Bank Fishing

[Keith-in-Ky]

Hello everyone. I'm new to the boards here. I just moved to Kentucky and I love to crappie fish. I sold my boat so I'm back to bank fishing. I plan on going to Kentucky lake pretty soon. I was wondering when and where would be the best places to go to fish for crappies from the shore. Also I live close to Cave Run lake and if there are any ideas on other lakes with bank access for crappies I would love the suggestions. Thanks a lot!

[mattcombs]

Man, you are putting yourself at a huge disadvantage by being on land. Crappie are very finicky and can move from deep to shallow waters on a whim, which can make them next to impossible to find sometimes even WITH sonar. You really need to save up some money and get you a boat.

However, I've also heard of a few people burning crappie up on the bank with a simple cane pole. I've never been to Kentucky Lake, so I can't give you any specifics, but male crappie come into VERY shallow water in the spawn, sometimes as shallow as 2'. You could really nail them on the bank at this time (might even be BETTER to be on the bank... you won't make as much noise).

Here's a link to an article on basspro.com that covers the basics of crappie fishing. It provides a lot more information than I ever could.

http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catal...objectID=29704

[Keith-in-Ky]

I've done a lot of bank fishing in the past especially on Delaware lake in Ohio from where I moved . I have done very well this way there but there was plenty of places to fish from but I knew the area and could get to these places easily. But coming to a new area I was just hoping somebody had some ideas of places that you could bank fish from. Cave Run lake is very close to me now and would like to know of some places there to go also. But I plan on going and trying Taylorsville and other good crappie lakes in Ky. And I agree with you for sure. I will be looking for a boat in the future but probably not this year.

[mattcombs]

Well, I have a cousin who swears Cave Run is the best lake in this state. I've never been there, but he did very well last August bass fishing. Not sure about the crappie, but I'm sure someone else can give you some insight on that. I just got a boat about 7 months ago, and I have caught more fish in that amount of time than I did in 3 years of bank fishing. Just a thought...

[Keith-in-Ky]

I'm with you on that. After buying my last boat and using it for 3 years . But before moving to Kentucky it was just so much easier to sell it and look at getting a new one later. Was looking for something different anyway .Something deeper for the kids to be in out on the lake. So more fishing time for Dad .

[mattcombs]

Look into buying one of the boat trader magazines from your local market or gas station. My Dad got one of those when were looking for a boat. We called many of them, went quite a few miles to look at a few, but ended up just buying a used one from a boat retailer. Most of the individuals selling them tend to inflate the price a bit.

We got a relatively new Bass Tracker for about half price of a new one. It's a modern model, probably a 2000 or 2001, but the old girl sure can hammer. A good idea if you buy a used one from a retailer: get the name and number of the previous owner (they have it, trust me). We did the same and the previous owner of our boat was a really great guy. He lives about 1 1/2 hours away and told us lots of good things about the boat and Lake Cumberland (near where he lives, though we didn't have a very good time when we went there). He had done a little DIY fixer job on the livewell pump and it eventually started shorting out after we had used it a few times this year. Dad's a genius when it comes to fixing things, so the livewell's in order now. Our boat works like an angel, love the thing to death, but we really didn't use it that much last year as we didn't get it until the beginning of July.

Good luck with finding one. Those v-bottoms aren't really that popular for this kind of fishing, but you can catch fish on anything that floats, really. Not quite as fast but they do the trick.

Edit: You're a pretty good distance away from me, but by looking at the map, looks like you're not all that far away from Cave Run. That's good for you.

[Wiskers]

Hey Keith-in-Ky. Glad to have you aboard. The best advise I can give you is talk to some of the locals. They're usually glad to help out.

Another thing you can do is a little early season prep. Get you a map of Ky lake and study it. Find some bays with good access and find a pea gravel point that has some deeper water close by.

Load up the kids, a few concrete blocks, and some rubber boots one weekend and go scouting. When you find a good looking spot find some old limbs and such that is laying around and drag them out about where casting distance would be when the lake gets to summer pool and tie some concrete blocks to them. It's a good idea to try to lay the branches where they are pointing at where you'll be casting from. This helps reduce hang ups. Now I forgot to mention you need to do this while the lake is at winter pool. You can get this info at www.kentuckylake.com

You can also get some slabs at a local sawmill and cut them into stakes. Then drive them in the ground at the water's edge. When the water comes up they'll be covered.

If you're ever gonna be up around Ky dam shoot me an e-mail and if I can, I'll be glad to take ya out for a Crappie stomp'n party. I'm a Towboat Pilot so I'm gone 28 days and home 28 days. Offer stands

Good fish'n to ya!

[mattcombs]

Keith, I would guess if you wanna go out and get the ol' rustiness out of the casting arm, you could get to Cave Run in probably 1/20th the time it would take to get to KY Lake. People say the fishing up there is great, especially for bass, so I dunno. If I were in your position, I would definitely check it out.

[EDDY CREEK BANDIT]

Keith, I am from western Kentucky. Wiskers offer is as good as it gets, a local can help a lot. The guy's have failed to mention that you can catch Crappie from the banks if things are right. This time of the year I would go below the Dams at either Barkley or Kentucky Dam. The tailwaters are full of fish and can be caught with jigs. I used to fish there often, the fishing in the lakes themselves are a little more predictable. Fish can be caught year round with a little experience. That is why Wiskers offer is so good, experince.
THE BANDIT

[Keith-in-Ky]

Thanks for all the info guys. That's a good idea about building some structure in some areas I have already found I can get to. I will definately look into that. I plan on going to Kentucky lake in late March or early April .Thanks for the off Wiskers I might have to get back with you on that. I even thought about getting a guide or just renting a boat when I went there also. I plan on making at least 1 trip every spring to KY lake just because of the great possibilities there. Cave Run will be home lake for sure but I'm too close to Ky lake not to give it a try whenever I can.Thanks again!