February 13, 2024
Lake Shelbyville fishing is good right now. The water level at the time of this writing is 602 which is approximately 8 feet above the seasonal rule curve of 594 with the outflow being 2900 cfs. With all the snow melt and rain we had a couple weeks ago the lake has really muddied up. The corps will continue to draw the water down until we reach the 594 goal which will keep the lake water dingy for a while. Water temps where we have been fishing are running about 35-36 degrees.
We have been targeting deep fish anywhere from 15-25 feet deep on stumps on points, big laydowns and even using the livescope to find big schools of open water roaming fish in these depths. Good baits have been white/chartreuse, blue/chartreuse and black/chartreuse all fished on a 1/4 oz jig head to get down to the depths we’re targeting quickly.
Moving around day to day has been the trick to getting our limits. There are fish stacked up on every piece of structure we check but finding the active fish has been the ticket. We’re finding fish and only hanging around 5-10 minutes without a bite before moving on. Our strategy has been catch the 5 or 6 aggressive fish then move on to the next spot.
As for our presentation we are just letting the bait sit about a foot above the fish and waiting until they decide to bite. Sometimes we will mix in a tease and raise to see if one wants to chase but just a do nothing approach has seemed to be the best presentation.
I’m still booking out spring trips and have openings for February and March for some prespawn acion. These fish are fat right now and really putting on some weight for the spawn! Call, text or message me on Facebook to book a trip!
Dan Lange
Tight Lines Guide Service
(217)475-1499