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Kentucky Lake’s fishing scene battled another spell of unstable weather recently as the roller coaster continued to deliver a variety of conditions. Spring officially arrived last Thursday but for fishermen conditions were more akin to winter.

Say hello to crazy spring days here on Kentucky Lake. Late March and early April seem to have a bit of both winter and spring in the mix.

Unstable lake levels at times. Cold winds can blow; warm sunny days descend too. Add a storm or two to the mix.

The one thing that’s predictable about spring here is that it’s unpredictable! Always has been. Always will be.

In spite of the weather roller coaster spring really stimulates fishing pox among the ranks of both bass and crappie anglers.

Spring fever is running rampant as April knocks on the door. Hard to argue with the transition time of blooming dogwoods, bradford pears and redbud trees on parade while bees are buzzing.

This week cool temperatures escorted by chilly winds have hung around delaying what anglers had hoped would be a rapid warm up. That’s upset the apple cart—to some degree--of anxious anglers who have been scored some decent stringers whenever nasty winds allow them to get out and about.

Lake levels have been fluctuating and jumped from the low ebb of winter pool last week up to the 357 range (a change of almost three feet) but are now receding. The reservoir was at 356.4 as this report was formulated but the elevation is falling pretty fast.

Water color in the main Tennessee River channel has been muddy. The Big Sandy area around Paris Landing was a little better for anglers and the overall water color will improve as falling elevation pulls a lot of the muddy conditions out of the equation assuming heavy rains hold off.

Surface temps had been holding around the 53 degree range. Cooler nights will influence any rapid rise in surface temps for a few days.

The fishing scene is still in the prespawn phase for crappie anglers. It needs to be around the 62 to 66 degree range for active spawning phases to kick in, which will likely be in the first week to ten days of April. That’s the norm but weather patterns always dictate the timetable for spawning here.

Some pretty good stringers were taken recently in 7 to 12 feet before the arrival of the cold front. Fish have likely backed off a bit with the falling lake levels coinciding with falling temperatures.

March can be mean but it’s also the time of year when change occurs quickly. Things can get real good real fast at times. High winds have been a hurdle for anglers this past week.

Boats hoping to stalk open water areas using spider rigs, drifting, slow trolling or vertical jig techniques over midrange structure are at the mercy of white caps out there in the big water.

Crappie are staging and waiting to move up to shallow zones. They need some help from Mother Nature to get the show going.

For those fishing from shore the crappie bite has been slow to materialize. However, that will improve very soon. Casting minnows or jigs on slip bobbers will soon begin to yield results.

Male crappie are due to blitz toward shallows as they take on a dark color due to hormonal changes.

Bass fishermen have scored some hefty size lunkers recently as the females are bloated with eggs and moving up to gravel banks and staging on big rock points. Like the crappie the female bass are weighing heavy right now and it’s a good time to catch big fish.

Chartreuse variations of crankbaits, along with some crawfish colors, have been scoring well. A lot depends on the water color and the spot of choice.

In the prespawn phase both bass and crappie are sporting some of their heaviest weights of the year.

Anglers can expect a lot of transition to take place these next couple of weeks as fish stairstep their way toward spawning venues.

Best get ready and stay ready!