Lake Barkley - 3-16-10
Posted: March 16th, 2010, 9:37 pm
Weather report said high of 61 and clouds clearing later in the morning. Thought I would try Barkley today to see if it's turned on yet. Thought the rain the last two days may have warmed the water temp up enough to find some bass staging before the pre-spawn. Got to the ramp, no sun. Water was clear for Barkley and temps were 49 in the main lake, 51 in the bays and 52 in Little Terpin. I fished the drop off out of Devil's Elbow, nothing. Headed to the bluffs on the north side of Little Terpin. Fish were stacked like chord wood in 35 - 40 feet. Nothing biting. Threw a jig, slow rolled a chartreuse spinner bait, finessed a horse head jig across the bottom, crank bait and threw a tube. Nothin. Fished around the point and into Terpin and down Turkey Ridge. Nothin. Headed to Donaldson Creek. Fished the point going in. Fished the gravel point. Fished in the channel. Nothin. Marking fish on the depth finder, nothing biting. Shad were really scattered.
It's 1:30 now and the weather hasn't changed at all. No sun. Thick clouds. About a 6 MPH north wind. As I fished the bluff earlier I noticed that the wind was pushing me south but they were drawing water at the dam and the current was pulling me north. It was just enough in both directions to keep me perfectly still.
Got a call from Dan and went in and picked him up at the ramp at 1:45. Was glad to see him. I needed some professional help. Found out that they dropped the lake a foot last night. That usually turns the bite off especially this time of year.
We headed across to Cooper's Bay and fished a pocket with brush piles and a stump row. Dan picked up a small large mouth on a bone colored Red Eye Shad. I was fishing a jig with a craw trailer. Fished on around the point and Dan picked up one more large mouth. No pattern yet. They were just random lone fish. Rode to the other side of of Cooper's Bay and worked around another point into a pocket. I had two good strikes on my jig but did not hook up.
Dan picked up a small mouth on the R.E.S. in about 2 feet of water. Once again, small mouth on Barkley, on a point in the back of a bay in shallow water. Didn't make sense. Went back across Coopers and re-fished the stump row with crank baits. Dan picked up one more large mouth and I had nothin.
We decided to run back down and hit the bluff at Terpin one more time but that didn't yield anything. We did see three big gobblers walking down the ridge line right in front of us though. Really cool.
Was glad I got to run Dan around so he could catch some fish this afternoon.
Weather man lied. Sun never came out and we never hit 61. I could see my breath when we were back at the ramp loading up at 4:30. Only bait that produced today was the Red Eye Shad. The more I use that bait the more I'm impressed. Biggest fish went 3 lbs today.
Just need a few days of warm weather and it will light the lake up. Hope to had back on Friday and get something picture worthy. Today was just practice.
It's 1:30 now and the weather hasn't changed at all. No sun. Thick clouds. About a 6 MPH north wind. As I fished the bluff earlier I noticed that the wind was pushing me south but they were drawing water at the dam and the current was pulling me north. It was just enough in both directions to keep me perfectly still.
Got a call from Dan and went in and picked him up at the ramp at 1:45. Was glad to see him. I needed some professional help. Found out that they dropped the lake a foot last night. That usually turns the bite off especially this time of year.
We headed across to Cooper's Bay and fished a pocket with brush piles and a stump row. Dan picked up a small large mouth on a bone colored Red Eye Shad. I was fishing a jig with a craw trailer. Fished on around the point and Dan picked up one more large mouth. No pattern yet. They were just random lone fish. Rode to the other side of of Cooper's Bay and worked around another point into a pocket. I had two good strikes on my jig but did not hook up.
Dan picked up a small mouth on the R.E.S. in about 2 feet of water. Once again, small mouth on Barkley, on a point in the back of a bay in shallow water. Didn't make sense. Went back across Coopers and re-fished the stump row with crank baits. Dan picked up one more large mouth and I had nothin. We decided to run back down and hit the bluff at Terpin one more time but that didn't yield anything. We did see three big gobblers walking down the ridge line right in front of us though. Really cool.
Was glad I got to run Dan around so he could catch some fish this afternoon.
Weather man lied. Sun never came out and we never hit 61. I could see my breath when we were back at the ramp loading up at 4:30. Only bait that produced today was the Red Eye Shad. The more I use that bait the more I'm impressed. Biggest fish went 3 lbs today.
Just need a few days of warm weather and it will light the lake up. Hope to had back on Friday and get something picture worthy. Today was just practice.
