Heading to KY Lake for some Bluegilll Fishing

Ok, heading to KY lake on the 17th of May for some panfishing. I'm going after Bluegill and Yellow Bass. I know this is a 'Crappie' site, but if anyone can tell me the status of Bluegill/Shellcracker and Yellow Bass fishing, I would appreciate it. I've looked at a couple reports that state that the 'old bluegill beds' (May be caused by the dang Carp) are empty and I may need to move out to deeper waters to find them. I've done well in the past in the bays fishing in 2-5 ft around the buck bushes, but looks like this pattern is useless due to Carp(or something unexplained) since they were my go to bedding sites to find fish from previous trips. I will be in the Jonathan Creek area. I hope to find some fish, and probably will with some work, but just need some current information on what's happening. Also, plan to use waxworms. If this is not the bait, let me know.

My dad and I caught some nice bluegill yesterday on Ky, they were on beds in 3-6ft of water but we didn't find any big beds. With the cold front was worried about not catching any but once we found beds with fish they were active, we used bluegill bugs tipped with waxworms and red worms fished under a bobber. I would try any spots you fished in the past we found beds in the general area where they were in past but maybe a few feet away. You should have a good time.

Don't have any current info. But if you end up with too many yellow bass, drop a few off in Bardstown for me on your way home!!
Good luck


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They're bedding...I've caught a hundred plus bluegill the last two trips out. I have also found new waters where I hadn't fished in years past. I pulled a few nice shellcrackers off of a buck brush last night while bank fishing. They pull like a morning train!

redearhoosier, Chaunc, Greenwing, Greenfish, many thanks for the replies. I had looked at some recent 'Guide' fishing reports and it sounded like most the 'old' beds were not being used this year(empty), so I needed to see how bad it was. Sounds like I can still go back to some of my old beds and find some fish. If not, I will have to just go 'looking'.
I'm going to try some of my 'Sabiki' rigs for the Yellow Bass. If you've never used these, they are very cheap, less than $2 each at Amazon (for 4-6 small feather gigs ringed ready to connect to a leader) I used these to catch Blue Catfish cut bait on Santee Lake in SC. I would have 2-4 small white perch (they remind me of the Yellow Bass here) on the line many times. Works kinda like a drop-shot rig, but with several spaced out feather jigs. The rig has a clip at the bottom to attach a weight. So, this is an Ocean rig, used to catch bait,but it may work for the Yellow Bass. If I don't have much luck with the Bluegill, I'll try this rig in deeper water for the Yellow Perch.

That sabiki rig is a nice salt rig to use in freshwater, I use it a lot below the dam to catch skipjack for trotline bait. If bouncing that sabiki on the ledges doesn't work out, try bouncing a war eagle silver spoon in either 1/2 oz or 7/8 oz depending on wind. You might get into a school of white bass while doing it or even a sauger or largemouth. I like the War Eagle spoons because they come with a great hook already on there right out of the package, and you can get them at about any walmart. Chrome, white, or gold all work - I like the chrome on sunny days best

For redear, I catch more on red worms than anything else, and they must be as close to the bottom as possible....a lot of times I don't even use a bobber, just a split shot and slowly drag it through the bed area.

If all else fails and you just want a bunch of meat, the catfish are on the rip rap or rocky banks readily taking a red worm under a bobber. About any marina breakwall with riprap on it should produce for you.

All you guys looking for gills need to check the water temps. This morning the surface temp on Barkley was 67. Five feet deeper it may be 63. All the crappie we are catching are still full of eggs. Too many people are worried about the calendar. Gills and crappie will spawn when the water temps are right.


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Just walked in from a TOUGH day!! Doug is correct, the water temperature bottomed out and they've moved out to deeper water. Today sucked, no since in sugar coating it!!

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Originally Posted by redearhoosier

Just walked in from a TOUGH day!! Doug is correct, the water temperature bottomed out and they've moved out to deeper water. Today sucked, no since in sugar coating it!!

