Reports of White Bass on KY Lake?

[Mepperson]

Anyone catching any yet? What type of techniques are working? We are still catching a few gills but I'm beginning to get that white bass itch. I normally fish around the bridge pilings at Eggners Ferry, but a little later in the summer. I like to use chartruese grubs or a white 3/4 oz rooster tail. When they are there, I can usually catch several. They are a blast with light tackle and taste really good once you cut out the red streak.

[JDMiller]

Mepp.... we went Tuesday night. Got on the water about 8 pm and stayed till 2:30. Three of us fishing .... we kept 45 nice keepers. We caught probably around 80 plus fish total but released all the small ones.

We were in about 30 ft of water tied off to Eggners Ferry the whole time using floating lights. Too much wind to do any trolling and honestly didnt need to. Probably one of the better nights we have had in several years. All three of us were using 5 ft leaders with multiple "FleeFlys" & 2oz weight just bumping the bottom. Colorwise... seemed to be hitting the black /w/ red head better than the rest.

Had a heck of a fish fry last night. If all goes as planned... were planning to hit them again Saturday night. The water is still up a little and we had good current ...so they must be turning a little loose. With this style of fishing ...seems a good current makes things just right. The only thing that would make it better would be a decent willowfly hatch. Thats when we get there early and cast roostertails till dark.

[Mepperson]

Thanks JD, that's what I was wanting to hear. I may be out there Saturday night myself. Were there many boats out there? Which side were you on, east or west?

[JDMiller]

Thanks JD, that's what I was wanting to hear. I may be out there Saturday night myself. Were there many boats out there? Which side were you on, east or west?

We were on the Fenton side and only one other boat tied up. They were still at it when we left. Southwest wind ...tied off on the North side of the bridge. Theres several places up through there to stay in 30-35 ft of water... find that and you should be good. As the water temps go up we will work our way down toward the channel for deeper water.

One reason was'nt many fishing...other than it being a weekday... it was bad windy. It was whitecapping something terible and the wind did'nt lay somewhat till after 1 am. Was'nt much to giving your leader any action.... boat was bouncing so...it was just a matter of hanging on to your rod. :D

The guys I was with are retired die-hard stripe fishermen. They have been going for several weeks but not catching many keepers or a lot of fish in general. Last Tuesday was the first time this year limiting out. We surmise the next few weeks things will be getting with the program. If...we can keep some current. Dead water or an East wind will stifle things out pretty quick.

[Mepperson]

Sounds like I could learn a lot from you. Thanks for the report and the tips.

[wademup]

Saw some guys who had a nice mess they took from the intakes above KY Dam the other day also.

Wademup

[Shelbyhunter]

I used to fish below the dam at KY lake in the Tennessee River. Fishing on the rock banks with a 1/2 rooster tail really did well with the whites and yellows.

Bluegills were also good with the crickets.

Have not been there in years.

[JDMiller]

Mepp.... to give you another update.

Me ...my daughter..and a friend of ours went Saturday. We tied off on the bridge around 6:30. During the daylight we caught a bunch of small stripes casting a "Bandit" crankbait at the concrete bridge supports. Not anything of size to mention but we did keep a few. We switched back & forth between silver spoons, rooster tails & the crankbait but the crankbaits were the most productive.

At dark we switched over to vertical "FleeFlys" under the floating lights... fishing was a little slower but still above average. We caught some really nice fish and ended up with 38 keepers between the three of us. Probably caught about 50-60 or so fish total on that trip.... counting the ones released.

[quackrstackr]

JD, I need to get with you and learn this "fleefly" method.

I've heard of guys doing it for years but have never seen it.

I've always used the vertical / white roostertail presentation there. Sometimes it produces, sometimes it doesn't.

I've thought about giving them a go myself but this constant wind just won't quit and I don't want to bang my new boat off of the pilings.

[Mepperson]

Mepp.... to give you another update.

Me ...my daughter..and a friend of ours went Saturday. We tied off on the bridge around 6:30. During the daylight we caught a bunch of small stripes casting a "Bandit" crankbait at the concrete bridge supports. Not anything of size to mention but we did keep a few. We switched back & forth between silver spoons, rooster tails & the crankbait but the crankbaits were the most productive.

At dark we switched over to vertical "FleeFlys" under the floating lights... fishing was a little slower but still above average. We caught some really nice fish and ended up with 38 keepers between the three of us. Probably caught about 50-60 or so fish total on that trip.... counting the ones released.

