Winter drawdown at Kentucky Lake makes for good bass fishing
September 14, 2008 by admin · Comments Off
KENTUCKY LAKE — The headwaters of Kentucky Lake’s Sugar Bay — along with the upper reaches of nearly all of the other bays lining this massive reservoir — will soon be mud flats. That’s because the Tennessee Valley Authority is in the process of lowering the lake to its winter-pool elevation of 354 feet above sea level. That’s five feet lower than the summer level. Read The Courier-Journal’s story here .
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Targeting Kentucky Lake smallmouth in early summer
September 13, 2008 by admin · Comments Off
Kentucky Lake Guide Dave Stewart nets a smallmouth for the author.
Before we went down to fish with Dave Stewart, a guide on Kentucky Lake, my fishing buddy called one of his brothers for some advice on where to stay.
“What are you going to fish for?” his brother, a long-time Kentucky Lake angler, asked at the end of the converstation.
“Smallmouth.”
“You mean largemouth,” his brother said.
“No, we’re going after smallmouth.”
Stewart wasn’t surprised later when he heard the conversation rehashed.
“A lot of people are thinking about largemouth because that’s what the laek is known for,” Stewart said. “I spend a lot of time convincing people to go after smallmouth.”
Stewart, who retired from the military and started guiding in the mid-1990s, has developed a busy service as one of the few who focus mainly on bass fishing.
Outdoor Women workshops start Sept. 19
September 11, 2008 by admin · Comments Off
Kentucky’s Becoming an Outdoors-Woman program marks its tenth anniversary with a special series of workshops being held at the Kentucky 4-H Leadership Center in Jabez, Sept. 19-21. Past graduates of the program are welcome to come back to celebrate.
The Becoming an Outdoors-Woman Program (BOW) is geared to adult women who want to learn about fishing, boating, shooting, hunting and other wildlife-related activities.
Book excerpt: Seeking out catfish in the dead of night
Excerpted with permission from Catfishing in the South (Outdoor Tennessee Series)
Staring at fluorescent rod tips, made to glow by a black-light beam, two anglers sit waiting for things that go bump in the night. They talk about everything and nothing as they anticipate one of the glow-in-the-dark tips surging suddenly toward the water’s dark surface. They’re fishing after hours because they have found that the night bite is better once summer sets in.
All of the South’s popular catfish species are at least somewhat nocturnal, with flatheads being more tuned into the nightime hours than their cousins. Through the summer, even more so than the rest of the year, most cats feed more actively through the night than during the day.
In addition to the better bite that tends to occur beneath starry skies, the setting of the sun sends the daily barrage of pleasure boaters home, which makes catfishing far more enjoyable. As importantly, summer nights feel far more pleasant than summer days throughout the South. Even when dog-day cats will bite, the mid-afternoon sun sometimes can be almost enbearable on the open water.
Take a kid fishing this weekend at Frankfort’s Salato Center
September 10, 2008 by admin · Comments Off
School has started, fall is around the corner and the fish are still biting. If you didn’t get the chance to take a kid fishing this summer, now is the time.
Don’t put your fishing rods away just yet. Instead, come out to the lakes at the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources’ headquarters in Frankfort for some fishy fun from 10 a.m. – noon on Saturday, Sept. 13.
State to draw down Cedar Creek Lake
September 6, 2008 by admin · Comments Off
Cedar Creek Lake in Lincoln County will be drawn down 5 feet in an effort to improve fishing and control aquatic vegetation. The drawdown began Monday, Sept. 8.
“We did the same drawdown last fall,” said Jeff Ross, assistant director of fisheries for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. “We are starting to see improvements in the condition of the bass. We are mainly concerned with intermediate sized largemouth bass. We also saw a delay in the growth of weeds in the spring and early summer. Both of these are positive signs and we hope a multi-year drawdown schedule will improve conditions even more.” Read more
Algae bloom causes fish kill at Old Kingfisher Lake in Davies County
September 5, 2008 by admin · Comments Off
The combination of recent cloudy weather and a natural algae bloom triggered a fish kill at 14-acre Kingfisher Lake in Daviess County. Initial inspection found 400 to 500 dead fish.
“Algae are small photosynthetic organisms that produce oxygen when sunlight is present, but use oxygen when sunlight is not present,” said Jeff Ross, assistant director of fisheries for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Several days of cloudy weather causes the algae to deplete dissolved oxygen. “If an algae bloom is large enough and you get several days of cloudy weather with little to no sunlight, oxygen levels can drop low enough to cause a fish kill,” Ross said. “This was the case at Old Kingfisher. Algae blooms typically occur when lake nutrient levels are high, leaving the water a pea soup green color.”
The dead fish in the lake were primarily gizzard shad, but some bluegill, crappie and largemouth bass also died. “We anticipate more dead fish with continued cloudy weather,” Ross said. “Some of dead fish may have sunk, but will float to the surface in a day or two.”
The fisheries division of Kentucky Fish and Wildlife will assess the fish kill next week and take appropriate actions for rehabilitation of the lake. “The lake was overcrowded with gizzard shad, small bluegill and crappie,” Ross said. “The fish kill may have naturally thinned out their numbers.”
From a KDFWR news release
KY Fish and Wildlife helps with Gustav
September 3, 2008 by admin · Comments Off
Hurricane Gustav still was just a mere tropical storm packing 55 mile-per-hour winds over Jamaica when the request for assistance came in to the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources’ Division of Law Enforcement the morning of August 29.
Shortly after the phone call, an Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) official request for help appeared. Louisiana needed 200 maritime law enforcement officers that were armed and fully equipped with boats and 4-wheel drive vehicles in Baton Rouge by 6:30 a.m. Eastern time, Sept. 3.
It was almost three years ago to the day when a similar call came in from a flood-ravaged and crime-ridden New Orleans, desperate for law enforcement officers skilled in working from boats. Nearly two dozen Kentucky conservation officers responded to that 2005 call and rescued hundreds of stranded persons in the flooded city. This time, Louisiana officials intended to be ready for Hurricane Gustav.
Gustav gained strength as it traveled over the Gulf of Mexico and bore down on the vulnerable city. Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Boating Law Administrator Major Ron Morris called again and asked Kentucky Fish and Wildlife’s Lt. Mike Fields to speed up and get help there a day sooner than the original request.
