Thread: Ky Lake

Went to Ky Lake today. The water was 58 degrees and I'm guessing about 2 ft above pool. Air temp was 65 and the sky was clear, this seemed to have the fish down in the cover today. I fished on the LBL side of the lake. All fish were caught on jigs, my best color was pink/white. Good time! Final total was 10 keeper crappie and 4 yellow bass- must have caught 30 small yellow bass today.

Question about the yellow bass. Today I released all the small fish I caught. Would it be a good Idea to dispose of all the small yellow bass or should they be released? The lake seems to be over-run with them little buggers.


Big Fish today - 15 3/4", Weight - 2.25 Lb





Keeper crappie




Huck Jr. - Linebacker

Slab crappie, slab linebacker.....:D
Ive heard KY lake was supposed to be like 360 + ft here soon, when they start pullin' it down I bet the smallmouth start goin crazy w/ all that current..does that hurt or help the crappie when the buoys start tippin' over...BTW, thnx for pics as usual..

Good mess of fish. Can't wait to get back home and get some. I am in Morehead, KY watching my daughter in the OVC Soccer finals at MSU.

... as far as the little yeller basses go .... eat'em, or give'em away, or throw 'em back in the lake. I don't think throwing them in the trash, up on the bank, or in the woods, is all that good an idea (IMHO). While they would most likely not go to waste, as the woodlands critters would most probably dine on them, that's the problem. If it got to be the norm, to chuck them into the woods/up on the bank, it would draw more critters to the area ... and man/critter conflicts may occur. The "other" negative possiblity, is that the woodlands critters may not get to them in time, and they'd rot ... creating a serious stink situation

Lots of people seem to think that they're excellent table fair, some even preferring them over panfish ... and while I wouldn't go quite that far, personally, with all of those people saying the same thing, they can't all be wrong :D

Can't say as I've ever eaten one, myself .... but, if the larger ones are good to eat, why wouldn't the smaller ones be ?? They are usually pretty thick bodied fish, so even the smaller ones should be easy to fillet. Get all the skin off, fat off, and filet off the red meat ... and you still should have yourself a decent sized white meat fishstick to fry up :D

... cp

Originally Posted by ekySlabber

Slab crappie, slab linebacker.....:D
Ive heard KY lake was supposed to be like 360 + ft here soon, when they start pullin' it down I bet the smallmouth start goin crazy w/ all that current..does that hurt or help the crappie when the buoys start tippin' over...BTW, thnx for pics as usual..

Slabber, when they start pullin the water out of the lake, I would say the bass will stack up on the main lake pts. But bass fishing on the lake is not my strong pt. Was hoping the bass would blitz the shad back in the bays I fished (Friday) but it did not happen.

The crappie are hitting fairly good right now. Proof - I caught 10 :D. So a good Ky lake crappie fisherman should be able to catch his limit right now. I would say a fast drop will not be good for the crappie but a slow drop may have little affect on them.

Pappy, I agree with every thing you have said. The 4 big yellow bass I cleaned had a nice little fillet. They had some dark meat which was cut out of the fillet. They should eat real well if cleaned right.

I guess the main question is, are the large numbers of yellow bass hurting the crappie fishing? Do yellow bass eat crappie eggs? Do they eat a lot of the small crappie fry? The yellows can put a serious dent in a minnow supply - just another reason to use jigs this time of year .

Originally Posted by Huck Finn

Pappy, I agree with every thing you have said. The 4 big yellow bass I cleaned had a nice little fillet. They had some dark meat which was cut out of the fillet. They should eat real well if cleaned right.

I guess the main question is, are the large numbers of yellow bass hurting the crappie fishing? Do yellow bass eat crappie eggs? Do they eat a lot of the small crappie fry? The yellows can put a serious dent in a minnow supply - just another reason to use jigs this time of year .

I don't know enough about Yellow Bass to even make a wild guess, on your questions
But, almost all fish prey on, or have an impact on other fish ... whether it be concerning the food supply, predator/prey relationship, or just overcrowding of a lake's biomass limit.
I'll have to do some research on "Yellers" ... and see what I can come up with.

... cp

Wonder if you could use those small yellows as cut bait or chum for big cats. I freeze dead minnows in a plastic coffee jar, freeze water around em and you can drill holes in it and either tie it to the bank by a trotline, or tie it over the boat and chum. Wouldn't think a big ol' blue cat would turn down a slice of yella if ya put it in front of him either, sure they aren't shad or skipjack but might make a good chum. I KNOW they are good fertilizer for garden too.:D

nice catch