Pitchinkid Posted February 12, 2009 Posted February 12, 2009 Any of the Kentucky Lake guys know how much Precipatation KY and Barkley Lake got in the past 6 months. Quote
Super User roadwarrior Posted February 12, 2009 Super User Posted February 12, 2009 Both have been "full pool" with floodgates open. They are now closed and TVA has brought both lakes down to or near, "winter pool". There is no way of knowing what the situation will be during the outing, it's all about rainfall throughout the region. 8-) Quote
BASS fisherman Posted February 13, 2009 Posted February 13, 2009 With all the snow melt from up North, I'd hope they are at normal pool by April. Quote
Super User roadwarrior Posted February 13, 2009 Super User Posted February 13, 2009 Kentucky Lake is the last reservoir on the Tennessee River. Barkley Lake is the last reservoir on the Cumberland River. Neither are dependent on snow melt in northern states. Regional rainfall is what's important. The lakes will most likely be full and we hope not flooding. 8-) Quote
Super User 5bass Posted February 13, 2009 Super User Posted February 13, 2009 The lakes will most likely be full and we hope not flooding. I dont know RW, I could deal with 2 - 3 feet of stained water up on the banks flooding the trees and bushes.... Quote
Super User SPEEDBEAD. Posted February 13, 2009 Super User Posted February 13, 2009 The lakes will most likely be full and we hope not flooding. I dont know RW, I could deal with 2 - 3 feet of stained water up on the banks flooding the trees and bushes.... WORD!!! ;D Sounds like a good opportunity to break out the Terminators.... Quote
Super User Jimzee Posted February 13, 2009 Super User Posted February 13, 2009 The lakes will most likely be full and we hope not flooding. I dont know RW, I could deal with 2 - 3 feet of stained water up on the banks flooding the trees and bushes.... WORD!!! ;D Sounds like a good opportunity to break out the Terminators.... I can only hope these are the lake conditions when we get there. This is my favorite type of condition to fish, high murky water flooding new brush. I get a chub just thinking about it. Quote
Super User roadwarrior Posted February 13, 2009 Super User Posted February 13, 2009 I hope Bud and/or CJ respond on this thread. I fish the tail waters of Pickwick which is "technically" Kentucky Lake, but our situation is totally different. I fish "the river" and that's all about structure, not cover. 8-) Quote
Super User SPEEDBEAD. Posted February 13, 2009 Super User Posted February 13, 2009 Kent, you are fishing immediately below the dam on Pickwick and for brown fish, correct? In that case, structure would be more important IMO. My memory is terrible, but I am pretty sure I remember CJ saying last year that when the bushes were flooded they were loaded with bass. Getting to them was the problem because they were back so far. Quote
bmadd Posted February 13, 2009 Posted February 13, 2009 Depending, late March and April can be great fishing in those conditions. The fish will move up into the shallow bushes and other cover and spinnerbaits and jigs and some topwater will be key if that happens. It can be very very good and exciting fishing when those conditions arise. Quote
Super User Gatorbassman Posted February 13, 2009 Super User Posted February 13, 2009 If I remember right. Last year the water was very high. It was high enough for the fish to go to the other side of the brush and they were nearly impossible to get to by boat. Quote
Triton21 Posted February 13, 2009 Posted February 13, 2009 If I remember right. Last year the water was very high. It was high enough for the fish to go to the other side of the brush and they were nearly impossible to get to by boat. I ran into those conditions there about 5 years ago. Impossible(for me anyway) to get a bait to get the bait to the fish. Quote
R520dvx Posted February 14, 2009 Posted February 14, 2009 Okay .... niksfishinmom and I live on Kentucky Lake about 10 miles fron Kenlake. TVA normally tries to have the lakes at summer pool by April 15. It could also be way over pool like RW says depending on the rainfall. Last year in April we were several feet above summer pool .... changing ramps for tournaments because the parking lots were flooded. Could go either way. I'll try to keep some updates on here. We are currently a little over a foot above winter pool and a surface temp in the mid 30's and rising. There will be some excellent reports posted starting March first from the premiere guide on the lake. If anyone is interested in these, send me a PM and I'll tell you where to find them. Greg Quote
Super User roadwarrior Posted February 14, 2009 Super User Posted February 14, 2009 Okay .... niksfishinmom and I live on Kentucky Lake about 10 miles fron Kenlake. TVA normally tries to have the lakes at summer pool by April 15. It could also be way over pool like RW says depending on the rainfall. Last year in April we were several feet above summer pool .... changing ramps for tournaments because the parking lots were flooded. Could go either way. I'll try to keep some updates on here. We are currently a little over a foot above winter pool and a surface temp in the mid 30's and rising. There will be some excellent reports posted starting March first from the premiere guide on the lake. If anyone is interested in these, send me a PM and I'll tell you where to find them. Greg Thank you! Do you think your guide would be willing to post here? Quote
Bud Posted February 14, 2009 Posted February 14, 2009 Well Greg summed it up pretty good. You never know what the level are going to be. For you guys that plan to go to Barkley you need to be extra careful if you don't know the lake it is dangerous. You can get Dave Stewart fishing report several places on difference forum. The next time I see Dave I will ask him to post the report here. Quote
R520dvx Posted February 14, 2009 Posted February 14, 2009 Actually meant the surface temps were mid 40's ....... oops!! Quote
jdw174 Posted February 15, 2009 Posted February 15, 2009 Under normal conditions, Kentucky/Barkley will begin filling to summer pool on April 1, and be up to full pool by the last of the month. Heavy rains can alter that. If we get excessive rain and the lake fills earlier, they usually drop it back down to whatever level it was before the rains and begin slowly filling it again. For those of you fishing Barkley, if there's been high water/storms, watch out for floating debris. I've seen picnic tables, dead animals, etc floating in there in the spring. When I fish Barkley I usually hit the lower end and I've had to drive like a drunken sailor to miss the floating garbage. Quote
CJ Posted February 15, 2009 Posted February 15, 2009 As it has been stated, there's no predicting the conditions. Kent is correct. Barkley and Ky. both run toward the north. It's the southern rain that could factor in on the elevations. If she decides to flood...let her flood! Regardless, fish will be biting! Barkley could be tough due to muddy water but there are still ways to catch em'. Ky. may become stained but only a few places will mud up. Okay here's some lures for you guys to think about: suspending jerkbaits, if the water temps are slow to rise 1/2 vibration baits, where do they not work in the spring? spinnerbaits, i like 1/2 oz. willow blades w/ chartuese and white crankbaits, shad rap 7, bandit 200 and 100 or anything of their nature jigs and t-rigs, if the bushes flood! There will be bass in both pre-spawn and spawn phases. There will be more than one way to catch em'. We'll know when time gets closer. Quote
Ky_Lake_Dude Posted February 16, 2009 Posted February 16, 2009 Summer Pool is usually reached by mid April and is 358-360ft which is enough to flood all the usual good bass hideouts Quote
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