"Buzzbait, spinnerbait, crankbait, topwater and now a plastic worm. I love the days when bass want to eat everything."

Such were the words of my fishing pal, Don Melton. According to my fishing log, they were uttered on May 6. Obviously, the overall action was enough to make for a red-letter day, he won't be forgetting it anytime soon because it included a largemouth that went just shy of the 9-pound mark. Neither of us forgot the 5- and 6-pound bucketmouths that had stopped by for a visit as well. When May rolls around, there are at least two anglers who know where they plan to be: on Kentucky Lake.

The overall bassing action may never really get any better than it is right now (unless you happen to go on a day when water conditions get really fouled up by heavy rains). True, there may be more chances for super-big bass earlier before the overweight hens drop their eggs, but if you like numbers better than trophies, then you'd better be getting on the water this month.

In general, the reasons for the dramatic action is simple: Bass are coming off the spawning beds, and with the drive to reproduce no longer dominating their lives, the need to forage heavily to make up for lost body weight and the stress of nest guarding becomes paramount. Woe be to the small bluegill, shad or crawfish that comes within visual or sensory range of a hungry bass of any kind. This holds true wherever you find these fish, and while some tactics may work better in one location than another, the basic truth is this: Black bass are hungry and huntin' in May.

KENTUCKY LAKE
Guide Glenn Stubblefield's most important piece of advice for anglers after May bass in the northern part of this sprawling impoundment is that the largemouths are not prone to hanging around the spawning grounds once the egg-laying period is over. He says that anglers get accustomed to finding bass shallow during the spring and keep going back to the same places where the only residents are likely to be small bank-runners. His advice is to back off to places like main channel points and deep humps that hold fish during the winter. Like my fishing partner of many years, Terry Maness, Stubblefield relies heavily on Carolina-rigged worms or lizards and deep-diving crankbaits.

Water clarity can greatly influence the color of the soft plastics the bass will prefer and it seems that every portion of the lake has a "best" hue, according to local lore. Some of the favorites are pumpkin/pepper, watermelon and June bug -- but when the fish are really on their feed, you can take your pick.

When picking a crankbait, those that imitate shad in the 2- to 3-inch range usually get the nod, although there are those among us who absolutely have to drag an imitation crawdad anytime there are submerged logs or a bottom consisting of a mix of gravel and chunk rock

Move southward on Kentucky Lake and things change marginally, as the lake loses its "wide-bodied" configuration. The Latrendresse family has been guiding in this area for a couple of generations, and Bob is currently carrying the mantle.