Fishing in the winter can be very rewarding although much different from fishing in the warmer months on Kentucky and Barkley Lakes. Obviously colder temperatures require some precautions and colder water means the fish are not as active as they are in warmer water temps, but they can be very predictable. Which makes winter fishing pretty good once you spend the time to learn some good areas.
Generally speaking, Kentucky Lake fishing can seem daunting in December because you need to fish deeper and you need to fish slower. That’s a lot more water to cover and you have to do it at a somewhat slower pace. So knowing some characteristics of our gamefish populations will help you find fish a little faster in December.
And if you can learn to put multiple pieces together you can weed out much of the dead water quickly without having to fish it.
Best Bites to Chase in December
You can chase lots of game fish in December on Kentucky and Barkley Lakes. Bass, Crappie, Stripers, and even Catfish can be found and caught consistently in the winter. What is very nice about fishing in December is usually when you find fish, they will be there every time you come back in December. They don’t roam and move around as much in December like they do in warmer months. They stay in general areas and may move around some in that area, but generally speaking you can find groups of fish in the same local areas over and over once you locate them.
One of the best bites we chase in December is stripers and hybrids. The stripers get a lot more active and show up a lot more in the colder months and they can be targeted by fishing swimbaits, Alabama rigs and sometimes big hair jigs or bucktails. But an Alabama Rig can be an effective way to cover water searching for bigger fish like stripers and hybrids. These fish will roam deep ledges and humps off the main river feeding on schools of shad. They also will be around large manmade rip rap areas and around other current breaks on the lakes. Main Lake Points can be good places to look as well as channel swing banks in the mouths of the bays.
Largemouth and smallmouth bass will move out deep as well and position on high spots just off the main river current or swings just off the river where they can duck out of the current and feed. Channel swings, high spots like humps and creek channel intersections can be good places to look as well as main lake points, and the first point or two going into a bay with deep water close by. Blade baits, jigging spoons, jerkbaits and small swimbaits on heavy heads can be good as can the winter staple of the Alabama Rig.
Smallmouth will come shallower to feed. Especially on those front approaching days. Some of the best days can be when a snow storm is coming in. For some reason those ugly prefrontal days can provide some of the most memorable smallmouth bass fishing days on Kentucky Lake.
Crappie fishing is still great in December. There are still big schools of black crappie, and lots of fish in mid- to deep brush as well as fishing starting to roam high in the water column. Casting a jig will work some if the water temps are still hovering around 50. As it gets colder, vertical jigging and pushing jigs with spider rigs will become more effective to catch fish consistently. You will be targeting crappie on brush in that 12 to 25 feet range and roaming crappie could be a few feet deep over deep creek channels. Focus on breaking up big arms of the lake into sections and then when you start catching crappie focus your efforts in that third of the creek arm or bay.
White bass and yellow bass are also very active in the winter and will also winter in big deep groups just out of the current behind high spots and humps off the main river and deep ledges going into the bays. A jigging spoon and blade bait are hard to beat as are tail spinners, small swimbaits and of course Alabama rigs.
Catfish can get in big deep schools and I find them off the main river on channel swing areas and major flats off the main river.
Unfortunately because of the deep nature of winter fishing, bank fishing can get pretty sparse. There can be some decent fishing in the canal in the winter from the bank but it’s hit or miss depending on the water temps and conditions (i.e. a warm rain can get fish up active around the rip rap).
General Winter Fishing Information
We have a separate article on winter fishing in general on the lakes that should give some more insight on fishing in December and beyond.
Please pay attention to the weather in the winter. Keep in mind on below freezing days, ramps can be icy and somewhat dangerous. Boats put in and and the trailers drip water up the ramps that then refreezes and makes for some difficult circumstances. Also our bays will ice up when we have several days of below freezing temperatures in the coldest parts of winter. Usually December fishing is open. And, when we have mild water temps (like still in the high 40s or even low 50s), it can be some of the best fishing of the whole year.
Fish will be less likely to fight current in colder waters. So they will hide behind areas that block the current. In the warmer months, they like current faces and tops of ledges. But in the winter, they will be in deep areas behind shallower areas that deflect the current on the main lake. They will make runs up into shallower water to feed but won’t be there long.
A windy day in December can be tougher on the body. Calmer sunny days can be good, but it can also make the fish go deeper and not be as active. So remember to slow down your techniques and try to keep your bait in the likely area longer when possible.
We hope you will get out and explore the lakes in the winter. Bundle up, be careful launching and fish likely areas like we have shared here to have a good time on our lakes.
