Ledge Fishing

I just fished the FLW Tour event at Kentucky Lake, and it was what fishermen describe as a “ledge tournament.”  On many lakes after the spawn, the fish go out deep and gorge themselves on big schools of shad.  Kentucky Lake is a well-known “ledge lake.”  With the advances in sonar, like Garmin’s Sonar, Down Vu, Side Vu, great mapping and Panoptix, anyone can see the schools of bass out on these ledges.  Catching them though can be a bit of a challenge.  There are many good baits for fishing ledges.  Start with big crankbaits like a Strike King 10XD, 8XD, and 6XD.  These crankbaits can get these schools of bass fired up very quickly.  Other great baits include a Strike King football jig, Strike King Sexy Spoon, big worms, hair jigs and Strike King Shadilicious swimbaits.  Any of these baits can catch big fish.  It’s up to the angler to figure out what’s working best on any given day.  It’s by no means the only way to catch bass on these ledge-style lakes, but to compete in a tournament, once the bass have gone out deep, you just about have to fish out there.  And if you find the right school, the action can be incredible!