Another Ky Lake thread

I plan on coming to Ky Lake at the end of the month (4/27). We're staying at Ky Dam Village. My question isn't so much about the fishing but more about the lake conditions. With all these crazy rain totals we've had this spring, at what level does the lake become unfishable.
Here in southern Ohio, my home lake is just shy of 30' high and every ramp and parking lot is 20' under water. Normally if the lake is much over 3' over summer pool, there is so much trash (leaves, limbs and trees) in the water it becomes unfishable. The COE will drop the water 1.5'-2' daily until it gets back down to pool.

I see online Ky lake is up 3'+ and appears to still be rising but I'm unsure what that means. Is it still fishable?
Are there any predictions for water levels or lake forecasts?

We used to have a group that used to make an annual trek to the lake every year in mid-April. That group fell apart 8-10 years ago. This was going to be my 1st trip back since then. Hoping to still make it happen.

thanks to all that reply

I haven't been by to look at any of the ramps, you could call the marina and ask about the ramp.

Water is high. Tva has an app called lakeinfo. Water here at Wildcat is muddy.

water should start to recede today. It's only a few ft over summer pool which is not a big deal at all. Fish are on fire right now also the only problem is muddy water. We aren't use to muddy water here so it throws a wrench into things. By the time you get here things should be close to leveling out and cleared up. You will be hitting a good red ear bite I would think.

Many, many Moons ago we went to KY/Barkley around the 3rd weekend of April, only to find people pulling into the parking lots & turning around and heading back. The lakes were up a couple of feet & dingy to very murky. Since we'd come all the way from Lexington, we weren't about to head back home. My buddy fished alone in his boat & concentrated on big trees on KY Lake. My friend & I fished out of my boat and concentrated on stands of flooded trees on Barkley Lake. This was back in my "minner fishing" years, when we'd go there and fish the "buckbrush" for spawning Crappie. This particular time the "buckbrush" was underwater, so we ended up experimenting with a couple of different methods. The winning method, as mentioned before, was to find (live) trees of good size that were flooded with a couple of feet of water. We'd drop a minner/float setup of about 1.5ft around all four "sides" of the trees, and right next to the trunk of those trees. That method proved to be our saving grace on that trip. BUT ... you drop your minner/float more than a foot away from the tree trunk & you weren't gonna get bit. We surmised that the fish were nosed up to the tree trunks to keep their position in the dirty water (which was slowly falling).
My buddy & I had most of our catches from the Green Turtle Bay area. My other buddy fished on KY Lake, but never disclosed any particular area or bay that he fished. All he said was he fished large trees with "woodpecker holes". He was also fishing the minner/float right against the tree trunk method, same as we were.

No guarantees it'll work today, like it did for us 50 some years ago, but it may be worth a shot if the lakes are in that situation when you're there. We were one of only a few boats bringing in fish to clean that weekend.

Oh yeah, shout out to the two gentlemen we talked to at the ramp with a stringer full of nice Crappie, that were kind enough to tell us HOW they'd caught their fish !! Otherwise I think we'd have spent the weekend drifting open water in the bays & probably catching Catfish or Drum ... IF anything at all.

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Originally Posted by quadlee

water should start to recede today. It's only a few ft over summer pool which is not a big deal at all. Fish are on fire right now also the only problem is muddy water. We aren't use to muddy water here so it throws a wrench into things. By the time you get here things should be close to leveling out and cleared up. You will be hitting a good red ear bite I would think.

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I plan on waiting until next week before deciding if we're going to go or cancel the trip. Your report is encouraging, so thanks. I was thinking and hoping the gill and redear bite would be going on when we've got there. What we find here in SW Ohio when the lakes get muddy, the crappie will either be super tight to cover or they pull off of cover and suspend in open water. Lots of fish will be 1'-5' deep over 15-50 FOW. I'm hoping over the next 2 weeks the water goes from muddy to stained.

Here's what I was looking for, it won't tell ya water conditions, but you can see how the water level is trending

Kentucky Lake & Lake Barkley Water Level Forecast

If I was you, I would plan on coming. It is looking up and might be the best fishing of the year so far during your time frame.

:hesaid

I fished the north end of Barkley yesterday, the water was over the ramp, but I didn't have any problems in or out.

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Originally Posted by justinp61

I fished the north end of Barkley yesterday, the water was over the ramp, but I didn't have any problems in or out.

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Did you do any good? not looking for spots, just curious.
We have a few lakes with spillways up here, they really can't flood too bad (maybe a 1') The crappie are all still pretty much in 10-12 fow. They will smack a jig if you work it slow. Caught maybe 40 today.

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Originally Posted by crappiemax

Did you do any good? not looking for spots, just curious.
We have a few lakes with spillways up here, they really can't flood too bad (maybe a 1') The crappie are all still pretty much in 10-12 fow. They will smack a jig if you work it slow. Caught maybe 40 today.

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I fished four hours and had nine that ranged from 1.03-1.87lb, 12-18'.

Nice mess of fish.

Lakes are forecast to be back down below summer pool by early next week. I would say things will be well settled down by then. Just keep a close eye on surface trash on the north end of the lake. Current carries it toward the dam.


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It looks like Ky Lake will be held steady at about 359. That is great news since many crappie are now starting to spawn. A spawn during high water would be a disaster. We have been blessed by good spawns for a few years and are reaping the rewards now. Water color is slightly stained in some areas.


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Thanks for the post and the info. Unfortunately, my wife came up with some medical issues and we had to cancel out trip this year. Hopefully we'll be able to ke the trip next spring. We're in our early 70's so I'm hoping to be able to get back down there a few more times, I love that area. You guys area always the greatest at relaying info, again thanks

Sorry you can't make it this year, :pray:pray for your wife and you!!

[emoji120][emoji120]

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Originally Posted by wannabe fisherman

Sorry you can't make it this year, :pray:pray for your wife and you!!

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Thanks. I was really looking forward to it. It has been a long time since I've been down there. I'll try again next year or maybe even later this year depending on the weather. I love the area and I love the people. She's doing fine and starts some new meds today. She's just really leery to start something and then leave without knowing how it will affect her.