Help on Lake Barkley - or - Kentucky
I am meeting my family and some friends on the weekend of the 19-20 of April. We are staying at the Canal Campground on Lake Barkley. I Have never fished either of the lakes for crappie. I am hoping people can help me with some advice on areas of the lake close to the dam to fish for crappie, shellcracker and catfish. I am most intersted in the crappie, but I just want to be able to find fish for my family/friends to catch. I would prefer to stay in that general area of the lake, as I only have a 15 hp motor and I know it's a huge lake. I cannot cover alot of area in a small boat. I live in tennessee and ussually fish Douglas lake for crappie. ANy help would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance.:)
Used to tent camp there ...
back in my younger days ;) ... always went around the 21st-23rd of April, and stayed for a week. As Mr Dux has said ... the wind can be a problem, depending on which way it's blowing (and how strong). Last time I was there, the lake was flooded and the wind made it impossible to launch from the canal campground ramps. We trailered the boat to one of the LBL campgrounds, and launched. Caught Crappie right out from under the concrete picnic tables, at the campgrounds (that's how flooded it was).
If you can get to them ... any of the small bays and pockets, on either side of the dam, may have some fish in them .... if the water is up into the shoreline bushes (commonly referred to as "buck brush"), put a minnow under a slip float (about 1ft less depth than the water level depth) and drop it down into any openings of these bushes, and between bushes. Any stump, log jam, floating mat of debris, or downed tree that you see ... fish it !!!
If for some reason, the lake is flooded, and the water is up around the live trees along the bank ... fish around those live trees, and fish right next to the trunk of the tree (all the way around it). If there's a dead tree still standing, fish it ... and go back to it later that day, & every day you're there.
You're probably going to be too late for the Black Crappie spawn ... but, you may still get in on the White Crappie.
... luck2ya ... cp :cool:
PS - don't leave anything in your tent, or camp, that can be walked off with easily. We had some things stolen from ours, last trip down (and so did another couple of guys that were camping close by).