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Too much water best sums up the fishing scene lately across Kentucky Lake and the entire region. It’s going to get better but this past week has thrown a real curve to the overall fishing scene as the reservoir is more than four feet above normal for mid-April.

As this report was formulated elevation at Kentucky Dam was around 362. Normal summer pool is 359 so the lake has been high and muddy for most fishermen. Lots of floating debris out there too so be cautious when boating about.

Anglers are anxious to see when the reservoir will crest. That should happen soon. However, so much water to our north along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers has influenced the rate of discharge. TVA was discharging 129,000 cfs (cubic feet per second) on Thursday but that’s considerably less than a week ago due to flooding elsewhere.

Soon as the crest occurs watch for TVA to increase discharge rates. Once the reservoir begins to fall it will help rid the lake of all the muddy water too.

Surface temperatures have been around 64 degrees and will warm more this weekend and early next week.

Some crappie have been taken by anglers moving about searching for decent water color. For most it has been tough sledding but a few boats moved about and found crappie biting in 8 to 12 foot depths.

No doubt crappie will move up to buck bushes and shoreline habitat the longer the high water stays around. Bass are moving up too. Several nice stringers of catfish have been caught the last few days as well by shoreline fishermen.

Catfish really follow the rise and move up to new feeding opportunities along shallow shoreline bushes, trees and small pockets. They are definitely on the prowl right now. Night crawlers are working well.

A few bass fishermen are frantically searching about trying to establish a pattern but it’s tough to do right now as most fish are roaming. Some anglers are tossing spinnerbaits along the abundant shoreline habitat or flipping jig and craw combos or offering jerk baits and some floating fluke style baits in shallow grass as it warms up.

Most bass fishermen when using a spinnerbait are utilizing a big willow-leaf blade and slow rolling it around stickups or over submerged grassbeds. They’re fan casting and just trying to cover a lot of water rapidly.

Even a few bluegill and some early arriving red ear (shellcracker) sunfish are showing up in the shallow shoreline cover. Some decent stringers have been taken by anglers using nightcrawlers and wax worms. Although not spawning just yet the sunfish army moves rapidly when rising water and warmer surface temps coincide.

Finding submerged grassbeds mixed with some pea gravel substrates will likely pay dividends. These babies can get real aggressive real quick!

Meanwhile, crappie anglers are scratching their heads wondering how to pattern scattered fish these days. It should be the peak of spawning phases but both the fish and the fishermen have been mixed up lately.

So, watch for the slabs to make a blitz toward visible shoreline stickups each passing day.

Lots of folks are yearning to find the crappie residing in the buck bushes of Kentucky Lake. Everyone likes to fish visible structure. They should get the opportunity these next few days.

The combination of stained water warming rapidly usually invites crappie to move up and spawn in shallow habitat.

An abundance of floating debris has made it tough for trolling techniques lately. Long lining and spider rigging style methods are vulnerable to all the trash in the water that plays havoc with lines. It messes up the whole presentation.

With so much change taking place on the lake this past week---from cool fronts at times to flooding and muddy water---it has been challenging out there to say the least.

Hang in there as better days are on the way. This high water mess will be out of here soon.

Meanwhile, crappie and bass anglers are concerned about the fish running up shallow and dropping their eggs as falling lake levels occur. That’s a concern right now among the ranks of all fishermen on Kentucky Lake.