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Kentucky Lake Trip

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

We were all very excited to be going to Kentucky/Barkley Lakes. The USA Bassin Classic!  What an adventure. Four teams got together and planned the trip. We were working on it all winter. None of us had been to such an event.  Baits, color, time of year, presentations, lake maps, fishing reports and many other items were discussed. We all decided to share everything we found. We fished many general areas on the same days.  Tim and Donna Hopkins saw an 8 to 10lb Largemouth jump 20 feet from the boat on the first day.  She was chasing shad and came 2 feet out of the water.

The problems that came with an unknown lake, or area, are not insurmountable. They are however many. Traveling 30 hours or more take a toll on energy and that leads to the let down when the fish don’t bite.  Maine and Esp. Washington County has very little fishing pressure, in relation to many other parts of the country. Trying A different bait for 15 or 20 minutes is reasonable for Downeast Maine. Kentucky you need to throw it for at least an hour. Bites were few and far between. Cold fronts that come through Maine are no different than in Kentucky except for how much or how little it will affect the Bass in Maine.

The bass in Maine aren’t bothered as much, because they live in waters that are cold to begin with. Barkley Lake was 72 degrees on the first day we fished. Maine won’t see that until June.  The first day of the tournament, Kentucky Lake was 65 degrees. The water had come up a lot. We should have adjusted. When you catch a limited amount of fish it is hard to try something new. Sticking to that pattern, we didn’t do very well. Hind sight! We all know how good that is. There are some things that should be considered if you make the trip.

We rented a very nice place and were very comfortable. The problem was that the parking made it so that we had to help each other and wait for everybody to be ready to go. I personally have to spend a lot of time prefishing to be comfortable with the lakes. Traveling with a group is the safest and the most fun, but didn’t allow for the right amount of prefishing. You have to consider what everybody else is doing. I lost 5lbs on that trip and that was my fault. I just didn’t eat well.

Two teams traveling together would be a good choice with the understanding that once you are there, you are on your own. You can still share your info, but that is as far as it should go. 

I don’t think that any fisherman can replace what they can learn by going to such an event. The cost is very little compared to what you would spend fishing in your home waters and what you will learn at such an event.

I personally hope to get the chance to go back to The USA Bassin Classic!

Peter Kjenstad

ME-3 and ME-4 Director

peterkjenstad@yahoo.com

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