The lake level is about 6-8 inches below summer pool and the surface temps are running 85 on the north end and 77 on the south end. North end very stained with a cloud on the surface that stirs up with your trolling motor. The south end is gin clear and fish are deep and spooky. Here is how I am catching them.

Crappie…. I am fishing laydowns, cubes and stumps mid lake to south end. These fish want shade mid day. Early in the morning they are near it roaming looking for balls of baitfish. Since a thermocline never formed this year due to rising and falling water levels these fish are at about every depth imaginable. I have caught them recently on stumps in ten-feet and laydowns eighteen feet over twenty-five feet of water. Like I said shade is the key. Standing timber does not provide enough. Since I have clients in the boat we are using a slip bobber and minnow and staying way back in the clear water. The larger minnows has the bigger crappie come ten-feet or more out from under cover. Pretty cool to watch on Livescope. I am swimming my 1/4oz. trolling sinker with a tiny 1/32oz. white hair jig across branches. You must be able to watch this on Livescope or you will hang in the branches. The fish want to chase something and are very active. North end not so much in that dingy water.

White Bass…. They are shallow chasing bait balls as well. I have just a few spots that are working every day and we are getting about 50-75 depending on how strong the wind is. I am using a slip bobber and drifting it across shallow flats with wind blowing onto them. I also have my jigging spoon hair jig combo rigged up and with no wind we are searching out huge schools of buffalo carp and the white bass are in with them. We are casting them out and swimming just above the schools. Too deep and you get one of those 30-40 lb. buffalo. Lots of fun but very dangerous on small hooks. The whites will get better as we get further into September. Most of them will be shallow and we will get a few walleye as well.

My dates on Shelbyville are filling fast and currently I only have September 6,10,11,12,23. October 1-4,8-10,15-18,21-23,25.
I still have November 5,6,7 open on Kentucky Lake the rest are full. Reach out before they are all gone….217-840-1221

Steve Welch
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