Water and Weather:
Water Temps:81 - 84, Color : Clear to light green stain - Elv. 356.50 on KY Lake - stained and 356.50 on Barkley
Air Temps: 90-95: Mostly clear with occasional clouds

Fishing:
It was a great week of weather we had with one later afternoon thunderstorm popping up on Sunday. The up coming holiday weekend has some wonderful weather in store with highs in the mid to high 80s and lows in upper 50s, the windows will finally get to be opened again. The rest of the week looks great also with highs in the upper 80s and sunny with scattered thunderstorms towards the end of the week and will likely develop in the late afternoon so keep on eye to the sky and take cover if neccessary. Current draw again this week has been a steady all day affair with Barkley pulling in the 17,000-18,000 CFS range and Kentucky in the low to mid 20,000s with few hours in the afternoon pulling in the 40s. Both lakes are now roughly 2 1/2 feet below summer pool and the cooler temps have brought the water temps on both lakes into the low to mid 80s depending on the time of day and if the sun has been out. Both lakes are showing signs of more fish moving shallow and not just into the bays. There are fish moving shallow onto main lake flats getting on isolated cover such as stumps, laydowns and manmade structure. This isolated cover is not holding numbers of fish but a quality, single fish or two. I have ran into some big schools of small fish on some flats and main river ledges where you could catch a fish on every catch but very few were keeper size fish, which for here on the lakes is 15 inches for both Largemouth and Smallmouth. Main lake points at the mouth of the large creeks and the first couple of secondary points within the creeks are holding fish also as the are following the shad into the creeks. Steeper gravel main river banks are also holding fish and are a great place to look for smallmouth when night fishing. There are a ton of smaller fish chasing and busting fry all over the lake and can make for some great topwater action. Look for these fish in the backs of coves on secondary points and docks or along rip rap banks around the marinas, bridges and dams there are some schools of these fish on the shallow main river flats also. With the cooler water temps, some constant current generation and renewed oxygen with the recent rains the bite has seemed to picked up. There is plenty of baitfish on both lakes, even with the large shad kill we experienced this past winter, they've seemed to rebounded quite well as every where you look there are shad busting the surface.

Tackle:
This week my best bait was, everything I threw. I caught them on crankbaits, C-rigs, jig and chunk trailers, texas rig worm, and topwater. Even with all those baits I never really settled into one pattern, the fish seemed to be all over the board, though shallow probably was the overall link. Again this doesn't mean way back in the bays but even on the main lake and river ledges I've been catching them shallow, 4-8 feet of water. When fishing in the bays or around rip rap banks I've be throwing shallow running crankbaits such as the Strike King 1XS, Manns baby 1minus. Also don't forget about the topwater action with either a popper type bait or the classic spook type baits as groups of fish are chasing shad and fry just below the surface. An Outkast Tackle T-2 football head with craw type trailer and a Carolina rig with a small creature style bait are taking some of the bigger fish I've been catching by dragging it slow across shellbeds and gravel spots along the ledges. A 1/8oz shakey head with a finesse worm in 4'' to 10" lengths are also hard to beat. Make sure to use a Tru-Tungsten sinker with either presentation as these will give you a much better feel as to the bottoms composition and help you distinguish between sand, shells and rock bottoms. Another bait that has been getting some action is slow rolling a spinnerbait on the bottom, this has been taking fish in both deep and shallow water.

Important:
**** Even though the weather is going to cool off some keep plenty of cool drinks with you.. The sun and heat are a harsh combination, remember to put that sun screen on, not only does a sunburn hurt and is uncomfortable it can cause some serious damage to your skin. Proper clothing can make for much more enjoyable day on the water. Make sure to wear lighter color clothes, even light weight long sleeve shirts can keep you cooler than the sun beating down on bare skin. Hats are key also, more and more guys are going to full brims to keep the sun off the sides of their face, ears and the back of the neck. Also be careful and respectful to all the other boaters out there as the warm weather has drawn many people the lakes to cool off and enjoy their favorite water activities.

Note:
When making your trip here to the lakes area be sure to stop by The Cabin bait and tackle to get your fishing license and pickup the hottest baits working on the lakes. These guys are on the water weekly and know what's going on and if you can't find it talk to Wayne Winters and he can get it ordered for you. The Cabin is located in Kuttawa on highway 62 just West of I-24, you can also check them out on the web at www.thecabinbaitandtackle.com, or by phone at 270-388-0122.

Brian Brown
Fishing Hype Guide Service
612-889-2423
www.fishinghype.com