KY Lake First timer

I have never been to Kentucky Lake to fish for crappies, we are heading down the first week of April and staying at the Moors resort. I have purchased the Hyrograph software and have marked all the stakebeds, brush..etc on a Hanheld GPS that are in the Moors resort area(Buckhorn Creek,Malcom Creek..etc). My question is how to fish these areas or should I go down to the Jonathan Creek area? Should I be spider-riggen(which I've never done), vertical jigging, casting shoreline???Which would be the best for that time of year??

I have been down there twice , firsttime we stayed at big bear resort , its a great place , we fished from their up to moors , without a lot of luck , we went on down to johnathan had much better luck ,trolling around the cove , with road runners and tip with crappie nibblets . Both times we went was the first week of april . Just trying to give you a little info , you might pm that wiskers he fishes johnmathon a lot. lol

We're goin last week of March. My inlaws live next door to Big Bear. Hopefully it will be warm.

Spider trol or long line troll. Head to Jonathon Creek and you should have some luck but everything depends on the weather. I went last year in March when the temperature hit 80 degrees and caught a ton of crappie, but did nothing in April when a front pushed through. Good luck to you.....

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Originally Posted by crappiehnt

I have never been to Kentucky Lake to fish for crappies, we are heading down the first week of April and staying at the Moors resort. I have purchased the Hyrograph software and have marked all the stakebeds, brush..etc on a Hanheld GPS that are in the Moors resort area(Buckhorn Creek,Malcom Creek..etc). My question is how to fish these areas or should I go down to the Jonathan Creek area? Should I be spider-riggen(which I've never done), vertical jigging, casting shoreline???Which would be the best for that time of year??

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Plenty of good fishing around the Moors.... everything depends on water temps, but I would guess you would do pretty well fishing brush in 5' to 12' of water on the flats casting slider jigs or curly tails to the stakes and brush. If the fish are agressive they will bite the jig on the fall before it ever makes it to the brush so watch for your line to "JUMP", but if they aren't aggressive try crawling a slider jig through the brush and they will usually hit it when it deflects off a stake or brush (it usually will feel like a small tap).

On April 1st TVA will start raising the lake up to summer pool (if it isn't there already from heavy rains). This will mean the fish are gonna move up. Casy gave you some good advice & I might add casting a jig under a bobber around chunk rock banks, steak beds, & other cover. But most of all think shallow. Keep in mind that the wheather is gonna play a big part in where they are too. Good Luck! :D

If you've never spider rigged, no reason to learn on the fly in a new lake if you don't have to. Go with what you are comfotable with. I really like the area around Jonathans myself, but I would try the areas close to your resort first. No use running any farther to find them than you have to. I'm sure somebody down ther will help to put you on some fish. Especially the bait shops and marinas. It's bad business for them if ya go down and get skunked and never come back, so they will be more than willing to point ya in the right direction. Weather is huge though. Seems when we used to go down every year we'd hit it just right about 1 outa 3 years and catch 'em up on the nest. Other years we'd have to vertical jig 'em a little deeper. But one thing for sure, there are always some nice slabs for the taking.

Like everyone says, it all depends on the weather on where you find the fish. I go the same time most years and depending on weather they could be deep or shallow.

As SpeckWick said, I would try those bays right where you're staying (Buckhorn, Bear and Malcomb Creeks) they can be very good. I fish them every year. Some years are better than others, with some years being great. Also, I'd try what you know first and if that doesn't work. I might try drift fishing or long line trolling to try to locate some fish. Make sure you have some marker bouys if you find something holding fish offshore.

One thing when fishing new water.... look around! See what other folks are doing. I'm not saying to take there spots but if everyone is drift fishing or trolling or vertical fishing in deep water, I'd certainly give it a try.
Good luck, it's a great lake to fish.