Fall Crappie KY Lake

I’m taking a fishing trip hoping to target crappie. After hearing about what a great fishery KY/Barkley Lake is for years, we figured we needed to check it out. We booked a place to stay on the north end of KY Lake for the first week of October. [/COLOR]

Recently, I've been seeing people talking about how rough fishing has been out there this year, due to the invasion of Asian Carp. Is it bad enough that you guys would recommend moving the trip to another lake? I'm not the type of guy thats disappointed if I'm not constantly catching fish (I enjoy just being out there), but I would like to have a pretty good chance of catching some slab crappie at least some point on the trip. If the AC problem is as bad as some make it, we may have to look elsewhere.

Just looking for an honest opinion from someone who has fished it recently, or knows what fall is likely to look like. Any tips on spots to target, etc appreciated too!

Thanks!

I have both a fishing boat and pleasure boat and can say this year we’ve had a lot less encounters with AC then the past two. You won’t regret coming down. Good luck!

Fishing has been tough, and there are better lakes. That being said, October is a fine time to be on Kentucky.

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Originally Posted by Sommers46

...If the AC problem is as bad as some make it, we may have to look elsewhere.

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You know how so many fishermen are, they'll find anything to blame a bad day of fishing on. The Asian Carp have had a little bit of an impact, but not to the extent that so many claim. I certainly wouldn't cancel a trip to KY Lake over the Asian Carp. There's been A LOT of progress made in the past two years in the battle against Asian Carp.

The best advice I can give is to not be married to a particular pattern, method, or species of fish. I've gotten to where I go out there and if things don't happen for one species I'll switch over to another. That's the good thing about KY Lake in that usually something is always biting. KY Lake in October is awesome. The trees changing colors makes for a beautiful backdrop.

I'm glad to hear that. Really looking forward to this trip. I should mention that we will be bank fishing for the majority of the trip, so I think we'll try the tailwaters near the dam and I've heard good things about Jonathan Creek around the 68 bridge.

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Originally Posted by artcarney_agr

You know how so many fishermen are, they'll find anything to blame a bad day of fishing on. The Asian Carp have had a little bit of an impact, but not to the extent that so many claim. I certainly wouldn't cancel a trip to KY Lake over the Asian Carp. There's been A LOT of progress made in the past two years in the battle against Asian Carp.

The best advice I can give is to not be married to a particular pattern, method, or species of fish. I've gotten to where I go out there and if things don't happen for one species I'll switch over to another. That's the good thing about KY Lake in that usually something is always biting. KY Lake in October is awesome. The trees changing colors makes for a beautiful backdrop.

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Those are some wise words. Especially as they are coming for a Louisville fan! ;-)

Like Scott said, beautiful place to be in the fall. Where the fish are and what they will be doing is anybody’s guess.

My main strategy is to fish for what is biting. I’ve started days bass fishing and ended them fishing for bluegill, catfish or white bass.

If you are set on crappie, follow the shad. I run the lake looking for bays with shad and spend my time there.

Above all, enjoy your trip. Fish aren’t required for having a good day at the lake

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Originally Posted by Sommers46

I'm glad to hear that. Really looking forward to this trip. I should mention that we will be bank fishing for the majority of the trip, so I think we'll try the tailwaters near the dam and I've heard good things about Jonathan Creek around the 68 bridge.

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In that case, you may want to consider driving over to LBL. You can move around to a lot of different spots with short drive times. Might want to look at the lake contour maps ahead of time to see what shore areas have deeper water nearby. Crooked Creek Bay, Honker Bay, Sugar Bay, Nickell Branch, and the unnamed bay across from the prison where LBL road number 117 ends at the water but the old road bed continues on across the bay are some spots I've always liked.

Oh, and if all else fails, and you just want to catch a bunch of fish, fishing below KY Dam with a sabiki rig will catch all the skipjack you want by the old fishing platform....they gather around that thing like crazy in October. It's a pretty fun thing to do if you've never done it. Sabiki rigs are for sale in Lake City at Ken's TBC,, aka Fisherman's Friend

Skipjack makes great cut bait, could always catch a few skipjack and then move out of the current a little bit and fish for some catfish with it.

The old platform I mentioned is in this vicinity, should be out of the water in Oct., you can walk out on it at your own risk but know that it's dang slippery if wet: 37.014918, -88.269453

Casting a small swimbait around that platform or white curly tailed grub may score you some white bass too.

Wow, thanks for all the tips. I’ve actually got some sabiki rigs in my tackle box that I’ve been looking for an excuse to try out. Might have to give them a shot in the tailwater. I hadn’t thought about driving out to LBL and trying from there. That sounds promising too.

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Originally Posted by Sommers46

Wow, thanks for all the tips. I’ve actually got some sabiki rigs in my tackle box that I’ve been looking for an excuse to try out. Might have to give them a shot in the tailwater. I hadn’t thought about driving out to LBL and trying from there. That sounds promising too.

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Take a pair of knee boots or hip waders if you do go the LBL route. There's a few spots you can get to that are really good if you just walk through some really shallow water to get to them, like old bridges and road beds with deep water along them.

How did the trip turn out? Hoping you had a good time and caught a few.

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Originally Posted by artcarney_agr

How did the trip turn out? Hoping you had a good time and caught a few.

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Hey, thanks for asking! We had a great time and ended up having fish to eat each night. We caught several good eater sized catfish and went out for a morning with M R Dux(which was a blast) and we caught some crappie, catfish, and even a drum while trolling crankbaits. Overall I’d say the trip was a great success.

Thanks for the tip about the spillway. We definitely caught some of our best catfish up there. Caught a few crappie on the sabiki rig too!


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Originally Posted by Sommers46

Hey, thanks for asking! We had a great time and ended up having fish to eat each night. We caught several good eater sized catfish and went out for a morning with M R Dux(which was a blast) and we caught some crappie, catfish, and even a drum while trolling crankbaits. Overall I’d say the trip was a great success.

Thanks for the tip about the spillway. We definitely caught some of our best catfish up there. Caught a few crappie on the sabiki rig too!


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com

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Glad to hear it! Come back again soon! :)