paul.

that's another great fish. you are really putting a hurt on 'em this year.

great story and fantastic pics. times like that you'll never forget.

when you empty it on fish like this one! this 8-5 couldn't resist a green pumpkin rage craw fished off a point in about 8 ft. of water. she was part of a very nice day that also featured a chunky 6-6 off a deep timber line and a whole pile of smaller ones. also caught quite a few on red shad baby thumpers. my rod and reel definitely got a good workout today. here's a couple of pics of the big one.

hey guys. been a while. despite a busier than usual spring, i have managed some fishing. i have been concentrating on my favorite lake for the past few months. this lake really got hurt badly a couple of years ago. it was drained WAY down to fix a leaky overflow pipe. while it was down, unfortunately a few idiots took advantage and basically just raped the place. on top of that, it stayed very low during the hottest part of summer, undoubtedly killing even more fish. i really had my doubts about whether this lake would ever be the same. well, i have been very pleasantly suprised. since starting to fish there earlier this year, it has been a rarity to have a trip with less than 40 fish. big fish have been a lot more scarce than they used to be, but i think there's still a few in there. numbers have been as good or better as they ever were. in the long run, this drawdown may be the best thing that ever happened to this lake. here's a few pictures. during the spawn, the rage craw was the hot ticket. this bait single-handedly produced over 200 bass. after the spawn, i took advantage of some red hot bluegill and shellcracker action. the vast majority of the fish were good quality, this size or bigger. plenty of fun on 4 pound test. lately, despite the spawn being long done and water temps around 90, i am still finding lots of fish on shallow wood and grassbeds - 3-5 ft deep. there was a large algae bloom on the lake for about 2 weeks. due to light being unable to penetrate, much of the lake's lush grass died - especially in deeper water. only a few patches of shallow grass survived. i have been keying on these and doing fairly well. baits of choice have been squarebills, rattlebaits, and worms. the zoom mag II has been the best producer of all. in fact, the mag has outshined all my other worms by a very wide margin - even the more expensive ones. some plastic companies are charging over $5 for a pack with less than 10 worms these days. it's good to know that worms costing $3.99 / 20 pack will still put a bunch of fish in the boat. here's a decent mag II fish, best of the trip yesterday. needless to say, i am quite happy with the way this lake has bounced back. take heart if your favorite water has fallen on hard times. given time and opportunity, mother nature does a pretty good job of healing herself. hope y'all are catching some too.

very nice lunker there. nothing like being able to find a pond loaded with bigguns. hope you get plenty more.

right now Kent a variety of lures are working. i caught the picture fish on a secret spinnerbait. i won't give away my favorite spinnerbait, but i will tell ya that i prefer the smaller profile, double willow baits in the half ounce size. several companies make baits that have the majority of the weight hidden behind the skirt, and these have always worked well for me on ky lake this time of year. but a spinnerbait is not the only lure that will work well for the fish i'm on by any means. square bills and rattle baits are money as well. eliminating water until you find fish is key, so i prefer baits that i can sling a long way and cover a lot of water with. do not sleep on cranks that run in the 8-12 foot range either. it never hurts to have your favorite topwater tied on either because believe it or not, the fish will come up and bust shad this time of year. i prefer a super spook because you can throw it a mile and it has big fish appeal, but that's just me. once you do find a good school of fish, slowing down with your favorite plastic will often put a lunker in the boat for ya. as you can tell, there are a variety of things working. one thing that does NOT seem to be working well yet is the bush flipping bite. 2 reasons for this - falling water and water temps falling back into the 50's. if one of these factors changes, the flipping bite should improve a bit because it will cause some a few fish to move up into the bushes and shallow cover. if BOTH of these factors change (water rises and water temps climb past the magical 60 degree mark), you better have a jig and flipping stick in the boat. right now, i think a few people are trying to rush it. finding shallow fish can be tough when the aforementioned factors are working against you. but several people are still trying to force feed 'em a jig in the bushes. i have heard that success has been limited at best for these taking this route and this tactic has been hit or miss lately- mostly miss. based on what i've said so far, you have probably figured out that i'm primarily fishing points and flats. the single biggest key, at least for me, has been finding key areas CLOSE TO DEEP WATER. the spot i did the best on friday was relatively close to the channel. i would give the nod to primary points first. but secondary points will work too, as long as they are close to deeper water. this will not matter nearly as much once the water level stabilizes, but it seems to be very important now. if you do attempt to fish a pockets or cove, i would stick to those with deep water access. and i would concentrate my efforts on the first few yards going in on both sides as fish tend to pull to key areas at the entrance of pockets and coves as long as the water is falling. now some other folks may be slaying 'em doing something else, but this is what's working for me. i am BY NO MEANS an expert on ky lake as i have only been fishing it regularly for about a year and a half. there are several reliable guide reports available online. but to me the most reliable source to dictate how and where i'm going to fish is TVA info. the two things to pay major attention to is the water level trend (rising or falling) and how much current they are pulling (anything over 100,000 is great). here's a link: http://www.tva.gov/lakes/kyh_r.htm. sorry, but i don't know a thing about crappie. the only ones i catch are by accident when i'm bass fishing. hope this helped.

