Barren 3-7-09

I fsihed the Walnut Creek area of Barren today.

Put in at 6:30 ..........after getting my truck stuck launching the boat.

Things continued after some man stopped his fishing long enough to pull me out. There are still good folks out there. I offered to pay him and he wouldn't take a dime.

I fished till noon and caught 8. Caught SEVERAL dinks and some yellow perch and a few little bass. Overall the fish were biting but were spooky. Had to keep moving. Would catch 2-3 here and 2-3 there and keep moving. I caught all mine about 3' deep in deep water over treetops on the bluffs. Tried the stumps on the shallow side to no avail.

//wind got pretty nasty about noon and I had some stuff to do so I left.

May try it tomorrow......?

We put in at the narrows & skaggs was a little muddy. We fished a couple of tree tops around the dock & caught nothing. We run up to below walnut creek & fished the stump row & caught some small gills & yellow bellies but no crappie. Went back to skaggs still no crappie but i did catch about a 5 or 6 lb hybrid on my crappie rod.

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Originally Posted by floatntiny

We put in at the narrows & skaggs was a little muddy. We fished a couple of tree tops around the dock & caught nothing. We run up to below walnut creek & fished the stump row & caught some small gills & yellow bellies but no crappie. Went back to skaggs still no crappie but i did catch about a 5 or 6 lb hybrid on my crappie rod.

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that is a nice hybrid on crappie tackle!

Most everyone I talked to was catching fish up above walnut creek. Larry Piper said they had 20. I am waiting on my son to go try it again. Is already windy as all get out but like someone said you can't catch em here on the couch.

Wonder what the water temps are near the narrows? Is usually cooler there than up the river or up Peters. The water color is perfect at Walnut Creek.

will let ya know what happens.

My son and I put in about daylight @ Walnut Creek.. We ran up the river to where it turns south from the long bluff [2nd bluff upstream from ramp] We started there and headed back towards the ramp. The places I caught fish yesterday produced a few fish but not like yesterday. They were either deeper, tighter to cover, or not biting as well. Not sure which. The wind was whipping before daylight and by the time the sun was up it was getting bad as far as the wind goes. We tried a few things to no avail and fished our way back towards the ramp stopping and anchoring in the places that held keepers yesterday.

We were in somewhat of a rush as he and his wife were going to church and we were on a limited time schedule... With that being said we could have really tried a little harder to figure them out if we had the time to spend. Who knows maybe they wanted jigs, or like I said, maybe they had changed depth or something. Whatever they were doing was different from yesterday.

We gave it up and came on in @ about 9:30. By that time the wind was really BAD and the worm chuckers had gotten that far up the river and were running wide open anywhere they could.

That is another story but I don't underestand..... the thinking of or lack of thinking some of the bass tournament fishermen. I had words with one boat and even some of the others in the tournament agreed that there is NO reason to run like some of them do when the water is in the channels and there are little bitty jon boats trying to crappie fish....They about swamped us and I wasn't the only one they were putting in danger. I don't like the mentality of some [most] of them. Some are good guys but some need a brain transplant. Either way fish OR race....Not both at once....

think I cleaned 5 nice slabs...Got to fish with my son and that is a success in my book.

curhunter, Barren is a tough lake for me to figure out as well. If I can get on the old creek channels when the water is down, then I seem to able to catch them. Other than that, it's a hard lake for me to figure out. I might catch one or two here or there, but for the most part I struggle to locate fish. I'm convinced that if I'm going to be productive on the lake, I'm going to have to spend some time putting out structure.

As far as the bass tourney's go, they beat Barren River to death and it seems to be year round now.

Any day spent on the water is a good day and I'm sure with your persistence your do a good catch soon.

I hear ya on the bass racers!!! We were setting below walnut creek & a bass boat came up through there at least 50 mph. From the sound of his motor he went throught the shallow spot between the Austin ramp & the WC ramp faster than that. We could hear him speed up as the got there & sounded like he slowed down to make the 90 degree turn after the 1st bluff & poured it to it again. I know the faster u go the less water it takes but he musta had balls big as i don't know what cause that water is shallow if he'd bottomed out or hit a stump it would b bad news.

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Originally Posted by floatntiny

I hear ya on the bass racers!!! We were setting below walnut creek & a bass boat came up through there at least 50 mph. From the sound of his motor he went throught the shallow spot between the Austin ramp & the WC ramp faster than that. We could hear him speed up as the got there & sounded like he slowed down to make the 90 degree turn after the 1st bluff & poured it to it again. I know the faster u go the less water it takes but he musta had balls big as i don't know what cause that water is shallow if he'd bottomed out or hit a stump it would b bad news.

