Just got back from fishing Kentucky Lake for the last couple of days. I went down to Kentucky Lake to compete in the Riverwoods Church Open Bass Tournament that took out of the KY Dam on Saturday. The tournament had no entry fee and guaranteed a 5,000 dollar first place prize as well as paying out the top 10. The tournament had around 200 boats. Entered in the tournament were a couple of local FLW tour pro's as well as local guides on the lake so I knew there was going to be some competition.
This past weekend I fished the National Guard FLW College Fishing tournament at Kentucky Lake. The weekend prior to the tournament Kentucky Lake was closed due to very high water levels. A lot of us were sitting around wondering and hoping that we were going to even have a tournament. A couple of days before our tournament they started dropping the water and the lake was finally opened up and our tournament was a go. Going into the tournament I was a bit unsure of how we were going to catch our fish because there were a lot of different varibles to consider. The water was really muddy for Kentucky Lake and they were pulling a lot of current. Prior to the flooding I wanted to fish the ledges and get out on the main lake but I didn't know how the muddy water would effect that bite. Also I was debating on making a run over into Barkley Lake as I know the layout of the water a little better. After I analysed how the Stren pro's were catching their fish though it seemed like the ledges and structure were producing. The guys that went to Barkley said they wish they hadn't which helped me decided on what lake to fish. I noticed that the guys who were flipping in the stren had an okay first day but their bite died off and their bags were getting smaller during the tournament and this was because the water was being sucked out of the bushes. Whenever the water is falling big fish will pull out off the bank and suspend or out out on the points because mother nature tells them that if they don't they will get stuck. The guys in the stren that were structure fishing were throwing up good weight every day and their bags were getting a little bigger. So with all the current in the lake I decided to focus on ledges and points.
Keying in on the shad spawn can be a great way to put a couple of keepers in the boat during the early morning hours of your tournament once your water starts to heat up. When the water temps reach around 70 the shad start to spawn. Shad will run up on banks with hard surfaces like rip rap, clay, and sometimes sea walls to lay their eggs. If you are observant often you can spot shad jumping out of the water as they make their way down the bank laying their eggs. The fish will be right up on the bank so your bait selection is fairly limited because you are looking to run and gun and catch active fish with this technique as it is best during the low light morning hours.
Just got back from spending a week in Paris. No, I didn't make a trip to Europe but I was in Paris, Tennessee competing in the Boat. U.S. Collegiate Open presented by Pepsi on Kentucky Lake. The Boat U.S. tournaments are very popular among collegiate anglers and feature some of the stiffest competition you will come across at the collegiate level. The tournament had 65 boats, 36 teams, from all different parts of the country. There were teams from as far away as Arizona, Florida, and North Carolina participating in the tournament. Most of the Boat U.S. college tournaments have been held in the south the past couple of years so when I heard there was one coming to Kentucky Lake I thought this might be my only shot at getting to fish one and see what it was all about.
One of my favorite times to be on the water is during the post spawn. On any given day you can catch them on anything from a topwater up shallow to a big football jig out deep. If you are a versatile fisherman that likes to fish a lot of different baits and catch a lot of fish then it's a good time to be on the water.
One of the first things I look for if I want to get in on the shallow bite is to look for the fry. I don't know how many times I've caught fish throwing topwaters like buzzbaits into pods of fry up on the bank to just get it smashed. During the last BFL on Truman Lake the bass were up guarding fry and I was able to snatch a 3lber up doing this that ultimately helped propel me onto a 12th place finish in the tournament. A lot of times a topwater will be better than something else like a spinnerbait or a crankbait in this situation because the spit you get out of a topwater creates a lot of havoc on the surface and gets the fry to dart triggering strikes. When you a fishing a buzzbait do not forget to have some sort of follow up bait ready on another rod at your side. If a bass blows up and misses your buzzbait you can almost always pick up another rod and throw back into the boil and get the fish to bite again. The key is to be prepared. One of the best follow up baits for me has been a texas rigged Sweet Beaver.
This past weekend we headed down to Lake Ouachita for the FLW National Guard College Fishing Regional Qualifier and we placed 2nd out of 40 teams. The finish earned our Bass Club 2,500 dollars and our school another 2,500 dollars as well as double qualifying us for a birth to the National Guard College Fishing Regional Championship.We brought 5 fish to the scales that weighed in at 13lbs 4 oz to fall short of first place by less than a pound. It was so hard to come so close to winning the tournament when the winning fish was on the line numerous times throughout the tournament.
Collegiate Anglers News 
Just got back from fishing Kentucky Lake for the last couple of days. I went down to Kentucky Lake to compete in the Riverwoods Church Open Bass Tournament that took out of the KY Dam on Saturday. The tournament had no entry fee and guaranteed a 5,000 dollar first place prize as well as paying out the top 10. The tournament had around 200 boats. Entered in the tournament were a couple of local FLW tour pro's as well as local guides on the lake so I knew there was going to be some competition.
Keying in on the shad spawn can be a great way to put a couple of keepers in the boat during the early morning hours of your tournament once your water starts to heat up. When the water temps reach around 70 the shad start to spawn. Shad will run up on banks with hard surfaces like rip rap, clay, and sometimes sea walls to lay their eggs. If you are observant often you can spot shad jumping out of the water as they make their way down the bank laying their eggs. The fish will be right up on the bank so your bait selection is fairly limited because you are looking to run and gun and catch active fish with this technique as it is best during the low light morning hours.
ne of my favorite times to be on the water is during the post spawn. On any given day you can catch them on anything from a topwater up shallow to a big football jig out deep. If you are a versatile fisherman that likes to fish a lot of different baits and catch a lot of fish then it's a good time to be on the water. 