Kentucky Lake’s Oct. 16 report: pool at 354.7, dam flow over 50,000 cfs, crappie still deep

Kentucky Lake cooled and the dam started moving water. Guide Steve McCadams’ report for Oct. 16, 2026, says surface readings were still in the 71-degree range late last week, and he expects the reservoir to be in the mid-60s by the time readers see the note. Elevation dipped to the 354.7 range earlier in the week, which he calls the lowest reading since TVA began the winter drawdown. Kentucky Dam discharge was 14,000 cubic feet per second last week and is now over 50,000. He ties the jump to rain that fell in middle and east Tennessee.

Crappie, in his report, have been hit and miss. Before the cool snap, anglers were backing out to main-lake ledges in 13 to 17 feet and tightlining jigs and live minnows. Yellow bass were cleaning live minnows off the hooks around brush piles and stake beds. In 6 to 9 feet, he says anglers found big numbers of small fish and that a 10-inch keeper was hard to come by in that shallow structure. He expects the shallow and midrange bite to improve as the surface cools. Schools of threadfin shad were already in backwater bays on the calm days.

Bass, he writes, have been tough, with some boats still on a summer ledge pattern. Chrome and blue Rattle Trap-style lures worked when anglers covered water, and the bite improved when there was a little wind. He fishes Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley out of Paris, Tennessee.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: Steve McCadams — Kentucky Lake fishing report, Oct. 16, 2026.