USA BASSIN will be hosting championship week again on one of the world’s largest man-made lakes Kentucky Lake. Kentucky Lake begins in Western Kentucky, about 25 miles east of the city of Paducah at Kentucky Dam. From here, Kentucky Lake continues south, into the state of Tennessee. Kentucky Lake is 184 miles long and 2 miles across at the widest point with 2,380 miles of shoreline and 160,000 acres of water. The Tennessee River is the nation's fifth largest river within the lower 48 states in terms of flow. Kentucky Dam is just 22 miles upstream from Paducah, Kentucky where the Tennessee River flows into the Ohio. Water from the 40,200 square mile Tennessee Valley passes through the dam. This strategic location and the vast flood storage capacity of Kentucky Lake make it possible for Kentucky Dam to reduce or even temporarily shut off the flow of water from the Tennessee River to help lower flood crests on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. . The Lake was designed for flood control and the power of the rushing water over the dam is used to generate electricity. The task of managing the lakes dam flow is the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). On March 19th this year the water levels on Kentucky Lake were around 585.87ft. On May 4th 2011 last year the mighty Kentucky Lake saw its highest level ever at 572.5 and the lake had not seen levels like this since May 11th 1984 over 27 years ago. The TVA currently reports the dam will be spilling until further notice to prevent record levels that was attained last year. With the other dams in the TVA system, it helps provide flood protection to 6 million acres of land in the lower Ohio and Mississippi valleys and reduces the frequency of flooding on another 4 million acres. In the many years since Kentucky Dam was completed, this flood regulation has reduced damages in those areas by millions of dollars.

Championship week has several housing sponsors listed on the BASSIN website entry form. However, Championship week qualifiers may be experiencing difficulty finding housing due to the size of our events. USA BASSIN would like to encourage members to visit www.kentuckylake.org for a list of amazing places to stay in Marshall County. The website also offers list several places of entertainment while staying in Marshal County as well as great eateries.  The creation of Kentucky Lake has made for one of the finest fisheries east of the Mississippi River. Marshall County Tourism at www.kentuckylake.org has bass fishing tied with once number one crappie as the hottest commodity on the water. Kentucky Lake has an outstanding population of largemouth and smallmouth bass, with a big number of largemouth bass in the 4-7 pound range and a fair amount of trophy fish all the way up to double digit size. Anglers can find very nice smallmouth bass on Kentucky Lake with good numbers of them in the five pound range. Murray State’s Hancock Biological station located near Eggnert’s Ferry Bridge near mile marker 35 on Kentucky Lake reports water temps of 58 degrees. Normal water temperatures for Kentucky Lake for mid-March are between 56-58 degrees. In early May of this when USA BASSIN anglers will be competing on Kentucky Lake during Championship Week the water temps will be on average between 68-72 degrees. Largemouth bass spawn when water temps reach 58 degrees and higher. Local anglers and guides predict with the mild winter bass should be in a variety of conditions. Current fishing reports show bass already being taken from the mouth of bays and main lake points. Tournaments anglers may see an early spawn. An early spawn would mean large post-spawn females can be caught on Kentucky Lake’s famous ledges in deeper water as well as spawning bass in the shallow bays.  All of these feature conditions is setting the stage for a monster weigh-in during Championship Week the last week of April and the first week of May.

USA BASSIN would like to thank Marshal County Tourism for all their support during this year’s Classic Week. This is a week of fish you don’t want to miss!!!