Hillbilly Bennett

My fishing buddy and me are kicking off 2018 with a long weekend trip to Shearon Harris at the end of February with the hopes of nailing some nice Largemouth. As this is the 1st time Ever fishing here, I’m looking for some basic info on the lake and area. Where are the best boat ramps? Where is a good, reasonably priced place to stay? Any suggestions on local restaurants? And, of course, a fishing report. I’m not looking for anyone’s honey hole, just some water temps, water clarity and suggestions for general areas to check out. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks!

I’m a big fan of the Ocho, just not rigged weightless. 95% of the time if I’m throwing a weightless Worm it’s going to be a senko but I have had a few days where the Ocho out preformed the Senko, especially on more heavily pressured lakes where they see and have eaten tons of senkos. I had a day on Guntersville where I couldn’t buy a senko bite but caught 20 on the Ocho but that’s not the norm. I have had the most success with the Ocho on shakey Heads and Texas Rigs and this is where I feel that it shines.

It's been a couple of years since you posted this, but I'm close. I live on the Johnson/Floyd county line.

Elkhorn creek runs through Georgetown and is one of the best smallmouth streams in the state. You can wade it and bank fish it from the town park in Georgetown, I believe it's called Cardome Park. I've caught a lot of fish there on small plastics and poppers. For the time you are going to be there that should be your best bet to catch some good fish. Also, if you have time, run over to Frankfort and fish at the Forks of the Elkhorn Campground. It's about 30 minutes west of Georgetown.

I like Ish myself. I could definitely do with a little less smack talk but anyone who can weigh in a 4 day total of 108 lbs and 5 oz in a Bassmaster elite series tournament can obviously fish a little. I also love his Snagproof frogs and they are probably my favorite frog I've ever used. Great hookup ratio and they almost never fill up with water.

Heading to Guntersville tomorrow and will be fishing out of waterfront. I'm looking to find out how the bite has been and any other info anyone wants to offer. I know the water had been high and muddy a few weeks ago and it was coming back to normal but that's it.

If there is clear water, I will be throwing a jerkbait. No matter what time of year, no matter what the conditions, a jerkbait gets bites for me in clear water. You just have to play with the cadence to figure out if the fish want something wild and erratic, something subtle or something in between. Also, I use good topwater lures in clear water all day long. If a bass can see a disturbance on top of the water, a lot of times she will come from deep and slam it. They can produce around docks and laydowns all day long as well. Some of my best days of fishing and my biggest catches have come from running topwater plugs all day long in clear water. If you're just throwing topwater at just dawn and dusk, you're missing out.

I love my Costa sunglasses with mirrored green lenses. I always went with oakleys but since I picked up a pair of the Costa Cayans I haven't looked back. They are light weight and don't have the plastic frame that hugs your face. (I can't stand that!) Customer service is exceptional and they flat out work for sight fishing.

I've had some very good luck on Cedar in may and June catching post spawners on top water and by pitching to the standing timber that is literally all over the lake.

Thanks for the input. I don't fish muddy water a lot but over the past 2 years I've been fishing Dewey Lake in Prestonsburg and it always has less clarity than I'm used too. I spent a lot of time on lakes that are gin clear like Laurel in my younger years so it always messes with my confidence when I'm in muddy water.

That's a nice one Superfan! The fish are starting to move towards the banks here in eastern KY but the recent rains have turned my home lake in to a mud hole with 6 inches of visibility at the most. Water temps are nearing the 60s in the afternoons now. Anyone have suggestions for catching prespawners in water that looks like chocolate milk?

1. Rio Rico Popper 2. Keitech Noisy Flapper 3. Strike King Ocho 4. Lucky Craft Mini DR Crank 5. Zoom Speed Craw 6. Revenge Bladed Jig 7. SPRO Little John Deep Diver 8. Revenge Spinner Bait-Black and Blue (For the night bite) 9. Rapala Shadow Rap jerkbait 10. Zoom Superfluke Honestly this is about what I have rigged up in some form or fashion every time that I go fishing. I would definitely consider these my top 10 confidence baits.

I am a huge fan of these frogs. When I can't get bites on any other frog, these babies get bit. I have had issues with hookup ratios but that's to be expected when froggin. It's just frustrating to miss a big one in the slop.

I have had some success with owner screw lock 5/0 hooks. The screw lock keeps from destroying the nose of the frog like a regular EWG 5/0 would. I can make one of these pricey frogs last 4 or 5 fish opposed to maybe 2 with a regular EWG hook. My only issue is that hook ups aren't great and I'd like to find a double hooked frog hook to try out. Any suggestions?