Introduction/East Ky. Resident

Hello all,

I just wanted to make a post introducing myself, and I was hoping to get a few tips, too. I'm a college student attending UK, but am from Paintsville, Ky. I'm 24 years old and new to fishing (I've probably been all of 5-6 times in my life). I've been needing a new hobby, and thought that I would get into fishing some (I enjoy shooting sports, but it's just too expensive right now with the price of lead).

My area lakes back at home are Paintsville and Dewey, with Yatesville and Fishtrap being short/do-able drives.

I'm wanting to fish for mostly panfish to begin with, and bought up some gear in the last month. I bought a nice 5'-6" light action spinning rod and a 6' medium action thinking those would cover all of my bases to begin with. Yesterday I bought an Old Town Pack canoe as I have really enjoyed canoeing and thought it would be a great way to get out on the water!

I'm here in Lexington at school now, but get a chance to go home next Monday, and plan on going up to Dewey next Tuesday (weather permitting) to try out the new canoe. I went up to the dam area last time I was in, and had a great time. Caught only one small crappie off of a rooster tail, but stayed in the same spot on the shoreline as it was relaxing and comfortable.

I bought a book at Walmart that has contour maps and general info of Ky's lakes, and have been looking it over pretty well. If anybody has any general tips of where I ought to go on Dewey, or just a good spot for me to put-in, I'd sure appreciate it. Also, I enjoy the site and am glad to see that the KY forum has a good amount of activity Thumbs Up

Thanks a bunch!

Matt Colvin

Welcome to the world of fishing Matt. I have never fished Dewey before. Crappie can be caught during most any month as long as you know where to find them. Most people are getting excited as the water temperatures are rising. When the water temp gets around 56-58 degrees, the crappie begin moving toward shallow water for the spawn. When the temps are in this range and even a little higher, the crappie begin to spawn and normally where you find one, you find a bunch. I'm heading to Kentucky Lake next week as the conditions are looking good there. Good Luck and be safe.

While you are in the Lexington area, you should make a trip to the Ky River and head up the Dix River. Those trout in the Dix can be a blast with your rooster tail. Also, there is some great crappie fishing on the Ky river. It's up too much for me right now, but the water will settle down soon. Herrington lake offers some excellent bluegill fishing. The backside of Gwinn Island is a no-wake zone, so it's fine for a canoe. At Herrington, some wax worms and popeyes will give you hours of action with the blugills. Crappie can also be found at Herrington. It's just tough finding them, but when you do you can usually catch some nice ones. Good Luck and Stay Safe!

Welcome. I just fished Paintsville today. For that lake, fish the stickups, today we were in 8-15fow mostly. We were out towards the Magoffin County end mostly. I am a live bait kinda person, nightcrawlers for gills and minnows for crappie. Bass will hit either...

Welcome from Indiana
:)

Welcome Matt,
Sorry, I have never fished Dewey. Good luck to you, half the fun it figuring them out.

Welcome Matt,

You will never find a better "hobby" although I call it an addiction. LOL

Killum

Thanks all! I'll be sure and report back when I return.

I was able to go to Dewey Lake on Tuesday the 12th. I don't know what the water temp was, but the ambient temperature was about 45 degrees when I arrived, and maybe 60 degrees by the time I left. The day before was filled with rain most of the day, so I'm not sure what effect that had, but I caught only one small crappie on the day. I used chartreuse tubes, chartreuse marabou jigs, and also tried a white twirly grub on a roadrunner jighead (I thought that would be the trick). I guess I should have picked up some minnows?

The lake was pretty empty as I saw only two other boats the during the ~3.5-4 hrs I was there. For those familiar with the lake, I put in at the Terry ramp and paddled up to the dam and back, so I didn't really cover much area.

As far as the canoe goes, I really enjoyed it! It's quite stable for a 12 footer, and it's light and portable. It easily fits in the bed of the truck, so I'll be much more apt to use it. The thing I need to do is get a couple of heavier anchors, as the wind really does blow it around.