Kentucky Largemouth Bass Moving Up for the Spawn
Keith Lusher 05.08.24
With the water temperatures warming in Kentucky, bass anglers are taking advantage of the bass moving into the shallows. Robert Welch has fished bass tournaments all over the Southeast and is currently fishing the BFL Tournament Trail. But when he’s not fishing tournaments, he’s fishing Lake Cumberland which is near his home in Madison County. Currently, Welch is seeing the largemouth bass starting to move up as the smallmouth bass move out. “The smallmouth have already spawned out and they went off deep,” he said. “A few largemouth have spawned but the majority of them are still moving up.”
Lake Cumberland is a deep lake with a lot of feeder creeks. During the spawn, those bass move up into the creeks where they are easier to target. Right now, Welch has been having success targeting cliff sides. “Along those cliff sides you’ll find little shelves and they’ll spawn on that shelf,” he said. Welch recommends using a combination of baits. “You can’t beat a wacky rig or Neko Rigged Senko,” he said. ” I also have been using the ole’ Robo Worm on a drop-shot rig.”
For those who love to jig for their bass, Welch recommends using a football jig. “We’ve got a lot of rocks here so you’re going to have to use a football jig or you’re going to be hung up a lot,” he said.
In early May, Kentucky is experiencing daytime temperatures that swing from the 60s to the 80s as the cold fronts blow through. Welch said the water temperatures are hovering in the 60s.
As May progresses the largemouth bass will be moving into even more shallow water. Welch recommends finding the baitfish. “You need to get into the creeks and coves and look for shad. These fish are wanting to move back and do their thing,” he said. “Go as far back in there as you can and work your way back out. They’ll either be at the mouth of the creek, the middle of the creek, or in the back.
