I just started fishing in Kentucky Lake on the Tennessee side with my fishing partner and it is a great place, we only fished off the banks so far and still had pretty good success with spin baits and worms with football jig heads or shovel jig heads. Just cast multiple times with different rigs because these fish are not hitting like they should but if you aggro. them enough they will sure hit it.
Sounds like you had a fantastic time with your fishing partner. Im also going fishing next week with a bunch of friends. I usually write articles about bass fishing on this site https://fishmasters.com/bass-fishing/. I hope we'll have a great time like you guys did next time we are out.