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Taylorsville Lake Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Kentucky's crappie densities in a Salt River valley: flooded timber wall-to-wall and a fishery managed like a panfish factory.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~74 F est.
Air / High
72 / 72 F
Wind
ENE 7 mph

Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Taylorsville Lake offers the kind of conditions this water was made for. Today brings clear skies, wind ENE around 7 mph, steady pressure near 1024 hPa and a high of 72. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 10:16 AM-12:16 PM and 10:45 PM-12:45 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Largemouth bassGood

The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

Catfish (blue, channel)Good

Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

CrappieFair

Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

White bassFair

Summer and early fall schooling season over open water; follow the shad, and try live bait on the bottom at night.

Tomorrow: Similar at 73 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Kentucky requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $23.00 for residents. What a Kentucky licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing largemouth bass here? Check the size and bag limits with KDFWR before you keep anything. The season dates for Kentucky, read off the agency, are on the Kentucky seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp72 F
High / Low72 / 42 F
WindENE 7-9 mph
Pressure1023.7 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:57 / 18:52
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~74 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Taylorsville Lake this week

The best day on Taylorsville Lake this week looks like Tuesday Oct 27, at 5 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Tuesday, Oct 27 β€” excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
10:16 AM-12:16 PM and 10:45 PM-12:45 AM
Minor period
4:38 AM-5:38 AM
Sun
07:57 to 18:52
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Clear, 8 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Taylorsville Lake: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: the spring pre-spawn and the fall feed

A warm-water sunfish of lakes, reservoirs, ponds and slow river backwaters that holds tight to cover: weeds, logs, rock ledges and docks. In Texas, TPWD surveys rank it "by far" the freshwater fish anglers most want to catch. The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: the spring spawn; summer around docks, brush and the thermocline

Two slab-sided panfish, the white crappie and the black crappie, that gather around submerged timber, brush piles, docks and bridge pilings in lakes, reservoirs and slow river backwaters. Texas Parks and Wildlife counts crappie as the state's most popular panfish. Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Year-round, best at dusk and after dark

Three big catfish share most of the country's rivers and reservoirs: the channel catfish, the most widespread; the blue catfish, the largest; and the flathead, which hunts live fish. All feed mostly on or near the bottom. Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

White bass illustration

White bass

Best: the spring run up the tributaries, then summer surface schools

A silvery temperate bass of rivers and large reservoirs, also called sand bass, that schools in open water after shad and runs up tributaries to spawn in early spring. Summer and early fall schooling season over open water; follow the shad, and try live bait on the bottom at night.

When to come: the Taylorsville Lake calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Largemouth bass
Crappie
Catfish (blue, channel)
White bass
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 74 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Taylorsville Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Largemouth bass led the card at good. High of 73 F, wind to 7 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Largemouth bass led the card at good. High of 75 F, wind to 7 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Largemouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 75 F, wind to 6 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Kentucky requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Kentucky license. Crappie 15/day over 9 inches typical; bass slot: check KDFW.

Access

Taylorsville Lake SP marina and ramps, Van Buren, Possum Ridge Corps accesses.

About this water

3,050 acres on the Salt River, Spencer/Anderson/Nelson counties, KY. Louisville's crappie forest.

Fishing Taylorsville Lake: the full guide

The timber vault

Taylorsville flooded the Salt River valley timber intact: standing forests span the lake, and the crappie program built on them ranks among Kentucky's densest. KDFW manages it as panfish water: liberal habitat work, protective bass slots: and weekday anglers work treetops in near solitude an hour from Louisville.

Crappie by the tree

The rotation is vertical: spring spawners in the flooded buckbrush (dip jigs at 2-6 ft), summer schools suspended on the channel timber at 12-18 ft, winter stacks deep in the bends. Electronics turn the forest into a milk run: mark, drop, count to the school's depth, repeat. Ten-inch keepers fill limits steadily: 14s salt every trip.

The supporting cast

Largemouth prowl the same wood (a protective slot keeps quality: flip the trees the crappie boats leave), white bass run the Salt each spring, and the catfish culture drifts the flats all summer. Van Buren and Possum Ridge arms concentrate the proven water: the upper river narrows into jon-boat wilderness.

Working the valley

The state park runs the marina and main ramps: Corps accesses fill the map. Stain rules the lake (Salt River mud): dark jigs after rain, translucents in the rare clear spells. Summer ski traffic owns midday on the lower lake: the timbered arms stay fishable: and November's turnover bite is the local secret.

Common questions

Why is Taylorsville so good for crappie?

Standing timber everywhere plus fertility plus management aimed at panfish: the forest holds fish at every depth all year. It is Kentucky's most reliable slab water per acre.

Is Taylorsville muddy?

Usually stained: the Salt River carries valley mud. Treat it as an asset: fish stay shallow, dark jigs get seen, and bluebird fronts hurt less than on clear lakes.

Is fishing good at Taylorsville Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Elkhorn Creek29 miHerrington Lake36 miGreen River Lake54 miBlue River55 miLicking River66 miRough River Lake74 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 38.0300, -85.2500 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written guide was drafted with AI assistance. Unlike our newer pages, it does not yet list the official pages its facts were checked against: that audit is under way, and anything it cannot verify will be taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.