Ky Lake Big Bear Creek Report

Finally had a chance to fish Ky Lake for the first time in many years. Started out at Jonathan Creek on Sunday the 17th and fished there all day. Ended up with 3 fish, one 14" and two 10". Weather was great but the corps had just dropped the lake level over 12" and the fish moved out off the beds.

Monday, moved up to Big Bear Creek and had a little success in 4 to 6 feet of water slow trolling and casting jigs. We caught maybe 6 keepers all day.

Tuesday, tried near the Moors landing and out towards the main lake with limited success. Again, two of us fishing caught 6 keepers. We threw back many under-sized fish. Especially from shallow water.

Wednesday, we started looking for deeper water and sharper drop-offs and started catching more and larger fish. I think we kept 10 on wednesday.

Thursday and Friday were much better for us as we concentrated on rocky shoreline and points that would drop to 11 feet in less than 30 feet from shore. Fish were scattered but consistent in this pattern. We picked up 18 nice fish on Thursday with 2 black females over 15".

Friday we caught another 12 large fish as the cold front moved in. We also caught two 7 pound catfish on 1/8 ounce jigs.

The majority of the fish in all areas came on 1.5" green twisters on 1/8 to 1/4 oz jig heads with a crappie nibble either slow trolled or cast to shore with a slow retrieve.

We caught a lot of nice bluegills and white bass which kept things interesting between crappie bites.

Weather was so good all week, we didn't really mind the slow days that much.

I was there at the same time as you. I did a lot better tho. The first day,thursday, i fished jonathon creek area. Only caught 7 keepers but i knew i could do a lot better down lake at ledbetter. Fished ledbetter the rest of the week. Found the slabs in 10ft water, 7 to 8ft down. Used a pink 1/32 oz jig with a waxworm and hammered the fish. I brought home close to 40#s of fillets. Crappies, gills,bass, saugers, and some huge cats. The cat fillets were to big to fit in my quart bags so i had to cut them down in 4 pcs. for each fillet. Crappies that i kept averaged 11" with at least 10 close to 2 lbs each. Gills were 8 and better. I caught well over 150 gills but a lot were throwbacks. Still it was fun to catch them. Smallest catfish was 6#. Biggest was 29"s, 10lbs +. Sauger were 15 and 14, and the bass i kept were 18, 18, and 17. 2 lm and 1 sm. Fished by myself every day. Landing those catfish was hell on 4# test and a 10ft pole. Weather was outstanding. A little windy a couple days but all in all a great trip. I'm going back the 2nd weekend in may to try to catch those redears bedding. May stay another week. Maybe 5 days tho. Came back home to Pa. and it's snowing !

Hey Chaunc...where did you stay while down on Ky Lake fishing?

Early american motel. Been staying there most of my 18 trips down to ky lake. Not a luxurious place to take your wife but not bad for a group of guys. The number there is 1-800-580-0682. It's managers name is Adam. It's 7 minutes south of johnathon creek and 4 minutes north of kenlake marina. There's a baitshop, general store, and restarant, right across the street.