The lake level is 597.82 or roughly two-feet low. Water is gin clear everywhere since we have little rainfall in two months.
Water temps are running 73-78 warming as day goes on.

All summer the bait fish have remained shallow up on the flats especially the north end. Millions of bait fish and the Pelicans are taking full advantage. I am seeing them from as small as three-inches up to over six. So several hatches.

“WHITE BASS”
Early in the morning until the sun pops over the tree line or about 9am the white bass are feeding heavily on the shad. Pushing them to the surface and you get busts. You must be in the right spot to see this. Been going on for two months.
I am throwing my hair jig spoon combo and radically popping it off bottom all the way back to the boat. I tell clients keep rod tip up catch up with your slack and pop the rod tip. Watch your line as it hits the water for any twitching. Whites are smacking at it. Set the hook, hold constant pressure and wait on the second. We average about 15 double hook ups a day. Chip’s Marine carries my spoons as does my website on my on-line store.

If we get wind and I mean wind ten plus we stay on the white bass most of the day catching close to a hundred. Reason I am slip bobber fishing for crappie since I usually have three in the boat besides myself and too much wind makes the cork move to much. Hard to tight line four anglers. The wind limits the areas you can use. Always spots on Shelbyville to get out of it but not spots with huge clusters of cubes and that is key on the crappie.

“CRAPPIE”
These last two weeks crappie fishing has been a ball since larger fish are moving into the Shelbyville Cubes. You must do your homework and locate the cubes that have three, four. One I know of has seven in a tight group. This creates lots of crappie which creates competition. They can only push two off the boat tied together since they are so heavy but they have gotten very good at getting the second two within a couple feet. With Livescope I can see the gap and there is always bigger fish in that perfect shade just a couple feet down from the top. I cast and then pull my minnow right over the area and let it drop then tell customers to fish close to me. There are days that some of these cubes will have several hundred fish on them so placement isn’t as critical. All the cubes I am using are from Eagle resort back to Bo-Woods. The bait fish all summer have been twice as plentiful on the north end.

I am still using my slip bobber rig which consists of 14lb. Fireline Crystal. Tried every braid imaginable and the Fireline just has a wax type coating that holds my string slip bobber better than anything. I then run down to a quarter ounce weight. I use a trolling sinker that has a swivel on both ends. Then a foot long of 15lb. Seagar Fluorocarbon line. Then always a number four Tru-Turn hook. Any bigger or heavier I can’t get our snags back and there are plenty. I use a Billy Bob slip bobber with pins at each end which makes it easier to thread the braid through. Same rig for twenty years in the summer. I know a hair jig swam over these cubes will work but I have so many in the boat a slip bobber gets me perfect depth. I use a custom 8ft. rod great for flipping but also a measuring device for setting your bobber. With the heavy quarter ounce weight you get a perfect drift across the cubes and it stays vertical. We fish this rig anywhere from 6ft. down to 12ft. on the setting depending on how deep the fish are suspended or are they on bottom right beside the cubes.

Question comes up all the time. You have Livescope are you a sniper or open water chaser. No I have too many in the boat and they are typically older and want to relax, sit down and enjoy the day. Sniping sure catches bigger crappie, the pics in other guides catches prove it. We do fine on numbers and size especially now that the bigger fish are getting on structure. What they do isn’t wrong just different and if that peaks your interest go for it. In my boat we all fish all day no taking turns.

TIME HAS ALL BUT RUN OUT.
I have October 7,8,20,23,28,29 on Shelbyville. These last four are going to be really good crappie trips since the water temps will be perfect. My regulars know.
About two weeks I am going to strictly crappie but can do just crappie now if you prefer but you need to see this white bass feeding frenzy at daylight.

All my dates on Kentucky Lake in November are gone as I will be leaving November 1st and staying a month.

Steve Welch
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