Thread: Herrington Lake in Kentucky

Originally Posted by Biggerbear

I am moving to Harrodsburg, Ky this spring and would like to learn how to fish Harrington Lake for Panfish.

It seems Panfish Guides are hard to find so any help will be apreciated.

I will tell you this if you fish it a lot you will develop a love/hate relation ship. this lake can be on fire one day and as cold as ice the next day then back on fire the next.

Appreciate the information share there Crappie Pappy... Many thanks!

Originally Posted by CrappiePappy

To which my answers would be ...

Yes there are ... yes you should ... and yes they do

One thing you can do, that may help you find the depth the Crappie are holding at (and catch some) ... is to use the method I call "Vertical Casting" -- Crappie Pappy Article

I was actually doing this method long before I put a name to it, and it started at Herrington (back around 1980). There was a large Sycamore tree hanging off a cliff into the water, just up the lake from the Kennedy Bridge. A buddy of mine took me there and told me to bring 1/16oz marabou jigs & a UL rod/reel with 4lb test line. We tied to the tree & dropped the jigs down thru the big branches, about 15-20ft down, then slowly began reeling the jig back in. There'd be a little "thump/tic" on the rod tip, then we'd set the hook. Holy moly ... the Crappie were the biggest ones I'd ever caught (or even seen) coming from Herrington Lake. Most were a good 1.5lbs & some likely over 2lbs. Unfortunately, the tree did not stay there more than a couple of months before rising water levels took it away ... but, it did show me that there are probably more Herrington Slabs that die of old age, than are caught by most of the Crappie anglers that fish the lake.

Fast forward a decade or so ... and I tried the same technique at Watts Bar Reservoir in E. Tenn. ... fishing around bridge pilings & submerged/fallen trees. This time using tube jigs & Panfish Assassins ... again with the same success. When I joined Crappie.com back in 2000 ... I shared this technique via the article I wrote. I still use it, and it still produces

... cp

A old man that always set on the dock at cane run showed me about 1987 . I came into the dock with zero crappie. He took me back out with a zebco 33 and a 1/16 Popeye white and showed me how its done,.

Originally Posted by Wormin

I will tell you this if you fish it a lot you will develop a love/hate relation ship. this lake can be on fire one day and as cold as ice the next day then back on fire the next.

AMEN.....

Originally Posted by deadaim

A old man that always set on the dock at cane run showed me about 1987 . I came into the dock with zero crappie. He took me back out with a zebco 33 and a 1/16 Popeye white and showed me how its done,.

Yep ... pretty much the same deal with me. Older gentleman that lived on the lake & worked at Kamp Kennedy Marina showed me how to do the method I now call Vertical Casting. Worked pretty good fishing under the marina for Hybrid Stripers, too ... you just reeled in a lot faster for the Hybrids. We were using the Zebco micro spincast reels, back then ... so we reeled in our jigs VERY slow when Crappie fishing using the Vertical Casting method, even when we were cranking the handle at a normal speed (due to the small size of the reel's spool). With the bigger spinning reels I now use, I have to slow the retrieve to around a 3-5 count per handle turn in order to slow the jig's ascent.

I taught him how to catch Brook Silverside minnows for bait, and he taught me how to smell bedding Bluegill. We fished together quite often, for Crappie, Bass, White Bass & Hybrid Stripers ... and always had a good time together.

... cp

YESthere goodens in there yes there TUFF TO FIND