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I wondered if that might have happened. The temp at the Hancock Station was down to 68 this morning. My better days for redear are when it's showing 72+ which it was flirting with late last week. Looking ahead at the forecast for Wednesday and on, I like the way this coming weekend is shaping up.

Some crappie are full of eggs but they are mostly off color and already reabsorbing, those fish will not spawn. Even the bass have spawned and moving back out.

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Exactly what I've been seeing also....all post spawn that we have cleaned. By weekend tho I'm betting those gills/crackers are popping!!

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Originally Posted by pab1981

Some crappie are full of eggs but they are mostly off color and already reabsorbing, those fish will not spawn. Even the bass have spawned and moving back out.

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Yep, when you plan a trip 4 months ahead of your week's fishing, you just have to go on past history for the right time to come for Bluegill for ideal water temps. The consensus from most Bluegill sites says when the SURFACE temp gets between 68-72 degrees they will start bedding. For KY lake, (History) the Surface temp is between 68-72 in early May, between 72-75 in Mid May and between 75-78 in late May. This is why I picked Mid May for my upcoming trip on the 17th. I think it will warm up to the 70-72 degree range shortly, so I may hit it right, (just by luck), but you never know. But, you have factor in the unexpected, storms, wind, and cold fronts when you plan so far in advance and deal with it when you get there since you've locked the reservation times in advance. Again, many thanks for the posts.

Art, thanks for the info. If you fish Barkley, I'll let you know the location of what I have found to be the best place to find Shellcrackers/Bluegill in mid May through Mid June. Just send me a PM. It may or may no be good now, but it used to be excellent. This was a few years ago, but man, this place was loaded every day. It's a road bed that runs across a bay, not on many (if any maps). You can find it with about any POS depth finder if you know where to look, drop an anchor and can feel the hard 'thump' if you set up on the road(it must have been a paved road). It's about 3-4' on top, and drops off to 6-7' on either side of the road.

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Originally Posted by artcarney_agr

That sabiki rig is a nice salt rig to use in freshwater, I use it a lot below the dam to catch skipjack for trotline bait. If bouncing that sabiki on the ledges doesn't work out, try bouncing a war eagle silver spoon in either 1/2 oz or 7/8 oz depending on wind. You might get into a school of white bass while doing it or even a sauger or largemouth. I like the War Eagle spoons because they come with a great hook already on there right out of the package, and you can get them at about any walmart. Chrome, white, or gold all work - I like the chrome on sunny days best

For redear, I catch more on red worms than anything else, and they must be as close to the bottom as possible....a lot of times I don't even use a bobber, just a split shot and slowly drag it through the bed area.

If all else fails and you just want a bunch of meat, the catfish are on the rip rap or rocky banks readily taking a red worm under a bobber. About any marina breakwall with riprap on it should produce for you.

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Originally Posted by perchjerker108

Art, thanks for the info. If you fish Barkley, I'll let you know the location of what I have found to be the best place to find Shellcrackers/Bluegill in mid May through Mid June. Just send me a PM. It may or may no be good now, but it used to be excellent. This was a few years ago, but man, this place was loaded every day. It's a road bed that runs across a bay, not on many (if any maps). You can find it with about any POS depth finder if you know where to look, drop an anchor and can feel the hard 'thump' if you set up on the road(it must have been a paved road). It's about 3-4' on top, and drops off to 6-7' on either side of the road.

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Sounds good. I know of a few like you've described, seems like I either get into the shellcrackers good or the catfish are swarming. Usually some point between Mother's Day through Memorial is when it gets right on these types of spots.

I finally upgraded to side imaging, hoping that helps me find more beds that aren't quite as obvious. In the past, I've have good luck just looking in the backs of bays on Google Maps - the aerial photos there were taken during low water, pretty easy to spot the beds that are in 4 ft of water at summer pool. A good example is the back of Lick Creek, there were the creek dumps in, you can see several.

Perchjerker108 how's the fishing going? I'm hoping some are still on the beds for next weekend, I'm taking my nephew and his little boy to maybe catch a few bluegill.