The lake level is about one foot low. Normal summer pool is 599.7 and currently we are at 598.86. Water temps are running 72. With very little rain the lake is gin clear top to bottom.

Every where you go you can see bait on the surface up in the shallows just everywhere, More than any past year I have seen. So fat and healthy fish that can be moody. Force feeding them is the key.

Crappie…. On sunny days I am fishing heavy shaded cover. Cubes are the best target since they provide a lot of shade. The shallower the better. I am pulling off to the side and instructing clients where to throw their slip bobber and minnow rig with my Livescope which is on a Livescanner pole so I can put the trolling motor on spotlock and still be able to point my Livescope any direction I need. You need to set up that slip bobber rig for it to go right in the top of those cubes and go down at least two-feet into it. Then have the next client get right next to the first before his goes under.
Crappie…. On cloudy days I am using stumps on flats with wind blowing into them. Same method have first client set his just upwind of the stump and watch it drift right into it. Same thing slip bobber and minnow rig. We are going through at least ten dozen a day so I get plenty.

White bass…. I am still using my 5/8oz. slab spoon and a 1/32oz. white hair jig above it. Parallel to a flat or slightly up on it. Bait must be present. They seam to be in 6-10ft. I cast out the spoon then let it hit the bottom. Then we pop it up pretty hard and allow it to fall back keeping a tight line on it. You will feel the yellow bass hitting it constantly. Then a big white bass will come out of no where and hammer the hair jig. Set the hook and then just keep the fish there and soon you will have a second. This helps in two ways. First you fire up all the whites in the area and second fighting in two is way more fun.
White bass…. I am throwing out the same rig into huge schools of buffalo. Allowing it to free fall through them, then a white bass will shoot out of the school and slam your bait. Not to mention you will hook several huge buffalo so hang on. They run 30-40lbs.

My calendar is filling fast. All my Fall Kentucky Lake trips are booked. I only have dates in October for Lake Shelbyville. 1,2,8,9,10,15,16,17,18,22,23 just give me a call at 217-840-1221 to grab one of the last trips of 2024….

Steve Welch
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