Kentucky Lake New Johnsonville 9/30-10/1

Noah and I met at McDonalds in Hurricane Mills at 5:30 am. We were excited to get on the lake and launched at 6:30 am. First stop was in Trace creek where we threw topwaters with only a few slaps at the baits. We finally saw some schooling bass off a gravel point and picked up several on the Red Eye Shad (refered hereafter as RES). Next stop was the creek we call the Factory but no fish here. Like a magnet, Richland Creek was calling Noah. He knew some places he liked. I had never been to that area. Getting there was the problem. I haven't mentioned the wind yet. It was ferocious. We were in Noah's 22 ft Bumble Bee with a 225 Yamaha. We knew it was rough when we hit the 2 and 3 footers, then 3 and 4 footers and then 4 to 5 footers. By the time we got to our destination we were drenched and relieved to be out of the maelstrom. (how's that for a big word). But...we did find bass busting shad everywhere. We did catch plenty of fish most on RES. The fish were in 1# to 2.5#. I broke a 4 pounder off. Had to be a nick in the line and not operator error.

We then left heading south to the back side of the river near Pilot's Knob. Again we found lots of shad flipping and bass busting. We continued to catch fish on RES. Noah tried a jig, spinner bait, chatterbait and fluke but the RedEye was still the ticket. We really didn't keep an accurate count but are certain it was over 30 with at least 20 lost. Even with the horrible wind and waves it was a very successful day.

We went to Camden for a so so dinner, got gas and headed back to the motel to cover the boats and prepare for an early to bed.

We were up before 5am preparing for our club tournament. Our guys were at the ramp launching ready for a 6:30 blast off. The wind was still with us. My partner, Lawrence and I began at Trace Creek caught a few non keepers all schoolies and all on the Red Eye Shad. We then headed to Little Dry Creek. No shad evident but I did pick up my first keeper. We soon decided to go down river to the opening of the boatlane that goes upriver on the west side. We found scattered bass on the gravel flats near Pilot's Knob. I finally finished my limit. We caught several bass but getting keepers was tough. The cold front was responsible for scattering the shad and changing the bass bite. At 11:15 we started back knowing river was extremely rough. We made it back safely and headed to the ramp for the weigh in.

Rob won the boater championship for the Classic. Omar won as non-boater. I finished in 3rd. Rob also won big fish with an 18 incher.

I had an enjoyable two days fishing with Noah and Lawrence. The cold front certainly affected the bite but Kentucky Lake is a world class bass lake.