Fayette Trip 1-14-20

Headed out early not knowing what to expect from the weather. Turned out to be an IDEAL day on the water. Misty early, foggy off & on and cloudy in the afternoon with little to no wind. Water temp was mid to high 60s in most areas, and the lake is still down 2-3 feet. Focused mainly on bass today, but did drown a few night crawlers in search of the elusive wintertime sunnies on this water body. Ended up catching 34 bass & one killer red ear. Most fish caught in the 8-14 foot range. Bass appear to be moving in and staging, getting ready for the spawn. The bass bite was VERY LIGHT. We missed at least 60 fish that kind of wanted to bite , but just wouldn't commit. Caught fish all over the lake, but best bite was on the dam rip rap & in the hardwoods.

Nice! It's good to see a good bass report, I'm going to fish Fayette tomorrow for the bass. I'm going to cheat a little, I'm hiring a guide. I want to learn a new to me technique and I think I have hired one of the best. Also want to see some side scan in action before I buy a new depth finder.

Nice post and fish. Good job guys! Fayette is one good fishery!

Ooooo weee !! That report makes me want to get my bass rod out.

Glad you guys had a great day. Beautiful redear !

I put 21 in the boat today. Partner added 3. Would have caught more but we spent time fishing shallow which was a mistake. Could not get him to throw what I was using. The bite was lite as well and we both missed several fish. The College championship was being filmed on Fayette today. Top two teams were competing. They were there last year during this same time. Looking forward to the cold weather next week.Both were from KY. Murray State was one of them. We got off the water a little after 3 and they were already gone so I don't know how they did.

Solid Post and solid fish. Good job guys! Love that BIG Redear Steve!

Vogey your post make me want to go fishing every time I read them. As always solid post and some solid fish. That Redear is a BEAST! Good job guys,.



Side Note: What did you catch the Redear on?

Laker...caught the red ear on a night crawler...was fishing for bass by the rip rap & decided to just drop the ulrta lite rig on the bottom as we slowly moved along the rocks...after I caught this one, put the bass rod down and focused more for sunfish in the area with no luck.

Thanks Banker, Gitter, Doc & BillS for the replies.

Tom...I am NOT looking forward to the cold weather next week...I like it HOT ! Just fyi...for me, the best bite the last two weeks has come towards the end of the day between 3 & 5 pm.

Thanks Vogey! Again great post and some super fish.

Nicely done!

Love days like that! Good job vogey

Awesome post Vogey! Nice redear

As I have always said. " After Reading a Vogey Post or watching a Vogey video, you want to go fishing". Good job guys!



Side Note: How would compare Fayette to Dunlap back before the Dunlap dam broke?

Gitter: I can't speak for Steve but as for me personally Dunlap has always been a great fishery before the dam break. After the dam break the fishing has gone down hill. I also do not fish there that often anymore. As for the comparison I would say before the dam break Both Dunlap and Fayette were fishing about the same. Both lakes were holding big fish but I think Fayette had more of them. (Talking about sunfish). Dunlap was also a lot closer to fish.

Gitter...Dunlap & Fayette are (were) two completely different water body types. On Dunlap you could always catch good numbers & an occasional big one. The only exception for Dunlap was the red ear explosion of 2014, when it was not uncommon to catch several over a pound on any trip. Also, big rios were common on Dunlap. But for me there is no comparison for quality size fish...Fayette wins hands down. I catch more BIG sunfish & bass on a single trip than I would catch in an entire season on Dunlap.

I have not fished Fayette all that much but the times that I have I have always caught plenty of BIG Bluegill and Redear! I have fished Dunlap a lot and have caught some good quality fish there but I would have to give Fayette the vote for having more big sunfish. Dunlap was a very good lake to fish prior to the dam break. I have fished Dunlap a few times since it's dam break and I would have to agree with Chuck. The fishing is not all that good.

I can see both points made for both lakes. I have seen over the years plenty of great post and catches from both Fayette and Dunlap. I do not target sunfish. I have fished both Dunlap and Fayette for bass over the years and have caught plenty of them on both lakes. However I do feel that Fayette has more quality fish than Dunlap based on the past post and reports. It's a shame the dam had to break and I know first hand that the bass fishing has gotten bad since the dam break. A lot of structure had simply vanished off of Dunlap not to mention water levels. The come back for Lake Dunlap is going to be slow. As for Fayette I hope it can maintain the quality of fish it has.