I need to find out when you go out again so I can get some lessons.

[Mepperson]

JD, do you use a palomar knot tying the flies on? How many u using? How far apart should they be? I'm thinking about going out Tuesday evening and trying for a few and thought I'd get the lowdown. I have only white homemade ones. Do other jigs work? I have one or two of the commercial fleeflies but have never seemed to do well with them but have not used them much. Thanks for any info.

[JDMiller]

I've heard of guys doing it for years but have never seen it.



The first time I ever fished this method was when I was dating my wife 20 years ago. Her dad invited me an when we got tied off he pitched me a leader rolled up on piece of dowel rod. I looked at that...I thought were going to catch fish with this...yea right. Been doing it ever since.

You may know but I'll explain it a little... "FleeFly" is a brand of jigs..sorta like a crappie jig but the eyelet is turned 90 degrees with the head and hang upside down on the leader with the hook up. The leader you make...I use Spiderwire Stealth... is about 5 1/2-6 1/2 ft in length( I like to guide by the distance of the rod tip to reel) . On the bottom connect a swivel a two oz.(pending current have had to use 3 oz.) bank sinker. Up from it time a knot about 6 inches from swivel. Then slide down a Fleefly to the knot. Above your Fleefly alow an inch or so and tie another knot. This allows with current and boat / rod action the Fleefly to move up & down between knots.

Now above this by 8 or 10 inches.... keep tying knots and Fleeflys till you have the full length of the leader with 6-7 or more Fleeflys. The come in different colors but we have found that blacks..blues...greys & at times white are the most productive. I have several made up with only blue & grey or blacks & blues and they have caught a bunch of fish.

As far as the manner of fishing them .... just drop them over the side till you hit bottom. Then just tightline slightly bouncing the weight off bottom. The idea of the long leader is to allow a Fleefly to be from bottom to around 6 ft off bottom. Sometimes if its slow you can count your cranks and hypothetically may get into fish several cranks off bottom. This is just trial & error but so far this year..we have stayed with the weight on bottom and the fish have been there.

Other tips fishing this way..... in my opinion monofilament does'nt work good as leader material. To get the strength you need...say around 17# test... I believe the fish see the line.. from expierience just from being in the same boat with someone with 12-14# test and their hauling one fish in after another. The mono is also bad about abrasion and knot breaks after repeated catches. The Spiderwire braided is a booger to tie knots large enough to not slip through the jig eyelets but its tough. I think what I'm using now is 30# but has the diameter of 8# test. I've yet to have a leader break using this.

Using leaders with multiple jigs...its not uncommon with schools of white bass to catch two fish or even three(not as common but I've seen it done) at once. This set-up...the fish basically hang theirselves and large fish will hit really hard while the smaller ones seem to just peck at it. Also ...we use only two floating lights and find were more productive fishing away from the lights instead of directly beside them.

Its a relaxing way to fish and shoot the bull. Theres plenty of slow times but when the activity picks up...you can catch a bunch of fish in a hurry. As far as the boat hitting the bridge.... its not that bad. Just give yourself some room with the tie rope and pending current or wind.. bumping the concrete is not an issue. Sometimes you do have to watch the barge wakes but its still not bad. We usually just keep a pole or boat paddle handy to the guy fishing the front of the boat. If he's paying attention you can keep from bumping.


Mepp.... I dont have the boat and reliant mostly on going with my father-in-law or friends. I'm always open to offers.:D

As far as other lures... I've seen guys use about everything in the line of crappie jigs with some luck. I like the FleeFlys but they are getting hard to find around here. Me and a few others last winter just went in and bought complete cards and split the colors up. As far as the knot... read what / how I explained to quack. If you want to borrow a leader just holler and I'll meet you somewhere in town and let you use one.

[quackrstackr]

Sounds like the 3 of us need to hold a hands on class under a particular bridge. I have a boat that will seat three and I bet Mep does too. :D

I guess if you aren't bumping the concrete you must not be directly under the bridge. I have always had my best luck fishing right next to the actual concrete as that's where the baitfish hug but with your method, that may not be such an issue.

[JDMiller]

Sounds like the 3 of us need to hold a hands on class under a particular bridge. I have a boat that will seat three and I bet Mep does too. :D

I guess if you aren't bumping the concrete you must not be directly under the bridge. I have always had my best luck fishing right next to the actual concrete as that's where the baitfish hug but with your method, that may not be such an issue.

