Ask anybody involved in the Bassmaster Weekend Series Regional championship on Kentucky Lake this weekend how the fishing is going and you get a one word response – “tough.”

“The lake has been fishing tough the last couple of weeks,” said Randy Sullivan, tournament director for the regional championship. The only good news, he said, was that the lower end of the lake began to turn on last weekend.

“It’s a hotspot, but it’s a long run down in the Johnsonville area, which is 70 miles away, but definitely reachable by these guys with the big boats. If they can get down there and back they should have a big catch.”

However, he noted, that travel time could be limited by the weather. At midweek the first cool weather in a month brought heavy morning fog, which could delay launches because of safety considerations.

“We’ve been in the low 80s for temperatures, but it is supposed to be in the low 70s this weekend with the low in the low 40s. I don’t know if that will turn the bite off, but it is going to be foggy in the mornings. I hope it will not play too big a role. It’s always a hard call to make to assure the safety of the anglers.”

The Regional Championship Friday-Sunday will feature anglers in the Alabama South, North Carolina, Tennessee Central, Tennessee East, and Missouri Divisions.

“I would say the Tennessee Central guys probably have the closest experience on the lake. They are only a couple of hours away,” Sullivan said.

Anglers planning to limit boat time and stay in the general area of the launch site at Kentucky Dam State Park are finding the fish in transition during practice this week, Sullivan said.

“A lot of the bigger fish have left the ledges so there are not as many big fish still out on the drops. And not many of the bigger fish have made it to the backs of the creeks yet,” he said. “A lot of them are stuck on gravel bars, main lake points and old river bars. They are making their way back and a lot of them are hanging out right now on the first bar or point inside a creek, but they are harder to catch because they are scattered on so many places right now.”

Sullivan said there are a lot of 13-14-15-inch fish piled up in the backs of the creeks chasing bait, which presents a dilemma for the anglers.

“Do you hang out there where the bigger fish are and try to catch a limit or do you go in the creek and try to get a limit at 10 pounds or so and then go back out and try to find a quality kicker or two?” he observed.

“A lot of people are having a hard time getting quality bites because they have to go to so many places to find one.”

His observation of the fishing situation was echoed by co-angler Michael Branch in the North Carolina Division.

“We got to the lake Tuesday afternoon and our first day on the water was Wednesday,” Branch said. “It looked tough for us – and for some more people. We caught two good fish, about 4 pounds, each, and some short fish.”

Branch said the fish they found were scattered and no pattern they tried would hold up for long.

“We threw a little bit of everything – jigs, crankbaits, buzzbaits – and we never did find anything offshore. The wind got up, but we saw some people fishing offshore. But I don’t know if there are many fish out there or not.”

Branch said what fish they caught were relating to bait.

“We found a lot of bait, but we did not find a lot of fish,” he noted.

One problem, he said, is that the lake is down to what locals said is the winter pool.

“It’s about 10 feet off the banks and a lot of structure is not even in the water anymore,” he added.

At the conclusion of the regional championship on Kentucky Lake and the five other regionals the top 50 boaters and top 50 co-anglers from each championship will qualify to fish the Bassmaster Weekend Series National Championship at Santee Cooper Nov. 6-12.

“Boaters at the National Championship will be competing for $100,000 cash prize and all the contingency money and the non-boaters will be vying for $50,000. The boater winner will also qualify for the 2012 Bassmaster Classic,” Sullivan said.

 

Bassmaster Weekend Series Regional Championship

Divisions: Alabama South, North Carolina, Tennessee Central, Tennessee East, and Missouri

Oct. 14-15, 2011

Kentucky Lake

Kentucky Dam State Park Marina

Call Randy Sullivan 256-230-5633

www.abaproam.com