June is a tremendous time to fish on Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley alike, spawns are winding down and fish are moving to their summer patterns which can often be very predictable on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. And one of the best bites for bass fishing happens in June as that’s when schools of bass congregate offshore and creek and river channel edges where the drop off into the channels. This “ledge fishing” scenario is something avid bass anglers look forward to every year and Kentucky and Barkley Lakes offer some of the best ledge fishing in the whole country.
There are other good bites that happen in June and we’ll highlight those as well. But first lakes take a deeper look into ledge fishing and give you a crash course in what to look for.
Best Bite in June: Bass Fishing Ledges
Kentucky Lake is arguably most famous for it’s Ledge Fishing for bass. And June is the prime month for ledge fishing. Ledge Fishing in a nutshell involves targeting schools of bass who are using “current faces” or places where the current pushes up against the edge of a river or creek channel. This can simply be a spot that sticks up a little higher and catches more current. But most of the time this is when a shallower spot sticks out into the river or creek and catches the brunt of current.
Bass use these current faces to herd baitfish, namely threadfin and gizzard shad. And when schools become competitive feeding on bait on these ledges, the bass fishing can be fast and furious as well a prime opportunity to catch really big bass. One of the easiest places to look for ledges facing into the current are where secondary creek channels and ditches empty into the main creek and river channels. These intersections form current facing corners. And these corners are where you will find schools of bass feeding on shad.
The big factor in ledge fishing is current. Current groups up baitfish and schools of bass. When the current is running strong, you have to use heavier lures to get down to the fish. When the current is at normal flows, a wider range of lures will work to fool fish. Current also makes the schools of bass group up close to the bottom and right on the edges of the breaks making them much easier to target. When the current slows, bass will spread out a lot more and rise up off the bottom a lot more, making them a lot more difficult to catch.
The other big factor in ledge fishing is competition. You will hear the phrase “triggering the school” when accomplished anglers talk about ledge fishing. Ledge Fishing gets much easier when you get the bass competing with each other for food. Bass don’t feed 24 hours a day. Often the schools stay together just hanging out in the feed zones, not actually feeding. Then as they see a few of their “classmates” attacking bait, they will all fire up and starting baiting everything that moves around them. This competition is what gives anglers the opportunity to catch fish every cast for multiple casts in one spot.
The other thing you will hear is the “spot on the spot” when talking about ledge fishing on Kentucky Lake. That simply refers to the best place on the ledge where the bass feel they have the greatest advantage when herding the bait. It’s often what guys refer to a hard spot. That spot is usually a hard spot because the current is hitting it so hard, it has cleared all the loose sediment and exposed nothing but hard bottom there. That is also where baitfish will be the most disoriented and easy to eat for bass. And this is the spot you need to find on every ledge. It’s usually just a process of making multiple casts on the ledge until you find that one cast that gets bit over and over.
The best baits for Ledge fishing generally involve lures that mimic shad. But don’t over look worms and jigs. When you find a school that has not been fished for yet that day, they will attack the more aggressive offerings like deep diving crankbaits, spoons, big feathered hair jigs and swimbaits. As the school gets more pressured throughout the ledge fishing season, lures like football jigs, Texas-rigged ribbon tail worms and drop shots become much more effective for catching fish that are wise to the louder bigger profiles.
If you’ve never experienced ledge fishing on Kentucky Lake, it’s something you should add to your bucket list. Obviously you have to fish ledges from a boat because these intersecting creeks are usually out closer to the river channel on the main lake. Electronics also make your search much easier. But a good map will also point out some good looking spots to try.
The current on Kentucky and Barkley Lakes is unique in that it flows from the south to the north. So you are often looking for ledges that face south into the current. Remember you want to find those shallower ends that take the brunt of the current because that is where bass will find baitfish most vulnerable out deep.
Other Good Bites in June: Catfish & White Bass
Another great bite in June can be found along rocky banks and shallow to mid-depth brush and that is the catfish spawn. Catfish often spawn when the water temps get up above 75 degrees. And this is a good time to target catfish in shallow to mid depth waters. Rip rap areas, areas with brush piles, stake beds and other forms of cover are good places to look.
Cut bait and prepared baits as well as some live bait like leeches can be dynamite this time of year for Channel catfish. Blue Catfish and Flathead catfish will often spawn in holes in rocky banks and where “noodlers” have put out boxes. They also spawn frequently under boat ramps. These fish are not easy to target during the spawn with conventional rod and reels. But they can be found just outside of these areas before and after the spawns. The main river will also see large numbers of fish turning up every day as their spawns finish and schools will build well into August offshore.
White Bass will begin their “jumps” starting in June and these will carry all the way into October some years. The White Bass jumps are also something of legend on Kentucky and Barkley Lakes as anglers will look for schools busting on the surface and below the surface on their electronics. On calm days, you can look for birds working or areas with lots of splashes blowing water upwards.
These jumps are the white bass forcing shad to the surface and busting them at the surface. You will hear explosive sounds from their topwater strikes as opposed to carp that will just swirl and swim off when spooked. When you here those COOSH! COOSH! COOSH! sounds in rapid succession, you know you are about to have some fun.
Great lures for the white bass jumps can be small topwaters, heavier inline spinners, spoons and even heavier marabou jigs and small 1/4 o ounce rat-l-traps.
June offers some of the best fishing of the season for schools of fish like largemouth and white bass as well as catfish and the bonus smallmouth bass. Often going early is the norm to escape the pleasure boaters that come out around lunch time on the weekends. But during the week, better ledge fishing can be found in the evenings when currents have been low as folks getting home and turning on everything creates a demand for current generation. Some of the best ledge fishing days are on weekday afternoons.
