible and contact Jessica Morris at the Murray KDFWR office.
I find this highly unlikely as they need high current to spawn (as someone said above), but KDFWR will be able to tell you 100% what kind of fish they are if you can catch them.
2005 Ranger Z21
2005 Mercury Verado 250
Some good news. I was down at the lake this weekend pulling my boat out and there was a guy on the dock throwing a cast net. He had some bait in a five gallon bucket. I asked if I could look at them and he said go ahead. No doubt in my mind they were threadfin shad. The first ones I have seen On Barkley in several years. There are definitely carp fry all over now. I have netted them with a small net.
2005 Ranger Z21
2005 Mercury Verado 250
They can go to the back of McNabb and see all they want.