Eastern Kentucky Fishing Report

This fishing report was compiled for the week of July 1, 2014

Editor’s note: The lakes on our end of the state are all in good shape. While fishing has hit that hot weather slowdown period, plenty of people are still having success on the water. Fishing the low-light periods are the most productive unless you are ready to turn your interest to night fishing. If you get a chance to catch some fish, send your pictures to: trimmer308@windstream.net. We will try to use as many as we can in print and online.

Cave Run Lake: The lake is stable about .5 feet over summer pool. The water temperature is 80-84 degrees and the bass are continuing to move to summer locations. The river is very clear in both Northfork and the Licking River. A word of caution: With the water levels up nearly a half-foot, the river can be dangerous if you don’t know it well. Slow down and be safe. Musky: Warm temperatures have put most of the muskie fishing on hold. However, fishing headwater areas and low-light periods continue to produce a few fish. Jigs, tubs inline spinners and swimbaits have been the lures producing the best results. Largemouth Bass: slow. Small fish are dominating the banks right now and the larger fish seem to be staging in the tree lines and off the banks near the first break. Some topwater lures have caught fish in the low-light periods. Crankbaits, spinnerbaits and creature baits have all produced. Smallmouth: Slow to fair. The smallmouth should be finished nesting but reports have remained slow. Crappie: Good to excellent. These fish continue to hit small 1/32 oz. jigs dressed with a char/white twister tails. The fish are still positioned at the end of laydown trees on flats where the water is about eight to 10 feet deep. Most reported catches were of black crappie, with two to four on each tree. We are also beginning to hear from anglers that are having success fishing under lights at night. Catfish: Good, fishing near spawning beds and creek heads with live bait. Bluegill: good. The bluegills have returned to shallow water to spawn for the second time this year. They went on the nest around Friday the 13^th. Bluegill will spawn each month until September when the water begins to cool. Worms, crickets and 1/64 oz. jigs have all produced.

Grayson Lake: The lake has been coming up this week due to thunderstorms. At press time it stood at one foot over summer pool and was falling slowly. Some areas of the upper region of the river are heavily stained while the main lake remains clear. The water is 80-84 degrees. Bass: Slow, but as the bass begin to relate to shad we expect to see more activity. Use topwater, crankbaits and spinnerbaits. Plastic worms continued to catch fish this week. Crappie: Good, fishing down timber and brush in eight to 10 feet of water. Jigs, live bait and small crankbaits have been successful this week. Catfish: Good, fishing live bait from the heads of coves near discharge areas. Bluegill: Good. The bluegills have been nesting again due to the second full moon of the season. Spawning beds in shallow water and near the old roadbeds are good places to look for these spawning bluegill. Reports suggest crickets, worms and small jigs have all caught fish this past week.

Greenbo Lake: The water temperature is 82-86 degrees and the water level has been stable. Bass: Fair, reports are that the fish have been recovering from their annual nesting cycle. We expect to see the fishing improve quickly as these they begin to feed. Minnow-type baits should become productive as these fish become active. Trout: Fair to good using Berkley Powerbait and small spinners or blade baits like the Sliver Buddy. Catfish: good. Catfish have moved to the shallows to feed on nesting bluegill. Bluegill: Good, as they spawn for the second time this year look for depressions where the bluegills are nesting. Hard bottom areas and old roadbeds are a good place to start. Worms, crickets and small jigs are your best bet to find fish.

Ohio River: The Ohio River has been good shape the water level is 34.89 ft., which is considered normal. Largemouth Bass: Fair and improving. Crankbaits, jigs and small spinnerbaits have produced this week fishing points and areas that hold weeds. Some bass have also been caught near discharge areas fishing blade baits. White Bass: Some white bass above the dam have been hitting blade baits and inline spinnerbaits. Look for schooling fish.

Below the dam: Twin tail grubs on ¼ oz. ball jigs are the best producers of Sauger and Walleye using slow bump-the-bottom retrieves. Running a two-jig setup produces better strikes. One of the two baits needs to be a little off of the bottom. White Bass: Fair. Fishing inline spinners and blade baits look for breaking fish. We are also getting some reports of Hybrid Striped Bass using stick baits and live bait fishing near discharge areas. Bass: We are looking for some new reports on the bass fishing below the dam. If you get on the water help us out! Catfish: good. Fishing has been good using live bait near nesting sites. Minnows, cut-bait and worms fishing on the bottom have all been successful.

Yatesville Lake: Yatesville water temperatures have been in the 80-83 degree range and the fishing has been slow. However, some good catches have been reported fishing jigs and Carolina rigs at night. Bass: Fair to good fishing creek heads, timbered coves and roadbeds. Baits that continued to see action this week were crankbaits, jigs and Carolina rigged worms. Crappie: Good, fish the edges of flats in channel bends and old fish attractors using 1/32 oz. white crappie jigs or live bait. We have seen some anglers improving their odds drifting across fish attractors using both live bait and jigs. Catfish: Good, fishing spawning beds and creek heads using live bait and worms. Bluegill: Fair, bluegills continue to be active fishing deeper humps and roadbeds. Worms, crickets, and small hair jigs have all been producing good results.