Quack ..... I say we..but my father/law has a piece of wood cut to length with an eyebolt in the middle for the tie rope. It was made to spefically fit in the exposed i-beam channel above the concrete. All we do is pull up and drop the block in the channel and were hooked up. I'd say we fish about 8 ft. from the front of the boat and concrete.

Your right about fishing close to the structure but the last two trips...the back of the boat has been as productive as the front. My daughter sitting in the middle hauled the first three keepers in Saturday night. Go figure.

[Mepperson]

Sounds like the 3 of us need to hold a hands on class under a particular bridge. I have a boat that will seat three and I bet Mep does too. :D

I guess if you aren't bumping the concrete you must not be directly under the bridge. I have always had my best luck fishing right next to the actual concrete as that's where the baitfish hug but with your method, that may not be such an issue.

Well, if everything goes right, I'll be there Tuesday evening. I will experiment a little with the leader and fleeflies. I think Benson's carries them. Thanks for all the good advice. I'll give you a report after I get to try it. Maybe they'll be drawing the water down since it is supposed to rain Tuesday morning.

[JDMiller]

Well, if everything goes right, I'll be there Tuesday evening. I will experiment a little with the leader and fleeflies. I think Benson's carries them. Thanks for all the good advice. I'll give you a report after I get to try it. Maybe they'll be drawing the water down since it is supposed to rain Tuesday morning.

The offer for a leader is still open if you or quack want to try what we have been catching them on. Bensons might have some but their usually limited on color.

Just give me a pm and I'll get one to you.

[theshadbat2]

Don't want to hijack your thread, but have you hear of anyone doing well in stripers below ky or barkley. I will be down that way this weekend and will probably give it a shot if they are running at least 2 generators.

[quackrstackr]

The offer for a leader is still open if you or quack want to try what we have been catching them on. Bensons might have some but their usually limited on color.

Just give me a pm and I'll get one to you.

How important are the floating lights? I don't have any of those.

[JDMiller]

How important are the floating lights? I don't have any of those.


The lights are pretty critical fishing stationary. They attract your baitfish which inturn attract the white bass.. rocks and everything else. We have always used floating lights but some friends of mine are using a single submersiable light with good luck. You just have to be carefull not to get tangled with the latter and one reason I havent been a big fan of them.

Wallyworld usually has the floaters for 8-9 bucks.

Another suggestion.... run your lights off a seperate battery or your trolling battery. Running down your crankin battery is not too fun.:D We usually crank the lights up right before dark and with a good battery you should be good for many hours fishing. The latest we fished so far has been around 2:30 am... lights still burnin strong.

[quackrstackr]

I made a trip from Kenlake to Fenton on nothing but trolling motor and sheer will once. There was a race to get out of the way of an oncoming barge during the ordeal.

I had just as soon not ever repeat that.

[Mepperson]

How important are the floating lights? I don't have any of those.

I have a floater and submersible, quackrstackr. I like the sub, it puts off a green glow all around the boat. Danny has a few at the bow shop, you can probably get a good deal on one.

[quackrstackr]

I'll have to check into one of those.

I hear that's a good way to catch crappie during the summer but I have never tried that either.

[Mepperson]

Went out last night, stayed way too long after I limited out. It was very slow at first and I didn't really get on them until everyone else left. I guess I fished for nearly an hour and a half after I limited. It was just fun finally catching some. Early in the evening, I did manage to land a drum that prob went 12 pounds....what a blast. I also hooked into into a stripe that was huge but after he saw the boat, there was no stopping him.....had to be over 10 pounds. He straighten my hook. I look to be down there again this week sometime if the weather holds out. JD, your technique worked really well...I only had black and white flee flys and the black worked best for me. I also caught a few while jigging spoons. Seemed like there were a lot of smaller fish caught last night. I probably caught 50 fish and took home my limit of 15. All in all, it was a good night. I'm going back to bed.

[JDMiller]

JD, your technique worked really well...I only had black and white flee flys and the black worked best for me. I also caught a few while jigging spoons. Seemed like there were a lot of smaller fish caught last night. I probably caught 50 fish and took home my limit of 15. All in all, it was a good night. I'm going back to bed.


Glad to here it.

I figured with the front that moved through might hurt things last night. If you run across any blue or grey FleeFlys try them along with the blacks... it works really ...really good.

What few times I've been.. we had a lot of keepers weighing in the 1 1/2 to 2 pound range but we've had plenty of small fish too. On average we've probably had the best season weve had in many years.