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I am sure we are seeing each other. Just don't know who is who.

I seen something the other night at Walnut Creek i've never seen there before.I was catfishing on the the 7th,on saturday night.I was getting ready to leave when i heard shad tearing up the water.I kept watching them when suddenly Hybyrd started tearing them up.They were making the popping sound on top,i know what they were,because i've heard that so many times.I only had cut bait so i did not try them.Never seen Hybyrd up that far this time of the year.I went again last night and they started again about 1 in the morning.They are doing it on Austin boat ramp side.I'm floating the river in a week from this Friday.Putting in at Holland and making a 2 day trip out of it for my son and i.Hope the Hybrd are up there.

I have not seen them hitting the shad like that up this far. I don't fish for them though. I saw your lights the other night. How was the cat fishing? I have caught a LOT of cats floating the flats out in front of the ramp. Day and night in the summer. This time of year they are awesome after a good rain right there to.

I fished Walnut Creek this AM. Went to J&L to get minnows and they were out. I asked if they knew if Zack's or Ranger Bob's had any and of course they said they heard no one had them. I am a minnow kind of guy. I like fishing jigs. I just like minnows better..Got there at daylight and ran up to the end of the second bluff up from the ramp. I caught 12-14 pretty quick. They were busting a red/white or red/chartruese jig just as hard as you could get it to them. They were about 3.5ft deep over some downed trees tops. Man I had a ball for awhile! I caught a few over 12 and one that was 13.5 and had shoulders...Caught several dinks maybe 10 or so. When the wind started in they just quit. Everyone was catching fish early..everyone I talked to said they had quit on them also. I fished back to the ramp and didn't catch anymore. Ended up with 15 and a nice bluegill that was worth keeping. I tried different depths and different colors but they were done. So I loaded up and came home to clean fish.

Overall I had a good day of fishing. I like it when the action is like that. Guess I might as well cook up a few for supper. My wife doesn't like them but I cook her something else and eat the fish myself. I had a platter full last night and am about to have a crappie sandwich with a slice of cheese right now for a snack. Only thing better would be some fresh mushrooms and a wild turkey breast...And trust me it is a coming...

Anyone know the water temp. around the state dock?

Had a buddy of mine fished across from the state marine on the bluff.He walked in from the public hunting area.He started about 7 this morning.Caught 14 big keepers.Said 11 of them were over 12inches!!Had one 14 inches!Man wish i could have been there.Going to float the river next weekend,2 day trip.Hope to catch some big slabs up there. Good luck fishing everyone!

Man that sounds like it was worth the walk in. It is a long way back there. I have walked it many many times. Would be the walk out that would be bad with all those slabs.

Thos bluffs have produced bunches of fish over the years. That is for sure!

I am going to get back at them in a couple of days...when this winter weather go away.

Fished both days this weekend at barren. Had to go at it from the bank as the boat motor is still sick.:(

Started Saturday at the walnut creek ramp. caught one little crappie bout 5-6 inches long. i was really up there just trying to get an idea how much water was in the lake and how fast the current was moving. Water had nice green color o it on Saturday. From there I went to the Peter Creek flat bridge and fished all the way downto the lake. Never caught a fish, never got a bite. From there went to south lucas fishing pier to check water. Water was a lot higher than I expected it to be. water there was a little stained. Went home.

Sunday went fishing with my dad. Started out by going over the dam to beaver creek just to see what it is like. I live in franklin so I have never used the ramp or really even been to that area of the lake. Fished where the steep bluff starts to flatten out. Caught a little LM on a slider grub. Water was muddy there. Went from there to the state park. Parked up at the golf course and walked down through the woods down to Peter creek. fished a lot of different pieces of cover that we could cast to never caught the first fish. Didn't waste any opportunity to straighten up any brushpiles or stakebeds we came across. Even used some of the old wire on some and drug up some more brush to add to others. Didn't catch the first crappie but the day wasn't wasted.

Also, last week when i was over there, they were really letting water go through the dam. Yesterday, there was hardly a trickle running out. Between saturday and sunday the lake looked to have come up anywhere from 8-12 inches. I hope that this decision doesn't bite COE in the arse and they end up with water up in the trees into june again this year.