Kentucky Lake:  Water Level at Ky Dam - 359.58  Surface Temperature - 86

Lake Barkley:  Water Level at Barkley Dam - 359.55  Surface Temperature - 87

Both lakes are one half foot over summer pool.  The present weather forecast for the holiday weekend looks very good, with highs tomorrow in the mid 80's and high's over the weekend around 90 with sunny skies.  We finally got a break in the heat wave here and it has been very nice on the lakes this past week with high's in the 80's and low humidity.  The Largemouth Bass fishing continues to be good on the ledges although we are not getting much current draw this past week due to the cooler temperatures. Night anglers are reported a good Largemouth and Smallmouth bite at night on the LBL side of Ky Lake near rocky points on the main lake and inside the mouths of the bays.  White Bass anglers are still bring in some good catches but the lack of current has slowed the numbers of surface feeding White Bass this week, but there are still some good jumps being reported early and late in the day.  Bluegill anglers have been doing well around the mayfly hatches early in the morning and around on docks at night under the dock lights.  The Catfish anglers are now concentrating on the river channels.  The lack of current has slowed the Catfish bite some, but some good catches are still being reported. 

With the great weather forecast, one should expect a lot of boat traffic on the lakes this holiday weekend.  As per normal, there are a number of July 4th activities planned around the lakes area with fireworks displays etc.  Please be careful on the water this weekend and be courteous to other boaters and anglers as well as drive defensively. Remember, alcohol and boating is recipe for disaster, so save the alcoholic beverages for the shore parties and use designated drivers.  So far we have had a relatively safer boating year this season than last year so let's keep it that way.  Make sure you have plenty of water to drink and plenty of sun block this weekend. 

Largemouth Bass:  Largemouth Bass are being taken on the old river and creek channel ledges on the main lakes and in the mouths of the deeper creeks and bays.  These fish are being taken on deep diving crankbaits, Carolina rigged large worms and creature baits, Texas rigged large worms, drop shot rigs, shaky heads and jigs.  Largemouth are also being taken on the flats in the coves and backs of the creeks and bays early and late in the day on topwater lures, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits and lipless crankbaits as they are feeding on schools of fry.  Some Largemouth are also being taken shallow during the day around wood cover on Texas rigged worms and creature baits as well as shaky heads as they are feeding on schools of fry. 

Smallmouth Bass:  Smallmouth Bass are being taken on the old river and creek channels ledges on the main lakes.  These fish are being taken on Carolina rigged creature baits and tubes, Texas rigged large worms, shaky heads and jigs. 

Night Bite:  Both Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass are being taken at night on rocky main lake points and rocky points and banks inside the mouths of the creeks and bays.  These fish are taking dark colored spinnerbaits, Carolina rigged creature baits and tubes, finesse jigs and tube jigs. 

Some of the productive lures reported this week are:  Lucky Craft sammy in ghost pearl lemon and aurora black, Lucky Craft g-splash in ghost pearl lemon, Yozuri pop n splash in lemon ghost, Strike King series 6 crankbaits in chartreuse sexy shad, Rapala DT 16 and DT 20 in parrot, grey pearl shiner and green shad, MOAB custom painted DT 16 in bluegill, Charmer 10.5" ribbon tail and gator tail worms in plum and green pumpkin, Zoom ol monster worms in plum, Charmer timber pups in watermelon/purple and green pumpkin, Charmer shaky head worms in green pumpkin, Slong's spinnerbaits and chatterbaits in blue glimmer, Strike King lipless crankbaits in blue/chrome and sexy shad, Charmer tubes in road kill and smoke/purple and Slong's football head jigs in voodoo.  Night lures:  Booyah and Strong Arm spinnerbaits in black/blue and black/purple, Charmer tubes in road kill and Last Cast hairy bug jigs in black/blue.

White Bass:  White Bass are being taken on the flats adjacent to the old river and creek channel ledges as well as around the mouths of the creeks and bays while surface feeding by casting inline spinners, small popping baits and small spoons into the feeding schools.  White Bass are also being taken along the old river and creek channel ledges by vertically fishing with inline spinners and small spoons as well as by trolling these lures behind deep diving crankbaits.

Bluegill:  Bluegills are being taken early and late in the day around mayfly hatches near overhanging trees on the main lakes and in the creeks and bays.  These fish are being taken on worms and crickets fished under bobbers.  Bluegills are also being taken at night around deeper lighted docks with crickets and worms fished under bobbers. 

Catfish:  Catfish are being taken along the old river channels in 20-30 feet of water by fishing with bottom bouncing rigs baited with leech/shrimp combinations and also on bottom rigs with cut baits, large minnows and shrimp/leech combinations. 

FLASH:  I had the pleasure this past week to be the guest guide on the Frontier Outdoors television show with host Steve Huber.  We filmed a show about ledge fishing here on Kentucky Lake and depending on editing, there will be a good number of tips in the show about fishing the ledges.  This show will air sometime in the future on the Sportsman's Channel.  I will let you know as soon as I do as to when you can expect to catch the show.  Thanks to Steve and the crew for inviting me to be a guest on your show. 

Field Test:  From time to time, I receive a number of items from different sources and am asked to field test these products.  While attending the Grand Opening celebration at The Cabin Bait and Tackle a couple of weeks ago, the owner of B&R rods which produce the Outlaw line of fishing rods handed me one of their  medium heavy 7' rods and asked my to try it out on the ledges with my Carolina rigs and jigs.  Well, I finally got a chance to try it this past week and also got it in the hands of a couple of my clients to try.  I must say that I was impressed with not only the light weight and sensitivity of this rod, but also the hook setting strength.  My clients that used this rod also had good things to say about the sensitivity of the rod and the light weight of this rod.  I found this rod to be comparable to some of the more expensive rods in my boat.  This rod retails for 139.00 and is comparable to some of the rods in my boat that cost in the 240.00 range.  A note of interest also, is that these rods are American made and have a no questions asked in store lifetime warranty.  You can check these rods out at The Cabin Bait and Tackle located on U.S. 62 about one mile west of the I-24/U.S. 62 interchange in Kuttawa.  You can also find the lures mentioned in my report above that I am using such as the Charmer and Slong's at The Cabin Bait and Tackle.

If you are in need of guide for some fun, catch and release bass fishing, tournament preparation, lake familiarization or technique instruction, don't hesitate to give me a call or drop me and email to make a reservations for one of my open dates.  I have the following dates available for booking in July, August and September:

July:  Sorry, I am booked up.

August:  8, 11, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 24, 26, 27, 30, 31

September:  Plenty of dates available...give me a call or drop me and email

Now is the time to make your reservations for the fall bass fishing in October and November.  Bookings are coming in, so if you want ensure you get the date(s) you desire, you should make your reservations now. 

LEDGE FISHING: 

I offer a focused teaching trip on how to fish the ledges.  This trip consists of a class on how to eliminate the water on your topo map before you leave home so that you can concentrate your time on only the highest percentage ledges while on the water as well as some time on the water to learn how to use your electronics on the ledges, set up on the ledges and learn the techniques used to fish the ledges.  This teaching trip has been very popular over the past few years since I started offering it as it will teach you how to go out and find and fish those ledges on your own.  To book one of these trips, all you have to do is give me a call or drop me an email to book one of my open dates.

Captain Dave Stewart
Bass Buster Guide Service
270-354-5039
dave@kentuckylakeguide.com
www.kentuckylakeguide.com
"Fish With a Professional"