Fishing Lake Barkley
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Lake Barkley is a very popular fishing lake located in Kentucky. Most people have heard of Kentucky Lake and of the Land Between the Lakes. Lake Barkley is the other lake that surrounds the Land Between the Lakes. This lake is known for its excellent crappie fishing, just like Kentucky Lake. If you can get to this lake in the spring, you can experience some awesome fishing. The crappie will move into the shallows to spawn during the end of March through the first couple of weeks in April. The weather will dictate when the spawn happens and a cold front near spawning time can push fish into depths of 12 to 16 feet, which can make fishing tougher for the average angler.
If you do time it right, you should be able to catch plenty of crappie in the 10 to 12 inch range with some fish even bigger. 13 and 14 inch crappie are fairly common on this lake. Some of the popular baits for catching crappie down here are small jigs and minnows. If you are use to fishing up north for crappie, you will probably be use to using smaller baits for crappie. Down here, you can go up a size with your jigs and minnows. The crappie are big down here and they can easily eat large fathead minnows and bigger jigs.
This lake also offers some very good bass fishing. You can catch plenty of bass in the 2 to 3 pound range with some fish in the 5 to 7 pound range. Get here in May if you want to find bass all over the shallows.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kevin_Sewell
Categories: Fishing Lake Barkley Tags: angler, bass fishing, crappie fishing, kentucky lake, lake barkley
Crappie Fishing Lures
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If you are ready to step up your fishing you will usually catch more fish using artificial baits rather then using live bait. Of course this statement is based on knowing what artificial lures to use. When you are fishing for pan fish smaller is better. Look for lures in the 1/4oz or smaller size.
List of pan fish fishing lures to use:
- Curly Tail Jigs
- Marabou Jigs
- Weedless Spinners, (they have a jig attached) smallest you can find
- Willow Leaf Blades: Silver Colorado Or Gold Blades
The above listed lures can be bought at any department store, bait shop, or online . Most of these artificial baits can be purchased for very little. Make sure when comparing prices that you compare prices for artificial baits in the 1/4oz or smaller range.
Suggested ways to use these crappie fishing lures:
When fishing a curly tail Jig, use a uniquely designed jig head with screw lock from Cabella's. It takes your bait to the bottom where the big ones are. It allows you to thread a plastic tube, or split tail onto the corkscrew and hook it through the tail. The innovative flat-bottom jig head helps the hook stand up at a 60deg angle. Your hooked bait stands up straight off the bottom and is free to move about. I recommend you use purchase and use a Karlins Lunker Curly Tail. This jig is a good choice to use when using a slip bobber rig.
When fishing Marabou jigs use the 1/8oz or 1/4oz size. A good way to fish this lure is use a slip bobber , place a split on the line so the jig falls to a set depth.
When fishing Weedless Spinner baits use the 1/16oz size . Use this bait when fishing low water visibility muddy or murky water.
When fishing the Willow Leaf Blade jigs, fish the lure very slow, again I repeat slow. If you use the 1/16oz jig, the hook will bend before you loose your jig, you can use over and over again. The larger sizes work well but they break the line when snagging. Also , put on a Karlins plastic tube Curly split tail 2" in length.
There are no guarantees that you will catch crappie with the lures shown above, but if you stick with purchasing small crappie fishing lures you up your chances of catching a good batch of crappie.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_Fleagle
Categories: Crappie Fishing Lures Tags: crappie fishing, pan fish
How to Bank Fish for Crappie
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Bank fishing for Crappie is much easier than you might think. You do not need a boat to catch these delicious black and white fish. There are more places to fish than you probably imagined. On most lakes and reservoirs across the country there are man made piers and docks that provide excellent crappie fishing opportunities. If you don’t know where they are located your local bait shop should be able to point you in the right direction.
Crappie can be caught at anytime of day but when fishing from a pier I think night time is the best. I have a crappie light that sits right on the water. You can purchase this at any sporting goods store. The first thing I do once it gets dark is to lower this light until it is right on top of the water. The reason I do this is to attract bugs and small underwater creatures to the light. This in turn attracts baitfish that feed off of these bugs and creatures. That, in turn attracts the larger fish, including crappie to feed on the baitfish.
Crappies love minnows. You will need a minnow bucket and a couple of dozen of live minnows for bait. Jigs will work as well but if jigs are what you want to use make sure you bring a variety of colors and types as you will have to experiment some to find out what they are biting. I will repeat Crappies love minnows and you will not lose valuable time finding the right lure.
The best way to rig your minnow is to take a #8 hook and run the hook through the minnow’s lips. When you are crappie fishing the minnow must be alive and swimming around to attract the crappie. Hooking it through the lips keeps the minnow alive for a very long time, and presents it in a completely natural manner. If the minnow is hooked in a manner which doesn't keep it alive long, you're just wasting the money you spent on bait.
Place a bobber on your line and start fishing. If you don’t catch one right away change the depth of the hook. Once you have hooked one and reeled it in go right back to the same spot there are more where that first one came from.
Categories: How to Bank Fish for Crappie Tags: crappie, crappie fishing, fishing


