Lake Conditions:
Barkley – 360.95, 63,000CFS, muddy with water temps running in the upper 70’s to low 80’s
Kentucky – 360.25, 61,000, stained with water temps running in the upper 70’s to low 80’s

Weather: WET WET WET week of weather it has been here around the lakes. Front after front has rolled through and has dumped a tremendous amount of rain on our area in fact Calvert City was pounded with 13 plus inches Weds and Thurs. Things settle out this weekend with normal summertime afternoon pop showers possible. Highs look to run in the 90’s and low’s in 70’s.

Bass Fishing: The ledge bite has continued to been hit or miss depending on what the TVA is doing with the current. As normal with little or no current the bite can be pretty fickle but when they get it ramped up the same spots can be incredible. Main river ledges along with humps and ledges on flats in the mouths of the bays are still the most consistent. Not every school of fish is going to fire even with current as they have seen enough baits to last a life time and you just can’t get them to go. I’m not sure if it’s the amount of activity on the water for the July 4th holiday or what but for the past 4yrs now the 4th of July weekend seems to mark the end of the good schooling bite on the lakes. That’s not saying you can’t or will not find schools of active fish but the it seems that the large school become very broken up and the fish really begin to spread out. This again doesn’t mean you’re not going to catch fish or they won’t bite you going to have to move around a little more to find smaller schools of fish. Bait choices haven’t changed much this week either, for the times of low current it’s hard to beat a 10’’ juice worm from Big Bite Baits paired up with a 4/0 gamakatsu hook and 5/16oz Bag 5 Baits tungsten worm weight. We throw this rig on a 734 Powell rod with 14lb Sunline sniper fluorocarbon line. We’ve also thrown Carolina rigs, drop shots, Picasso shaky heads and drag an Outkast Tackle touchdown jig to get these inactive fish to bite. There are always those groups of fish that are ready to eat and those are the ones that make ledge fishing so much fun. We’ve caught these fish on spoons, deep crankbaits like the SPRO DD little john, ignite swimbaits with a ¾ an 1oz Picasso smartmouth jig head and drag or hopping a 3/4oz Outkast Tackle juice jig around.

White and Yellow Bass: These dudes are setting up on their typical summer haunts on main river points and humps. We came across some in the jumps this week which makes for some exciting fishing. With little current on either river the fish have been suspending and a little tricky to catch at times. Using a blade bait like a Steel Shad or a rooster tail we’ve been dropping them over the side of the boat and hopping them off the bottom and letting them flutter back down. Most of your bites with happen as the bait falls back to the bottom.

DO NOT get left on the dock because you forgot to book a trip. Call us today and setup your next fishing adventure and possibly catch the fish of a lifetime at 612-889-2423. Some awesome summer fishing and weather is ahead so be sure to get your dates booked today.

*****Don’t forget about our on the water electronics classes. We have run the Lowrance products the past 10yrs and now are running the NEW Humminbird Helix units. So if you’re stumped as what you’re looking at or how to navigate through the units we can help you. Got a unit and need it installed get in touch with us and we can get you hooked up and finding fish like the pros.

Anyone needing any boat work done or looking for a new boat be sure to stop by and see the guys at Legacy Marine 270-928-3253 they have you covered for any of your boating needs.

Be sure to check us out on Facebook along with our YouTube Channel and KentuckyLake.com tip of the week videos

Capt. Brian Brown
Fishing Hype Guide Service
www.fishinghype.com
612-889-2423