Fishing guides › Southeast Lakes
FISHING GUIDE · KENTUCKY & TENNESSEE
Kentucky Lake Fishing Guide
Kentucky Lake is a huge, fertile lake with lots of ledges, coves and fish attractors. It is known for trophy bass, slab crappie, big blue catfish and winter sauger below the dam. There is room to fish all year.
📍 Western Kentucky and western Tennessee. Towns: Gilbertsville, Aurora and Murray (KY); Paris, Buchanan and New Johnsonville (TN).
Map: spots, ramps and marinas
★ Fishing hot spot · ● Boat ramp · ● Marina · ▭ Protected area (solid red = no fishing, dashed = fishing with rules)
Open the full Southeast Lakes map →
Quick facts
- About 160,300 acres. It is a TVA reservoir on the Tennessee River.
- Stretches about 184 miles, with about 2,064 miles of shoreline.
- Kentucky Dam was built from 1938 to 1944. The lake filled in 1945.
- Joined to Lake Barkley by a canal. Land Between the Lakes sits between them.
- Winter pool is 354 feet and summer pool is about 359 feet above sea level.
What you can catch
- largemouth bass
Main bass fishery. Ledges, rock banks and channel drops hold fish. - smallmouth bass
Late winter and early spring can give a fish of a lifetime. - crappie
Fish over 12 inches are not uncommon in late winter and spring. - blue catfish
The most harvested catfish. Fish 15 to 60 feet deep or jug fish the flats. - sauger
Best December to March in the tailwaters below the dams. - bluegill and redear
Bed shallow near brush and on flats from April to June.
Month by month
| January | Sauger in the tailwater below Kentucky Dam. Jig grubs or blade baits on the bottom in current. |
|---|---|
| February | Sauger bite peaks. Trophy bass and big crappie start to show as females get heavy. |
| March | Pre-spawn bass and crappie move shallower. Sauger fishing lasts until late March. |
| April | Crappie and bass in shallow cover. Sunfish start bedding near brush and on flats. |
| May | Post-spawn bass on Carolina-rigged worms or lizards. Bluegill and redear on beds. |
| June | Bass move to main-lake ledges. Use deep-diving crankbaits and 1/2-ounce jigs. |
| July | Ledge fishing for bass. Crappie hold deeper than 10 feet on structure. Catfish 15 to 60 feet deep. |
| August | Keep fishing ledges and channel drops. Jug fish for catfish on the mud flats. |
| September | Crappie start following shad. Bass still on ledges and embayment drops. |
| October | Crappie follow shad in the coves. Good catfish bite at slow to medium flows. |
| November | Sauger arrive in the tailwaters around the opening of modern gun deer season. |
| December | Sauger fishing picks up below the dam. Crappie on deeper brush and attractors. |
Tips
- Use the KDFWR and TWRA fish attractor maps. Shallow attractors are marked with PVC pipe and deep ones with buoys.
- For sauger, hold in the current and jig a 3- to 4-inch curly-tail grub on a 1/4- to 3/4-ounce head.
- Use gold blade baits on cloudy days and silver or blue on clear days for sauger.
- Catfish bite better when the water is moving slow to medium.
- Check TVA lake levels before you go. Water drops several feet in winter.
Rules and license
Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources (KDFWR) and Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) · Official rules page ↗
- Reciprocal license: between Eggners Ferry Bridge (US 68/KY 80) and the Ned McWherter Bridge (US 79/TN 76), a Kentucky or Tennessee license is good, including embayments and tributaries.
- Blood River is NOT in the reciprocal zone.
- Boat anglers follow the rules of the state that issued their license. Bank anglers follow the rules of the state they stand in.
- Kentucky waters: largemouth and smallmouth bass 15-inch minimum. Crappie 10-inch minimum, 20 per day. Sauger 14-inch minimum, 6 per day.
- Tennessee waters (TWRA): 5 black bass per day, largemouth and smallmouth 15-inch minimum. Crappie 20 per day, 10-inch minimum. Sauger 10 per day, 15-inch minimum.
Rules change. Always check the official page before you fish.
Boat ramps and marinas
The map above shows 66 boat ramps and 0 marinas from OpenStreetMap. Tap any dot for directions.
- Devils Elbow Day Use Area & Boat Ramp at Land Between The Lakes
- Energy Dam Day Use Area and Boat Ramps at Land Between The Lakes
- Forest Service Road 229-A2
- Gatlin Point Boat Ramp
- Smith Bay Backcountry Area & Boat Ramp at Land Between The Lakes
- U.S. Coast Guard
Sources
- https://lakeinfo.tva.gov/web/sites/kentucky.htm
- https://app.fw.ky.gov/fisheries/WaterbodyDetail.aspx?wid=64
- https://fw.ky.gov/Fish/Pages/Reciprocal-Hunting-and-Fishing-Agreements.aspx
- https://www.tn.gov/twra/news/2025/10/28/new-reciprocal-fishing-agreements-with-tennessee-and-kentucky-now-in-effect.html
- https://www.tn.gov/twra/fishing/where-to-fish/west-tennessee-r1/kentucky-reservoir.html
- https://fw.ky.gov/Fish/Pages/Fishing-Forecast.aspx
- https://fw.ky.gov/Fish/Pages/Sauger-bite-during-the-holiday-season.aspx
Checked October 2026. BigJoe does not invent facts: every number on this page comes from the sources listed above.