kentucky lake is on fire! over 30 fish yesterday with some nice ones in the mix - even in the sleet. and the fish have obviously been eating well. everything i caught yesterday looked to be at least half a pound bigger than it "should be". to say they looked like footballs was an understatement. they looked like footballs that had swallowed softballs. i think the guys who fish the road trip should have an absolute blast (barring another epic flood and lake closing of course ;D). here's a pic. this one was 5 on the nose and it has to be one of the shortest 5's i've ever caught. and all the fish from yesterday were shaped like this. just really, really fat and healthy bass. talk about a good time! hoping for another outing like this one again next week.

phenomenal trip! maybe even "once in a lifetime" caliber outing. simply amazing.

great trip guys. y'all did real good. way to put 'em on some fish Lee.

way to catch 'em bud! great job! i know you were stoked!

seems like when you guess right and your plan comes together perfectly like that it's makes the trip a little sweeter. y'all put a hurt on 'em dave. real nice pics too!

great day kent! real nice fish. the river is pretty hot now ain't it? y'all smoked 'em.

man that is excellent. happy for ya. i'd say destroyed is an understatement if you quit counting after 40. and your weight loss is VERY noticeable. congrats on that too.

another nice one chris. what kind of rigging are you using? i sometimes use live skipjacks. ever since i started hooking 'em through the nostrils with a piece of plastic worm to keep 'em from sliding up the hook, i can't recall having lost a fish due to having the hook coming back around and re-hooking the bait. then there's the old saltwater rubber band rig where the hook is attached to the bait but not IN the bait. i can understand why you'd be po'd about losing a fish when the hook goes back in the bait. that sucks to know you never even had a chance of putting a hook in the fish that bit. anyway, you're on a tear with those big stripers for sure. congrats on another.

those are some real nice ones for sure. congrats to you and sam. looks like y'all put the smack down.

i will be the first to admit that i don't know much about big business. so as i have been keeping up with the nfl vs. nflpa saga, i have noticed that the major sticking point seems to be the nfl owners' unwillingness to show the players exactly how much money is coming in. especially at a time when they are asking the players to give up some of their share. in simple terms, it seems the owners are asking the players to take a pay cut but refuse to show them why it's financially necessary. so my question is this for those who know something about business and business law. how realistic is it for the players to expect the nfl to be "financially transparent"? do they actually have a legal right to the nfl's books? my guess would be no. and my guess would also be that the nfl will continue to at least partially withhold financial data from the players. sure, they might show them some financial information, but i doubt the players will ever get the "real" facts and figures. what do you think? if you were to ask the ceo of your company to show you the books and explain to you exactly how much money the company makes, what do you think they'd say? of course the flip side of this is that if i was making millions to do something that i loved (fishing for an example we can all relate to) and they asked me to give up several thousands "for the good of the business", i don't guess i'd care too much. i'd probably do it and not ask too many questions, knowing that i was still fortunate and blessed beyond belief. but that's just me. what a mess this has turned into. >

probably some of both. but i really think for the most part their obesity is attributable to a shad kill. lots and lots of easy meals. i would imagine that both of these fish probably had easily over 2 pounds of shad in their bellies. could be wrong, but either way these fish felt like cinder blocks. ;D

us southern boys can catch some rockfish every once in a while too. here's a couple of nice ones. bottom pic is just another shot of the biggest one (left fish in the top pic). i just couldn't let Fish Chris have all the fun. ;D hope y'all are catchin' some too.

man you are on 'em. another great fish. if that's what happens when you get a new rod, then maybe i need to get a new one too.

another great fish. you are just smokin' those stripers.

great vid man! ultralight action rocks.

just flat out smokin' 'em. fantastic, especially considering the conditions.

great job. i'd rather fish than work on projects any day of the week.

i'd rather fish than jog too. excellent!

that's so cool man. a really great pic of some very nice lunkers.