Eastern Kentucky Fishing Report

This fishing report was compiled for the week of Oct 28, 2014.

Editor’s note: Water temperatures continue to drop into the low to mid 60s. After spending 10 days on the water, I can tell the fishing is good for bass, musky and crappie. Lakes in eastern Kentucky are reporting good catches when the weather is stable. 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: Cave Run Lake continues to drop toward winter pool. The lake level at press time was 726.9 feet. Winter pool is 724 feet. The water temperature is 62-66 degrees. If you fish the Licking River, you need to stay in the channel when running from one spot to another. The water may be too shallow to travel to some locations. The best fishing has now moved to the middle of the day with the exception of musky, which remains the most active in the early hours of the morning. Musky: excellent. As the water has cooled hot baits have been topwater crankbaits and in-line spinners. The in-line spinners have been the most productive bait this past week. Largemouth Bass: good. I spent the last 10 days fishing this lake with family and friends. Our best success was on lipless crankbaits and white spinnerbaits fishing channel trees in the Licking River. Some parts of the river were muddy, however, some creeks and the North Fork area had better color and produced. Smallmouth: improving. Fish shakey-head jigs and swim baits in the riprap area. Crappie: Good to excellent. These fish continue to hit small 1/32 oz. jigs dressed with twister tails or minnows along with roadrunner spinnerbaits. The fish staged in channel trees and near weed beds. Catfish: Slow, fishing from the bank and using live bait. Bait should be about one foot off the bottom.

Grayson Lake: The lake has been stable this week. We expect the draw down to begin at any time. However, at press time, it remained at summer pool. The lake has good color and continues to produce some good catches this week. This lake has produced better fish this year than it has in a long time. The water is 63-65 degrees. Bass: Good, these fish remain active and we have received reports of good catches fishing ledge areas and points. Use spoons, spinnerbaits and 6-inch lizards fishing the main lake area. Topwater baits have also produced fishing old roadbeds and points both early and late in the day. Crappie: Fair, fish downed timber and brush in eight to 12 feet of water. Jigs, live bait and small crankbaits have been successful this week. Hybrids: We continue to have some reports that the hybrid bass are active on the main lake. Fishermen have been locating shad and then backing off and throwing swim-baits and big spoons. Fish have been in eight to 10 feet of water. Catfish: Fair to slow, fishing live bait from the heads of coves near discharge areas.

Greenbo Lake: The water temperature is 62-65 degrees, and the water level has been stable. Bass: Fair to good fishing crankbaits and blade baits on points and near the dam area. Some anglers have reported better catches when the wind is blowing and stacking up plankton near the dam. Topwater baits have been producing in the low-light periods in the same areas. Trout: Fair to good using Berkley Powerbait and small spinners or blade baits like the Sliver Buddy. Catfish: Good, fishing limb-lines and cut bait in the heads of coves. Bluegill: Slow, fishing live bait near underwater structure. The bluegills are beginning to leave the banks making them harder to find.

Ohio River: The Ohio River levels are stable at 34.79 feet this week, which is within normal limits. While the Ohio River has been pretty stable this year the above the dam fishing has slowed and the below the dam fishing has improved in the last few weeks. 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. We also saw some smallmouth caught this week using jig & pig baits fishing rocky areas. 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 catches 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: Fair, using live bait in backwater areas. Minnows, cut-bait and worms fishing on the bottom have all been successful.

Yatesville Lake: Water temperatures have been in the 62-66 degree range, and lake levels have remained stable at summer pool. None of the Huntington Districts lakes have started the winter drawdown at this point, but we expect that to begin at any time. Bass: Some good catches have been reported using spinnerbaits, creature baits and crankbaits while fishing first break structure and deep-water points. Spinnerbaits have also been very effective this week fishing timbered coves and flats that are near deep water. 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: Fair, fishing spawning beds and creek heads using live bait and worms. Bluegill: Slow, bluegills continue to be active fishing deeper humps and roadbeds. Worms, crickets, and small hair jigs have all been producing some results.