New Guy on the Block!

I know we are having some nasty weather the past couple of days, and it doesn't look like its gonna clear up till Sunday, but I just moved to the Paducah area in November from North Carolina, and haven't got a line wet yet. Got my father-in-law in town for a week or two and he wants to get some slabs. I am not familiar with the Kentucky / Barkely Lakes at all. A buddy gave me two spots I need to plug into my Garmin around Jonathan Creek. What other spots would you guys recommend during the winter months, and then what about the spring and summer months.

Also are there any clubs in my area that I could join, and do ya'll ever hold any local tournments? Thanks for you help. It feels good to be back in the REAL south again:)

For the next several weeks you have just about all that is going to be available. Jonathan will be the best. Barkley will bo sooo muddy you can track a coon across it for a pretty good while. The Kentucky Lake fishing and in particular the bigger bays on thel LBL side will most likely be the best, with the exception of course Jonathan.
THE BANDIT

Welcome to the state and I am jealous you are so close to the best two lakes in the state.

Check out the web site kentuckylake.com. Those guys on that site are great! You will pick up a wealth of information. The best fishing will be toward the end of March but the guys that know Kentucky Lake in particular catch them year round. One word of caution for both lakes, stay up to date on the current weather forecast. A guy can get in serious trouble real quick!!!!!

Also be careful of lake levels, especially Barkley. Jonathan Creek can be dangerous out towards the mouth. Stay within the channel markers! That being said, the area past the last cove on the right going towards the big lake has several brush piles close to the a deep channel. Straight out from the flag pole.
Welcome to Ky. Bet you wish you were back in NC right now! Now you must convert to being a CAT FAN & not a TAR HEEL! LOL

I don't usually fish quite this early, but the guys that I know that load the boat at times early in the year seem like they prefer fishing Big Sandy on KY Lake. Not sure why, but guys that kill them in Blood in March and April seem like they always fish Big Sandy over the winter and do really well at times.

Hey guys, thanks for the warm welcome. Unfortunately, Saturday was a bust. Picked up some minnows at Judy’s, they are really nice people there and the minnows looked great. She gave me a flyer about a crappie competition coming up soon. Anyway, the water was pretty muddy and the temp was between 39 to 40 degrees. I knew the water would be cold, so we got out around 11:00 AM hoping that it would have given the Sun a chance to come out a bit and warm things up a little. As you all know, that didn’t happen. I didn't even spot much on my fish finder. We fished with roadrunners w/pink or red w/chartreuse (paddle tail grubs & curly tails), tried out the Berkley Gulp minnows; standard double crappie rigs w/minnows, (live and gulp minnows). Hit a couple of the spots ya’ll mention and some other's scouting about. Saw a couple boats crappie fishing but not sure if they had any luck either. Talked with one guy picking up at the launch and he didn’t have much luck.

The most exciting thing that happened was when my father-in-law hooked up on a 3-pound white bass, and then his other pole got snagged on something and was ripped out of the boat and into the water. It took us about 45 minutes, but we finally snagged it and from then on he made sure he had his poles in the holders.

Hopefully this was just a bad day to be out. Don’t they normally start to spawn when the water gets around 50 degrees?

PS: No need to try and convert me from a TAR HEEL, I bleed purple and gold as a LSU fan for life. I'm just glad to be back in SEC country.:D

Seems like the crappie fishing usually gets much better for me once it hits 50 degrees, but the crappie will spawn when the temps start reaching the 60's. However, don't wait till the water gets in the 60's as you can tear up the black crappie at times in March right next to the banks. Mid-March through Mid-April is usually "prime" for the crappie.

bmdiz welcome from Bowling Green KY. Wish you would have had better luck on KY Lake. You will have to come east and fish some of the smaller waterways of KY. Me and a friend were talking and neither one of us have fished the big water overthere, we need to try it someday. We do come over to land between the lakes a couple times a year to camp and ride the 4 wheelers. Give us a shout if you ever make it this way.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bmdiz

No need to try and convert me from a TAR HEEL, I bleed purple and gold as a LSU fan for life. I'm just glad to be back in SEC country.:D

---

And don't worry ... we won't fault you for you birthplace, or your choice of teams. Though, we may rib ya a little, now & then :p (all in harmless fun, of course)
And, Welcome to Crappie.com !!

... cp :cool:
KY Native & True Blue UK Wildcat fan (heck, I even work for U of Ky :p )

from Northern KY. I assure you your experience on this board will be great. A lot of friendly folks and very useful information.

Chris

Welcome from Ky lake

LSU? Whats that?.......LOL Just kidding. Had a roommate from Crawley LA. He was a huge fan of LSU. I loved to poke fun at him.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mistertwister

from Northern KY. I assure you your experience on this board will be great. A lot of friendly folks and very useful information.

Chris

---

Thanks Chris. I got on the site back it 2006 and have loved it ever since. The only problem I had when I first got on I lived in NC they were kinda leary about talkin with the new guys until they got to know you. But here it's been great.