Photo by Ron Sinfelt

When most bass anglers think about winter smallies, they think Dale Hollow. That's fair enough. After all, it's the home of the world record, home of the float-and-fly technique and the lake produces lots of smallies over 5 pounds. It has the "rep" as they say.

Anglers from Dale Hollow had better be on the lookout, however, because Kentucky Lake is coming on strong. The smallmouth fishing keeps getting better and better, year after year. Five-pound fish are common and 7-pounders are possible. On top of that, Kentucky Lake anglers aren't faced with oceanic depths and gin-clear water with visibility to 20 feet or more.

Lord knows this lake offers enough water to grow big ones. At normal pool, it covers over 160,000 acres, offers 2,400 miles of shoreline and is approximately 180 miles long. Even the dam is big, a distance of 8,422 feet from one end to the other.

The only serious drawback to this massive impoundment is its fluctuating water levels and somewhat unpredictable current. The lake was first built for flood control in 1938 as part of a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) project. Over time, however, electric power generation has moved toward the forefront.

The area is heavily developed. Houses dot the shoreline and recreational destinations surround the lake. No matter from which direction you arrive, there will be a place to stay nearby and a convenient place to launch your boat. All you need to do is check a map and see what's available in the area you want to fish. For detailed directions and complete information, visit www.kentuckylake. com or contact one of the guides mentioned in this article.

For a long time -- decades -- crappie were king on this lake. It seemed as if they would never stop growing. Anglers came from all over the country, as well as several foreign countries, to fish for them. As time passed, however, largemouths became the hot fish. The bass tournament industry exploded and so did the popularity of these green game fish. They were plentiful, big and easily caught, sometimes anyway.

And then a funny thing happened about 15 years ago; smallmouth bass started showing up in creels, lots of them. As the years passed, brown bass numbers seemed to explode. Along with numbers came size. At this time -- 2005 -- it's not uncommon to see anglers weigh in four or five smallmouths that average over 4 pounds. Now that's not going to happen on every trip, but with just enough frequency to keep anglers coming back.

Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR) fisheries biologist Paul Rister is assigned to this magnificent western Kentucky body of water. He attributes much of Kentucky Lake's improved smallmouth fishing to the drought in the late 1980s. The low, stable and clear water allowed Eurasian milfoil to get a foothold in the lake.

This aquatic plant spreads quickly. It reproduces by fragmentation. This process allows it to easily break off into small pieces. Each piece is capable of establishing a new plant. In short order, one plant becomes a million plants, a small spot turns into acres.

And while Eurasian milfoil is a problem in some respects, it's been a great help to the smallies. It forms a mat on the water's surface -- very dense and very thick -- that tends to block the sunlight and helps to cool the water in the summertime. Under this mat the plant stems look like a forest -- long, thin trunk-like structures.

As such, it provides cover from predators for juvenile fish, while at the same time providing plenty of swimming room between the trunks. It offers smallmouths the best of both worlds.