As far as heading back to bed... you need to fish till 3 and still pull 8 hrs at work the next day. I dont recoup like I use to and takes me a few days to rebound. :D

[Mepperson]

Glad to here it.

I figured with the front that moved through might hurt things last night. If you run across any blue or grey FleeFlys try them along with the blacks... it works really ...really good.

What few times I've been.. we had a lot of keepers weighing in the 1 1/2 to 2 pound range but we've had plenty of small fish too. On average we've probably had the best season weve had in many years.

As far as heading back to bed... you need to fish till 3 and still pull 8 hrs at work the next day. I dont recoup like I use to and takes me a few days to rebound. :D

Hey that's one of the perks with teaching....I have most of the summer off. I'm getting to old to stay out like that. I was cleaning fish at the KenLake cleaning station at 3:30am this morn. I will probably go back out on Thursday or Friday weather permitting, gotta love it! Oh, where do you get those flee flys? Bensons only has white with red head and black with red head.

[JDMiller]

Oh, where do you get those flee flys? Bensons only has white with red head and black with red head.

Cant say what colors are left but Murray Bait... Fast Eddies near Pirates Cove... what use to be Henrys Bait & Hardware at Aurora across from old Mack-n-Mack boat sales.... all these places use to stock a few.

Last winter ....we ordered direct from the company somewhere in Texas. We had to buy complete cards of one color and several of us went in and each bought a card ..then devided the colors up between us. I did'nt do the ordering but I can get the info pretty easy. I think it was around $30 bucks a card if I'm remebering right. Cheaper than buying individual packs at any of the places mentioned.

[Mepperson]

Cant say what colors are left but Murray Bait... Fast Eddies near Pirates Cove... what use to be Henrys Bait & Hardware at Aurora across from old Mack-n-Mack boat sales.... all these places use to stock a few.

Last winter ....we ordered direct from the company somewhere in Texas. We had to buy complete cards of one color and several of us went in and each bought a card ..then devided the colors up between us. I did'nt do the ordering but I can get the info pretty easy. I think it was around $30 bucks a card if I'm remebering right. Cheaper than buying individual packs at any of the places mentioned.

Thanks, I'll make a few phone calls to see who has any left. Get me that info and I'll buy you a beverage sometime. Last night I was trying to fish two poles.....big mistake. I saw that one had a fish on and it turned out to be a nice double but was tangled up in some old fishing line. After removing the fish I saw that the old line was all tangled up so I cut it out and it dropped over the side before I could grab it. I looked around at my other pole and the line was slack so I picked it up to find out that "old line" that I cut out was off my other pole! There went 6 flee flys...ouch that can get painful since they are kinda hard to find.

[aceoky]

I figured with the front that moved through might hurt things last night.

It sure did on Cumberland yesterday! Both boys caught fish, wife and I were "skunked"! :eek:

First time I've been skunked on Cumberland in YEARS .........:mad:

Youngest caught his first gar, and thought it was a "freshwater swordfish" :D

[kmtpr]

Jim, Congrats to him catching his first gar! :D

[JDMiller]

Thanks, I'll make a few phone calls to see who has any left. Get me that info and I'll buy you a beverage sometime.

Mepp.... give me a day or two and Ill get the adress. My FIL made the order but he is out of town for a few days. I send you a PM when I get it.



Ace.... tell him he done good to catch a gar on a rod & reel. The only ones I ever caught had an arrow stuck through them. :D

[Mepperson]

Mepp.... give me a day or two and Ill get the adress. My FIL made the order but he is out of town for a few days. I send you a PM when I get it.



Ace.... tell him he done good to catch a gar on a rod & reel. The only ones I ever caught had an arrow stuck through them. :D

No hurry. My neighbor found some at Baits and Bullets and the bait shop next to the General Store in Aurora. I can't wait to get back out there. I've got a few things I want to try....I'll let you know how I do.

[aceoky]

Thank you Kathy and JD!

He was SO surprised to see what he'd caught :D

Wish I had pictures of his face with that gar but my digital camera decided to "crap out" AFTER taking those pictures (and his crappie picture too) :(

[kmtpr]

Thank you Kathy and JD!

He was SO surprised to see what he'd caught :D

Wish I had pictures of his face with that gar but my digital camera decided to "crap out" AFTER taking those pictures (and his crappie picture too) :(
Yeah, would have loved to see those pics, but maybe you'll be able to get one next time. :D