Thread: Kentucky or Barkley

I don't know specifically which area offers you the better crappie fishing but all things equal one advantage with Barkley compared with Kentucky is in that spot you should have more spots to fish. From Taylor Bay you should be able to travel more easily to other coves, and weather permitting even cross over to the other side and fish Little River area.

Good luck

Originally Posted by rickyberetired

My brother's coming down from Minnesota and headed to LBL last week of march. We"ll be camping at either Taylor Bay on Barkley or Sugar Bay on Kentucky anyone offer a reason for one over the other? My boat's only 16' so if at Sugar Bay there's no way I'd chance running across Kentucky. I desperately want him to experience crappie fishing in a big way!

I think there is a lot of Chicken Little and falling sky when folks get to talking about running KY or Barkley in a small to medium sized fishing boat. Sure, we see lots of Darwin Award Candidates running across the lake in 12 foot jon boats with 12 inch sides and 6 HP motors and grossly overloaded. Many of those operators have a can of brewsky in their hand while motoring across a mile of open water. They tend to be the reason our search/rescue/recovery units are well funded and staffed. Those boats should be confined to medium to small bays. A typical 16 foot fishing boat, PROPERLY LOADED, is plenty safe on either lake if the forecast is for winds is for gusts no more than 10 and stable no more than 5-7mph and from directions that aren't due north or due south. Crosswinds on the lake don't cause rollers to develop like N/S. What gets folks in trouble is being oblivious to changes in weather and wind velocity/direction. There are a whole lot more days here with 12" chop than 5 foot rollers.

Many of us fished for years in 14' jon boats and barely gave it a thought if fair weather was forecast. Don't limit yourself while on your visit. Play it safe and watch for changing conditions and you will do just fine. In late March you should also pay close attention to low water levels and hazards along the banks and shallow bars. A good chartplotter and map card is your best friend.

Originally Posted by mrdux

I think there is a lot of Chicken Little and falling sky when folks get to talking about running KY or Barkley in a small to medium sized fishing boat. Sure, we see lots of Darwin Award Candidates running across the lake in 12 foot jon boats with 12 inch sides and 6 HP motors and grossly overloaded. Many of those operators have a can of brewsky in their hand while motoring across a mile of open water. They tend to be the reason our search/rescue/recovery units are well funded and staffed. Those boats should be confined to medium to small bays. A typical 16 foot fishing boat, PROPERLY LOADED, is plenty safe on either lake if the forecast is for winds is for gusts no more than 10 and stable no more than 5-7mph and from directions that aren't due north or due south. Crosswinds on the lake don't cause rollers to develop like N/S. What gets folks in trouble is being oblivious to changes in weather and wind velocity/direction. There are a whole lot more days here with 12" chop than 5 foot rollers.

Many of us fished for years in 14' jon boats and barely gave it a thought if fair weather was forecast. Don't limit yourself while on your visit. Play it safe and watch for changing conditions and you will do just fine. In late March you should also pay close attention to low water levels and hazards along the banks and shallow bars. A good chartplotter and map card is your best friend.

Yeah weather is the key but I will say I also have a 16 ft and while I will cross Barkley I'm not comfortable crossing Kentucky. I'll go north and south some on it but I'll stay on whichever side I'm on.

On thing I always worry about a little while on either is if at some point the boat would give me trouble and I get stranded too far away from where I took off from. My boat has never not started but I assume at some point just like everyone has had a car not turn over it could happen while in your boat. Not sure what I would do other than hope the tolling motor has enough battery to get me close enough back to where if I had to try and paddle the rest of the way I could. I really never want to find out.

Go before the pleasure boaters start to beat it up. Few days last year the wakes coming from all directions was more the issue than wind. We ran out of Pisgah and it was rough and tough going until we got to the other side of the lake away from the bayliners and other such non-sense.

I have fished both lakes out of a 17' aluminum boat. Out of the six trips I have made to the lakes there has only been one day that we did not fish any. There have been days we have been confined to one bay or creek but if you are willing to trailer your boat to ramps that offer you opportunities to fish you can do so safely. As others have stated keep up with the weather forecast and always keep an eye on the sky and the conditions around you. Of course March is a tough time to fish anywhere, especially larger bodies of water due to wind and possibly violent storms.

No matter where you decide to camp I would keep an open mind about where I put in/fish. While in general I think picking an area and getting familiar with it is best, sometimes the wind forces your hand on Kentucky/Barkley. You won't enjoy enjoy fishing Sugar Bay or any bay on that side if the wind blows over 10 out of mainly the west quadrant no matter what boat your in. Not a matter of running around as much as trying to control the boat. Depends some on how you fish but anywhere on either lake where the wind has room to roll all the way across isn't much fun when it hits 10mph. As mentioned though if it does blow some, should be several choices for ramps. Just have to watch though if lakes are still winter pool alot lbl Barkley ramps down in that area won't be any good.