Eastern Kentucky Fishing Report

This fishing report was compiled for the week of Feb 24, 2015.

Editor’s note: The weather has been brutally cold this week with temperatures once again causing freezing on our eastern lakes. Please do not walk out on any ice, as it is not safe at this time. A fall into the waters could be fatal during this time of year. We are still hearing that Laurel River, Dale Hollow, Cumberland and Cedar Creek lakes all produced smallmouth in the past couple weeks. Send us your pictures or story ideas to: trimmer308@windstream.net. We will try to use as many as we can in print and online.

Cave Run Lake: The lake level at press time was stable at 724.1 feet. Winter pool is 724 feet. The water temperature is 32-38 degrees. The upper end of the lake in the Popin Rock area has been frozen but this could change at any time. The main lake near Scotts Creek remained open at press time. Musky: slow. As the water has cooled hot baits have been Bulldawgs, some jerkbaits and in-line spinners. The in-line spinners have been the most productive bait for the last few weeks. Largemouth Bass: slow. Cold-water temperatures have put the fish near the bottom. Use jigs, drop-spoons and A-rigs once you locate shad. Baits that produced were lipless crankbaits jigged vertically, Johnson’s spoons and shakey-head jigs. Smallmouth: slow. Smallmouth fish are always spotty on this lake; however, this week some good fish were reported caught near the dam area fishing spoons and lipless crankbaits. Crappie: slow. 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, we didn’t receive any reports on catfish this week. 

Grayson Lake: Unchanged this week as it remains in the winter draw down and is falling slowly. Winter pool for Grayson is 637 feet of elevation. At press time, it stood at 637.6 feet. The water is 32-43 degrees with some freezing. Bass: Slow, upper areas of the lake are stained from rains that turned creeks muddy. A few fish continued to be caught fishing shakey-head jigs and chatter type baits in deep water. Crappie: Fair, fish downed timber and brush in 14 to 18 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: Slow fishing live bait from the heads of coves near discharge areas.

Greenbo Lake: Greenbo got a stocking of 5,500 rainbow trout on Jan. 29. The lake remains partly frozen with water temperatures between 32-39 degrees. We do not believe this ice is safe to be on. The water level has been stable. Bass: Slow fishing structures with jigs and spoons. Some anglers have reported better catches when the wind is blowing and stacking up plankton near the dam. Spinnerbaits and blade baits have produced this week too. Trout: Good using Berkley sparkly orange Powerbait rigged using a small treble hook with a split shot about six to 12 inches up the line. Catfish: Slow fishing cut bait in the heads of coves and deep water points. Bluegill: Slow fishing live bait near underwater structure. The bluegills have left the banks making them harder to find.

Ohio River: At press time the water level of the Ohio River Greenup Pool below the dam was 12.53 while it was 21.17 on the upper side of the dam. The Ashland pool was 34.89 feet this week, which is within normal limits but a little higher than average. Fishing was reported fair to slow. Largemouth Bass: Fair and improving. Jigs and small spinnerbaits have produced this week fishing points and areas that hold weeds. Some bass has 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: The fishing was reported slow but expected to rebound at anytime. The old standard method of twin tail grubs on ¼ oz. ball jigs is still the best producer of Sauger and Walleye. Use 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: Slow, fishing inline spinners and blade baits. Look for breaking fish. We had no reports of Hybrid Striped Bass catches this week. 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: Slow, using live bait in backwater areas. Minnows, cut-bait and worms fishing on the bottom have all been successful.

Yatesville Lake: Unchanged, water temperatures have been in the 32-39 degree range with some freezing. The winter pool level is 624 feet of elevation and water levels were at 624.1 feet at press time and stable. Bass: Some catches have been reported using creature baits and blade baits while fishing first break structure and deep-water points. Freezing could close the ramps if cold temperatures continue. Some fish have also been caught using A-rigs fishing over shad pockets in 18 feet of water. Crappie: Slow, 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: Slow, fishing spawning beds and creek heads using live bait and worms. Bluegill: Slow, we didn’t get any reports on the bluegill fishing on this lake this week.