Taylorsville Report Thanks Crappy Pappy!

Fished Taylorsville this morning. The lake is pretty muddy. There is a lot of water comming in this lake, but it's still fishable. I had a mixed bag of Bass, Striped Bass, Crappie , and Tons of 1/2 pound Catfish. I only fished from 9 AM until 2 PM, and only ended up with 4 crappie. The four crappie were all about 10 inches. I was spider rigging, or tight lining with minnows about 5 feet deep, in 7 feet of water.

If you have any kids take them to Taylorsville, and find beach or Beech creek. (Crappie Pappy told me to go there) I probably caught 25 of these small catfish. They're not worth cleaning, but the kids will love catching them. I literally got tired of catching these little cats.

OH! Almost forgot. The recreational traffic is pretty bad. Or at least it was today. Tons of Ski boats, and Jet Skis

I see by the lake level chart, that T-ville is only a couple of feet over pool. Guess the Catfish couldn't resist the free meals (worms, bugs) from the rising water :D
Were those Channel Cats, Blue Cats, or Bullheads ?? We used to catch a lot of Brown Bullheads from there, back in the first few years after the lake opened. Haven't caught a Bullhead in quite a long time ... but have caught some Channel Cats (usually on jigs or Roadrunners). Blue Cats are a recent addition, and I don't think I've caught one of them .. yet.

Give the water a week to drop back down & stabilize, and clear up some .... then give 'er another try. And if the "wave maker traffic" gets to be too much for you ... ease back into some of the larger, timbered creeks and jig around the shoreline brush & standing timber. You should be able to get into some better numbers, by then. ......... luck2ya ... cp :cool:

These catfish were all blue cats. Very aggressive, and fun to catch. Just to small to keep. I wish I had a small pond, I would have kept them, and thrown them in there. They wreaked havoc on my spider rig too.

I'll have to find the timber you speak of. I couldn't see any from where I was. (just north of the state park ramp) Also, I don't have a super fast boat, so I don't get much sight-seeing. I'm running my briggs and Stratton 5HP. It will do about 13 mph will all my gear and me. I really have to know where i'm going in my boat. Otherwise it takes a while to get back to the dock. I think i'm going to invest in a good topo map this afternoon. Can't go fishing today. Wife wants to go to the Zoo.

Fishing Hot Spots maps are pretty decent. All the smaller creeks are pretty much full of standing timber (visable & submerged). With that small of a motor, your best bet would be to utilize one of the 4 ramps closest to the area/creeks that you wish to explore. The Settler's Trace (marina) ramp, and Possum Ridge ramp (state park) are on the main lake (dam end) ... Chowning Lane & Van Buren ramps are on the other end of the lake, on the "river" end. Sadly, there are no ramps in the mid-lake portion, so small craft are kinda limited in their range.
If you return soon, and launch at the same ramp ..... try these areas:
the bank from the ramp to the point that's across from the marina ... then cross over to the marina side and head back towards the ramp, until you run into a small creek pocket on your left. You may want to fish in that pocket, too, but I wouldn't bother going more than halfway back into it. Don't know if I'd "spider rig" these banks, though. Casting & slow retrieving a weedless jig will probably work a lot better. ANY tree or wood cover that you encounter down these banks, will most likely be holding fish ... so, if you catch one off a spot, work it over thoroughly !! If the water is still dingy to murky ... work the 2-8ft range. If it's cleared back up, to the "green" stained coloration (normal color) ... work the 4-8ft range. In either case - "wood" is the key factor !! And don't discount even the smallest piece of brush ... my biggest limit stringer (15fish/10lbs total weight) came off a small root wad that was no bigger than a basketball !! (and it was in that creek pocket I mentioned !! )
Depending on which way you are coming to the lake ........ the Van Buren ramp turnoff is about 8mi down Ky248 ... coming from the Possum Ridge/State Park turnoff direction. (a Atlas, road map, or topo lake map will show you) Let me know when you get a topo map of the lake, and if/when you decide to try that end of the lake ... I'll try and point out some spots for you to check out, down there. ........... luck2ya ..... cp :cool:

ps ... the Van Buren end of the lake is less likely to be overrun with "lake lice" (too stumpy & too narrow).

Pappy, should i give up on the "state park" end of the lake? Would my chances increase if I just traveled further down to Van Buren?

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Originally Posted by Waylonh

Pappy, should i give up on the "state park" end of the lake? Would my chances increase if I just traveled further down to Van Buren?

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There are only a few creeks worth checking out, at the Van Buren end ... without traveling a few miles away from the Van Buren ramp. The two creeks, right by the ramp, are pretty shallow and very stumpy. When conditions are right (water level/temp) they can produce, but I've never been there when that happens ... LOL!! The rock quarry is known for holding fish ... but, you gotta be the first one there, when they're in there. The outside bend of the Salt River (between Van Buren ramp & rock quarry) can hold fish - if there's downed timber still there. (the rock quarry is to your left, if you're standing on the ramp and looking at the lake ... it's just around the corner, on the left, after you make your way around the bend. And, it's shallow and there's a lot of mud flats in that stretch between Van Buren ramp and the bend. And those mud flats change from time to time ... due to the flooding) If you look at a map ... Van Buren end ... you'll see where highway 248 goes across the Salt River. The rock quarry is between the bridge and first sharp bend ... and Van Buren ramp is right before you get to Crooked Creek, and opposite of Watts Run Creek. (the two creeks I mentioned earlier)

Levi Creek is just about a mile down the lake from Van Buren ... pretty good creek. Two more miles from there, and on the same side (left) is Timber Creek ... also good creek. My Mom & Stepdad used to fish those two creeks very heavily ... and usually did pretty good. They minnow fished, and usually tied up to a clump of trees close to the bank ... especially if there was brush or downed trees coming off the bank nearby.

I spent/spend most of my time on the other end of the lake .... in a few select spots. And I mostly cast jigs around downed trees, or ease along those banks in Beech Creek (that I told you about in the other post), casting jigs to the shoreline. Other than that, I just go searching for downed trees or hit the shallow standing timber in some of the bigger pockets off the main lake.

Just pick a ramp, look on the map and find the closest large creek to it ... hit the main lake tree line & downed trees first (daylight til the "lice" start getting active) and then head back into the creek. You'll soon figure out where they spend most of their time .... in the shade, on downed trees, and around the standing timber closest to the bank -- 10ft of water or less. If you're sitting in 15-20ft of water, and only a boat length or two from the bank ... and a downed tree is coming off the bank in front of you -- you've found a potential Taylorsville honey hole !! If there's standing timber there, too .... all the better. If there's shade over the water there ... until near midday ... you're probably fishing one of "my" honey holes ... LOL!! ......... luck2ya ... cp :cool: