Area outdoor activities are picking up on the water

Our contributors have insight at three popular lakes in the region - blast-off is at 6 p.m. today when the weekly Henderson County Bass Anglers tournament is held at Beech Lake - and dove and squirrel season are right around the corner.

Fishing Report

Kentucky Lake

• Bass: "Bass are slow on the main lake ledges with limited current being pulled at Kentucky Dam," Darrell Van Vactor said. "Anybody taking fish at all are using large (10-inch) worms and three-quarter ounce jigs, black tipped with blue pork."

Darrell, who is the president/CEO of Outdoors Promotion in Benton, Ky., said the rivers are all very high and the dam is not pulling current to allow the tailgaters to recover.

• Crappie: "They are also slow in the mouths of the large bays," Darrell said. "In 18-to-20 feet of water, try trolling cranks and vertical jigging black/chartreuse jigs tipped with minnows early and late."

• Bluegill: "Bluegill are starting to show up in the May Fly hatches around overhanging limbs both on Kentucky and Barkley lakes," Darrell said.

Darrell said catfish are good at night on crawlers and cut bait fishing main lake points, but tail water fishing is very slow due to current flow with very little action from any species.

Gibson County Lake

Water temperature: mid-80s. Water color: clear.

• Bass: "Bass fishing has been steady," Trenton's Brent Smith said. "Top-water baits early and late have been fun."

• Bluegill: "They have been hot on beetle spins and crickets, and shellcrackers on worms in eight-to-12 feet of water, on the bottom," Brent said.

• Catfish: "Jugging for catfish has picked up during the week, with some success," Brent said.

Thousand Acre Lake

Water temperature: mid-80s.

• Bass: "Last week's cooler than normal temperatures have jump-started the fish at Thousand Acre Lake," Huntingdon's Brent "The Crappie Genius" Moody said. "Bass are active and taking a variety of fast moving baits such as spinnerbaits and crankbaits."

Brent said bass are holding in mid-range depths of eight-to-15 feet in the middle of the day.

"Top-waters (bait) early and late are still very effective as surface action remains hot," Brent said.

• Crappie: "Crappie patterns remain unchanged as these black nose crappie are suspended in 20-to-35 feet over structure and probably will remain in this pattern through early fall," Brent said. "Jigs or minnows are both equally effective."

• Bluegill: "They are biting all over the lake and limits of the trophy size, great-tasting bluegill have been common for the last week," Brent said. "Best fishing of the year in July? The cooler temperatures have really triggered the bluegill and spawning action is superb. Crickets or worms are the bait of choice."

Henderson County Bass Anglers

The Henderson County Bass Anglers Club's Thursday Night Tournament continues at 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. today at Beech Lake. Visitors are welcome.

For more information, visit www.hendersoncobassanglers.com or call "Easy" Edd Burke (731) 695-1654, or Lynn Pollock (731) 614-8191.

Tommy and Kevin Loyd took first place in the most recent Thursday Night Tournament – June 25 – when they snagged 17.66 pounds of bass.

Cody Burke and Landon Wood (17.22 pounds) took second place. Included in the catch was a 6.41 pounder good enough for the big fish award.

Hunting seasons

The first phase of Dove season opens Sept. 1 at noon and runs through Sept. 27. Phase two begins Oct. 10 and ends Nov. 1, and Phase three will be held Nov. 28 through Jan. 5, 2016.

•Squirrel season opens Aug. 22 and runs through Feb. 29, 2016.

Reach David Thomas at (731) 425-9637. Follow him on Twitter: @dgthomasbiz