WEATHER ROLLER COASTER RETURNS

Kentucky Lake - 11-21-24

Report Contributor - Steve McCadams, Professional Guide/Outdoor Writer (stevemc@charter.net)

Kentucky Lake’s fishing scene will receive a visit from the weather roller coaster in the days and week ahead. A windy cold front is in progress, sending temps down into the low 30’s at night with daytime highs projected to only make the upper 40’s for a few days. While that will curtail what has been a pretty good week for both crappie and catfishing it appears anglers will get a rebound by early next week as the weatherman says a couple days will bounce back to the low 60’s to kick off the week. However, the short warm spell will pave the way for another cold front that’s expected to arrive just before Thanksgiving.

Lows late next week will dip below freezing a few nights accompanied by some rain. The weather roller coaster is indeed underway. Lake levels are in the 354.8 range this week with slight fluctuation underway. Watercolor remains clear. Surface temps have dropped into the upper 50’s courtesy of the cold fronts and chilly nights. Earlier this week daytime highs reached 73 degrees as an extended spell of above average temperatures lingered past mid-November but that has changed quickly.

Some nice stringers of crappie were taken recently as fishermen enjoyed light winds and mild temps which allowed them to move about in the open water areas. Depths of 9 to 12 feet were giving up decent numbers of good size fish. The bite was good and improved over the previous week.

No doubt the approaching cold front and northwest winds will change the picture for a few days and likely diminish the bite. Watch for a quick rebound Sunday and Monday when nice weather returns but the honeymoon will be short. Drastic temperature changes and high winds will enter the picture a few days before Thanksgiving. Several days of below average temps are in the forecast.

Catfishing was good the last week or so as increased current stimulated the bite. Nice size fish were taken in the 30-to-35-foot depth range. Once the current increased late last week so did the bite. For the last several weeks lack of rain and mild weather had not favored the catfish bite, but anglers know that can change quickly once heavy rains enter the picture and flows in the Tennessee River channel increase.

It looks like unruly weather will dominate the Kentucky Lake fishing scene for a few days but once December rolls around watch for some mild conditions to return in the aftermath of these recent cold fronts.