Photo by Ron Sinfelt.

If you've watched the professional tournament trail on television lately, probably you already know about the hot bass fishing on Kentucky and Barkley lakes, two giant reservoirs absolutely loaded with bass. They contain the kind of structure that makes a bass angler's heart kick into high gear, with fingers tingling on the reel handle. Both fisheries have built quite a reputation for producing numbers and sizes of bass. Good as these waters are, their overall quality is expected to get even better!

These two lakes' enormous size can be intimidating for anglers not familiar with them. You have thousands of acres of prime bass water to choose from, which can make it hard to single out a starting point.

So let's break down some key areas on both lakes and form a game plan that will let you exploit bass during the late spring and early summer.

On Kentucky and Barkley lakes, those months will generate some explosive bass action. Anglers can take advantage of excellent fishing opportunities, especially during the morning and evening. During these daylight hours, there are so many different ways and techniques to catch bass. Anglers can utilize strategies from the spawn to post-spawn and catch fish on everything from topwater lures to deep-running crankbaits.

A typical daytime trip consists of fishing the morning hours and late evening, when anglers can catch 30 bass or more. This excellent fishing is not uncommon on either lake. On average, anglers on Barkley can expect to catch a lot of bass around the 13- to 14-inch range, with an occasional 5-pound-plus fish being boated.

The average bass you can expect to catch on Kentucky Lake usually ranges around the 15-inch mark, with bass weighing over 5 pounds not uncommon.

With that in mind, let's find out exactly where you need to be on each of these lakes and what lures you'll need to be throwing to break into the hot summer bass action.

KENTUCKY LAKE
Especially during June, Kentucky Lake can be a bass angler's dream come true. The lake itself has a strong forage base consisting of gizzard and threadfin shad, emerald shiners, sunfish, crayfish, and mayflies. The bass definitely don't go hungry on Kentucky Lake, and this plays an integral role in producing solid numbers of lunker fish. The overall number of bass in this lake will blow your mind. Without question, this lake has some of the finest bass fishing the Bluegrass State has to offer.

When it comes to fishing Kentucky Lake, Craig Hipsher of Hipsher Guide Services is hard to beat. He logs in more hours on the water than you can imagine and knows every brushpile, creek channel, dropoff, and deep-water ledge on the lake.

You have to talk with Hipsher just a few minutes to realize that he is completely eaten up with fishing fever and basically stays on the water the year around, under almost any weather conditions. His devotion to both Kentucky and Barkley has let him develop an in-depth knowledge of these lakes, along with the habits and patterns of each lake's bass.

Hipsher strongly feels the bass fishing opportunities during June can be truly outstanding. According to him, anglers on Kentucky Lake can catch bass consistently during June by utilizing a variety of strategies. This transitional period is unique because bass can be caught using spawn and post-spawn techniques.

The enormous sizes of these two lakes can be intimidating for anglers who are not familiar with them.