Kentucky and Barkley Lakes - This Sprawling TVA lake of over 160,000acres and more than 2400 miles of shoreline starting at Kentucky Dam in Gilbertsville, Ky going south past Savannah, TN to Pickwick Dam. This lake is a mecca for bass and crappie fisherman from all over the world. Some of the largest tournaments of every year are held on this lake. This lake is known for ledge fishing, but also offers shallow water covers from brush to grass all over the lake.
Here is a very comprehensive website I found for Kentucky and Barkley Lakes. http://www.explorekentuckylake.com/ These are two huge and diverse lakes with lots of water, structures, covers and areas that are vastly different and seperated by sections of the lake. I fished both lakes in 2012 from Dover, TN on Barkley up to the Dam of Barkley as well as Kentucky Lake from the Dam to Cuba Landing. Kentucky Lake is broader and is more structure oriented and Barkley is shallower and more cover oriented but structure does play a roll. They can roughly be divided into sections and described and fish differently based on the time of year. |
I am going to try to break this down into types of structures and tactics to fish by the time of year throughout the different areas of the lakes that maybe will help you in your search. The best piece of advice I think I can give anyone is to pick an area of the lake and concentrate on learning that area very well. I would find some shallow cover and some deep areas close by and the migration routes that fish would follow. With fluctuations and current the fish can change their locations day by day. You may catch them shallow one day and they may move 200 yards to a deeper ledge during the day based on conditions.
I have grown to really love these two lakes this year. They fish differently and you can cover water and find something you are comfortable with irregardless of the time of year that you like and want to fish. In the section
attached I am going to try to describe seasonal patterns and how the different sections of the lake fish based on seasons and lake levels.
I would divide Barkley into three sections: Dam/Kuttawa on the North end, 68 Bridge/Center section of the lake, and Dover/South end section of the lake. Dam/Kuttawa is the northern end of the lake is I would characterize with having shallow ledges and some flats and shallow structures (Roadbeds, Rock islands, and Docks). It is really a great area of the lake to fish early in the year due to the access to deeper water for fish to escape to during Cold fronts without being so negativiely impacted. 68 Bridge/Center section is a little shallower with more flats and fewer ledges. There are lots of islands and backwater areas that have some deeper water close by that allow fish to migrate easily and a good choice year round as it has deep and shallow areas for fish to utilize. Dover/South end of the lake is much more like a river with some shallow bays with buckbrush and ditches. I really like
to fish this area when we have higher water to better allow you fish this area. When the lake is below 356 these areas can be tough to fish due to the low water though you can still catch fish in them.
I would divide Kentucky lake into 5 sections though most of them fish the same. But due to geographic area they are just large. Dam/North is the farthest north section of the lake. Kenlake area is the Hwy 68 crossing area of the lake. These sections have lots of deeper water structures and some shallow areas as well, but this is the broadest sections of the lakes. They can be a little intimidating but a lot of the bigger tournaments launch from this area at Moors Resort and the Dam and is an important section of the lake to learn to fish. Paris is the center section of the lake where Hwy 79 crosses and Big Sandy river comes into the lake. This is my favorite section of the lake partly because it is the section I have fished the most over the last 20 years and because of the wide variety of structures available to fish in this area. It has offshore ledges as well as shallow flats and covers. New Johnsonville is the next section down categorized by the lake beginning to become more river like with shallow flats and structure more abundant near the river ledges. Cuba Landing is the area where I-40 crosses the lake and is very much just river with shallow flats and creeks coming into the lake. Everything south of this section I consider to be the Tennessee river that flows from Pickwick Dam.
Now that I have covered the sections of the lakes click on the tips and techniques link below for more information on how to fish the lake.
Kentucky Lake Tips and Techniques
This is by far not the only way to fish these sections but just ideas and things that have worked for me. Explore Kentucky lake website that I have a link for above has information on guides and their fishing reports where you can also get great information from as well.
attached I am going to try to describe seasonal patterns and how the different sections of the lake fish based on seasons and lake levels.
I would divide Barkley into three sections: Dam/Kuttawa on the North end, 68 Bridge/Center section of the lake, and Dover/South end section of the lake. Dam/Kuttawa is the northern end of the lake is I would characterize with having shallow ledges and some flats and shallow structures (Roadbeds, Rock islands, and Docks). It is really a great area of the lake to fish early in the year due to the access to deeper water for fish to escape to during Cold fronts without being so negativiely impacted. 68 Bridge/Center section is a little shallower with more flats and fewer ledges. There are lots of islands and backwater areas that have some deeper water close by that allow fish to migrate easily and a good choice year round as it has deep and shallow areas for fish to utilize. Dover/South end of the lake is much more like a river with some shallow bays with buckbrush and ditches. I really like
to fish this area when we have higher water to better allow you fish this area. When the lake is below 356 these areas can be tough to fish due to the low water though you can still catch fish in them.
I would divide Kentucky lake into 5 sections though most of them fish the same. But due to geographic area they are just large. Dam/North is the farthest north section of the lake. Kenlake area is the Hwy 68 crossing area of the lake. These sections have lots of deeper water structures and some shallow areas as well, but this is the broadest sections of the lakes. They can be a little intimidating but a lot of the bigger tournaments launch from this area at Moors Resort and the Dam and is an important section of the lake to learn to fish. Paris is the center section of the lake where Hwy 79 crosses and Big Sandy river comes into the lake. This is my favorite section of the lake partly because it is the section I have fished the most over the last 20 years and because of the wide variety of structures available to fish in this area. It has offshore ledges as well as shallow flats and covers. New Johnsonville is the next section down categorized by the lake beginning to become more river like with shallow flats and structure more abundant near the river ledges. Cuba Landing is the area where I-40 crosses the lake and is very much just river with shallow flats and creeks coming into the lake. Everything south of this section I consider to be the Tennessee river that flows from Pickwick Dam.
Now that I have covered the sections of the lakes click on the tips and techniques link below for more information on how to fish the lake.
Kentucky Lake Tips and Techniques
This is by far not the only way to fish these sections but just ideas and things that have worked for me. Explore Kentucky lake website that I have a link for above has information on guides and their fishing reports where you can also get great information from as well.