KY lake March pattern?

[Usualjag]

I'm heading down next week for my first trip this early in the year. Looks like temps are warming. What kind of patterns are they on and what should I expect with warming weather. I'll be in the Sandy, Paris Landing, and possibly Blood river areas. Any general info will be appreciated. Want to try and land some big slabs you guys catch this time of year!

[Waitin4NextTick]

Good luck getting much help on this board...they seemed to be tight lipped with their crappie....guess the lakes not big enough?
If you cast a jig like a fishermen just find some brush on a creek channel flat or hump or channel bank and use a jig heavy enough to suit weather and depth conditions. Most of the time I use a 1/16 ounce but have had to go up to an 1/8 ounce in windy or heavy current conditions.
I just cast beyond cover and work from highest water levels down to dragging through brush until the fish show you where they are at. Normally if the fish are active you can stay above the brush and even reel a little faster because they seem to be feeding, but sometimes I have to slow down to a crawl pulling it through the brush to get bit. I rely on feel only for a bite and set the hook on the slightest bump.
Colors I use are some variation of chartuese in stained water and I use sparkle on sunny days. I use pepper or shad color (grey) in clear water or low light situations and seem to do well. I use only weedless jigs but this is not a requirement if you stay on top of the brush but it doesn't seem to inhibit hookups for me.
Anyway I hope this helps a little and good luck.

[badbrad]

Not tight lipped here at all. Everybody is just out fishing. Wherever you go right now, whether it be Big Sandy or Blood, just launch your boat and look for the boats. Depending on water temps, start in 12' of water and work shallower or vice versa. Watch your graph and fish any brush you can locate. If nothing else, you can usually follow the creek channels drifting with minnows and pick up a good mess a fish.

[Waitin4NextTick]

Not tight lipped here at all. Everybody is just out fishing. Wherever you go right now, whether it be Big Sandy or Blood, just launch your boat and look for the boats. Depending on water temps, start in 12' of water and work shallower or vice versa. Watch your graph and fish any brush you can locate. If nothing else, you can usually follow the creek channels drifting with minnows and pick up a good mess a fish.

Brad, just basing it off of asking a question earlier in the week about fishing Ky lake and didn't get 1 single reply....I used the term electronics and must have scared everyone away LOL.

[badbrad]

Waitin, I saw your post, don't know why no one picked up on it. When the board goes quiet, you better get to the water. Lol. I'm no expert on Kentucky Lake by any means and usually two pole, spider rig or pull jigs. I usually see lots of people cast for them though. Brush is relatively easy to find. Don't think you'll have any problem catching some over the next several weeks, barring any bad weather fronts or high winds. Good luck!

[kyjohn]

Hey Waitin ... I don't think you can go wrong fishing minnows and/or jigs on brush along creek channels there in Big Sandy. You'll need to look for the boats as BadBrad suggested or use your electronics and map to check the channel ledges. There's plenty of brush, just look for it and fish it slow. You'll do fine. Good Luck! BTW ... I didn't see your post either, but I'm old and blind.

[Usualjag]

I typically vertical jig over piles / structure till spring when we flip corks along banks (shallow brush). I've got the graphs and plan on scanning for schools. But I guess my question was more basic.

What depth are they biting? (I would have thought 12-15'?)
Any certain colors working better? Need to even bother with tipping a minnow?
Is one method better than another in March?
What are your gps coordinates? (Lol just kidding)
With the warming weather I see them moving much more shallow. Suggestions if they do?
Thanks for the info waitin

[Jdattilo]

Long line troll. Cast em out. Turn on the motor and reel them in. In a week or two this easy technique will put limits in the boat. If you're not dialed in on specific brush piles, it's a great way to find and catch fish. That said, a lot of people hate to troll.

[Usualjag]

I've got the electronics to find piles and stake beds. I'm just trying to find out the questions I already asked. I know how to find structure, just trying to see what depth is working and colors. Trying to find out what the fish there do this time of year if things warm up a week.

Don't need anyone's spots to what part of the lake you're catching them in. Just trying to get general info. In the IL section we help each other out so I figured it was the same here.

[slabseeker1]

A friend and I just got back yesterday for our very first trip to Ky Lake in alota years and i'd like to say thanks to all that helped me have a great time and the bonus of the fish. We got to Jonathan Creek on thursday morning and put the boat in around 8:00-8:30 and went out and under the bridge. The water temp was 40 on both my depth finders and i'd aleady looked at a map and had it in my head that we would fish the south side of the channel. When we went over the channel and got into 14' of water we set up and started spider rigging with minnows as we headed east zig zagging into about 10 and then out till we'd hit 14', keeping the bell sinker just off bottom. We ran into several guys that would find brush piles and would two pole but didn't run into anyone that was doing as well as we were. Saw alot of fellas with drift socks that were fishing the north side of the channel, never saw one using a net though. We fished till almost 3:00 and wound upwith 37, and a few of those were so fat they wouldn't fit into the measure cup. In my book, this will go down as a great adventure and can't wait till we can do it again.