Thread: Asian Carp.. Kentucky Lake how bad?

I am going to make a few trips again to the lakes and the tailraces. It will be interesting.

The last time I went to Kentucky dam was about 10 years ago in October. Every time I threw my cast net all I caught were juvenile carp. I think there may have been one other boat there. It was surreal for me. Remembering the time when it was not uncommon for 50 boats or more to be on the water and thousands of pounds of fish being caught daily. I left depressed and have not been back to the tailraces.

The lakes have probably been 4 years or so maybe. For me your creel surveys do not correspond with the declines in total fish I was taking and seeing taken and the reduction in fish I was showing on sonar and the presence of fish on spawning sites .

I will give it try again.

There are few people who would be any more enthusiastic than me if it turns out the carp are not hurting the sport fish numbers and it was something else.But having fished through a number of boom bust spawn cycles ..I was convinced this was something else.

Thanks Paul for all your hard work and efforts on the eradication on Asian carp. Is there any way to do another crappie telemetry study in Sledd and compare the data. My fishing efforts have changed dramatically in the last 2 years and I do not know why! Do I need to change my style as suggested with the larger black crappie ratio? Do I need t go shallower or deeper? All I know for sure is my catch ratio has changed the last 2 years verses the last 30 years on Barkley and Kentucky lakes.

Originally Posted by redearhoosier

Thanks for the lengthy response, Paul. I've got a question about redear fishing, maybe you can help. Are there people who catch redear in the fall, like September/October? I've done ok in the spring, not yet in the fall.

I'm a redear freak and love Barkley, are their populations doing well in the Twin lakes?? Thank you, Troy Dorman

I'm not Paul, but a couple of years ago as I put my boat in at the ramp in November a guy was fishing nearby and noticed he caught a nice fish, it was a good Redear. I talked to the guy a few minutes and he told me he catches as many in November as he does in the spring, I didn't ask a lot questions.

Was this at the Twin Lakes? Redear go on a large feeding frenzy in September, October and first few weeks of November. I know they are biting somewhere right now, but there's a lot if water to cover.

There's a fella with a webite and he has pics of big redear during August and September on Ky Lake.

Originally Posted by redearhoosier

Was this at the Twin Lakes? Redear go on a large feeding frenzy in September, October and first few weeks of November. I know they are biting somewhere right now, but there's a lot if water to cover.

There's a fella with a webite and he has pics of big redear during August and September on Ky Lake.

Yes, this was on Barkley

The redear sunfish populations are doing good in both lakes. The obvious time of the year to fish for them is in May when they are moving shallow to spawn. To most they become illusive after spawning. They typically move into deeper water as summer progresses. When it comes to fishing for them in summer or early fall, move out to the river channel edges and fish around rocky points, sunken trees, brush piles or other cover. Spots where secondary creek channels hit main river channels often hold good sunfish. Redear feed on snails and small clams (mussels). So shell beds are a good thing to look for. You may be able to find good redear concentrations in deep water, by using down/side scan electronics. Some electronics are even good at picking up shell beds. Fishing in deep water using vertical jigging with a worm or cricket. Fishing for redear is best done by keeping the bait on bottom.

When we fish our trap nets for crappie in late October, we often catch nice size redear. Our nets are typically set off the shoreline in about 10-15 feet of water. And rocky shoreline areas.

Hope this helps

We will not be able to do another telemetry study on crappie at Sledd Creek. However, we will likely return to Sledd Creek this fall and use trap nets to asset the crappie population. It has been a few years since we set nets in Sledd Creek. Black crappie are more predominate in the northern embayments because of clearer water. The white crappie will tend to stay in deeper darker water. I might suggest you put out more deeper brush piles to fish. Casting the rocky shorelines seems to be more productive for black crappie. But when the water is so clear, the crappie may actually be several feet off the shoreline.

This is quoted from up above. "There are few people who would be any more enthusiastic than me if it turns out the carp are not hurting the sport fish numbers and it was something else. But having fished through a number of boom bust spawn cycles ..I was convinced this was something else."

What is that something else??

Strong and weak year classes (spawns) cause the booms and bust we see in fish populations. Water fluctuations and winter time discharge has a strong correlations to year class strengths. But another very important element is shallow water habitat, mainly button ball bushes. At KY and Barkley lakes prior to the 1980's, summer pool (359') was held only till June 15, then the water level began to fall. Anglers and local tourism petitioned TVA and USCOE to hold summer pool level until after the July 4th holiday weekend to help tourism and fishing. So, in the early 1980's TVA and USCOE began hold summer pool 20 days longer. Which is the current drawdown schedule they follow. There was a study done years ago that showed button ball bushes could only stay inundated with water for around 50 days. After that time they began to die. When the water stays up on the bush till July 5, it surpasses the 50 day period, hence the bushes die. I have looked at many aerial photos of the lakes over time. Photos taken back in the 60’s and 70’s show the backs of embayments lined with button ball bushes. As compared to photos taken in the late 90’s where the dense shoreline cover and stands of button ball bush out on the mud flats are no longer. The loss of habitat has been slow. But 35 years after this water level change has taken a toll on the shallow water habitat that is critical for spawning fish, primarily crappie. Now the backs of embayments are just vast barren mud flats, a biological deserts.
That something else, is a loss of shallow water habitat. Alot of the button ball bushes that once thrived on the mud flats are long gone. The ones that were in the water come mid April, for the fish to spawn around. The fish don't have the ideal spawning habitat that they once had. Yes, there are still button ball bushes, but they are on up the shoreline, and typically don't have water around them in mid April. Therefore, over the long term, despite ups and downs, the overall trend had been a decline in some fish populations.