State publishes Kentucky’s Boating and Fishing Access Sites
February 22, 2009 by admin · Comments Off
For my first wedding anniversary – the Paper Anniversary – I ran out and bought my wife flowers and a gift and spent a pretty good amount hoping to impress her.
She took a trip over to the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife offices.She was happy about my gift. I was near tears at the thoughtfulness of hers.
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Salato holds wintertime scavenger hunt to fight Kentucky wintertime fishing blues
February 22, 2009 by admin · Comments Off
| Frankfort, Ky. – To beat the winter blues, the Salato Wildlife Education Center in Frankfort will host a fun scavenger hunt from 10 a.m. – noon Saturday, Feb. 28. Explore Salato exhibits, wildlife and native plants to test your nature detective skills. The scavenger hunt is appropriate for kids of all ages. Participants will get to decorate their own safari hats to take home. The cost of the program is $10 with registration required.
The Salato Center has a variety of native animals for the public to see, including a black bear, bobcats, elk, deer, bison, eagles, snakes and fish. The Center has numerous indoor exhibits and miles of hiking trails open to the public. Fishing is available at two lakes. While some programs require a registration fee, general admission to the Salato Center is free. For more information or to register, call 1-800-858-1549, ext. 4445. Learn more about upcoming events at the Salato Center on the Internet at fw.ky.gov. The Salato Center, operated by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, is located at the department’s headquarters on U.S. 60 in Frankfort, 1.5 miles west of U.S. 127. Hours of operation are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays. The Center is closed Sundays, Mondays and state holidays. |
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Last-Minute Entry Lands Kentucky Auto Parts Production Worker $100,000 Prize in Fantasy Fishing Game
February 22, 2009 by admin · Comments Off
Berea's Terry Moberly decided at the last minute to enter the FLW Fantasy Fishing Game Contest. The decision won him $100,000.
To win FLW Fantasy Fishing, or any contest for that matter, you have to enter. And entering at the last minute counts just as much as if you entered days, weeks or even months before.
That’s what Terry Moberly, 45, a resident of Berea, Ky., a small town near Lexington, Ky., learned. Last Wednesday, Feb. 11, with less than four hours until the closing bell on FLW Fantasy Fishing picks for the first tournament, Moberly registered at fantasyfishing.com. Using Player’s Advantage, an online tool that provides “inside” information about FLW Tour bass pros, Moberly picked 10 bass pros from among a field of 157 that would be competing the very next morning in the first of six tournaments that make up the Walmart FLW Tour, professional bass fishing’s largest and most prestigious tournament circuit.
Kentucky fishing licenses expire Feb. 28
February 9, 2009 by admin · Comments Off
Frankfort, Ky. – Kentucky’s current hunting and fishing licenses expire February 28. If you plan to fish the spring runs for white bass or turkey hunt this spring season, you’ll need to purchase a new license and permits.
The current tough economic times have folks thinking about saving money. For outdoors enthusiasts who love to fish and hunt, purchasing a Resident Sportsman’s License saves $50 over buying all of the licenses and permits it covers separately.
This license includes the combination hunting and fishing license, spring and fall turkey permits, statewide deer permit, state waterfowl permit and trout permit. Waterfowl hunters still need to purchase their federal duck stamp, however. The Resident Sportsman’s License does not cover user permits for Peabody Wildlife Management Area or the Land Between the Lakes, or any application fee or permit for elk hunting.
Devastation from ice storm will have long-term effects on Kentucky forests
February 9, 2009 by admin · Comments Off
The ice that encased a large chunk of Kentucky and plunged tens of thousands of homes into darkness has melted.
Much damage remains, and for hikers, backpackers, hunters, fishermen and anyone who wanders into the woods, the leftovers from the storm will pose a long-term threat. Across thousands of acres of forest, the canopy is littered with chunks of wood waiting to fall.
“I don’t really know the full extent of the damage,” said Larry Lowe, a forester for the Kentucky Division of Forestry. “Overall, the western part of the state got hit harder than the east, but there was some damage in the east, too. I do know that I wouldn’t walk through the woods right now.”
Read Gary Garth’s story in The Courier-Journal by clicking the link below
Annual Bluegrass TU banquet set for March 7, 6:30 p.m.
February 9, 2009 by admin · Comments Off
The annual banquet of Bluegrass Chapter Trout Unlimited helps raise money
for local, state and national programs that help to conserve, protect and restore cold water
fisheries and watersheds.
The banquet helps the Bluegrass Chapter tackle projects such as stocking streams in the Daniel Boone National Forest, keeping Rock Creek clean of trash and acid mine drainage and working with local schools to
implement Trout in the Classroom.
The banquet also helps fund speakers for the chapter’s monthly meetings.
This year’s banquet will be held at the Hillary J. Boone Center and will begin at 6:30 p.m. with drinks,
appetizers, “Bucket Raffles” and a preview of auction items along with a silent auction.
Dinner is at 7:30 followed by the live auction.
The price is $40.00 single or $75.00 couple. Call Gary Rose for information at 859-263-5889. Or email him at arosegrose@alltel.net.
The auction will include items of interest to anglers and non-anglers. Auction sponsors include Orvis,
Lamson, Frog Pond, Equus Run Vineyards, among others.
Please contact any board member for tickets. In some cases, TU might be able to drop your
ticket off to you. Tickets will not be sold the night of the banquet but if you buy your ticket before
Feb. 16 you will be registered for the special Early Bird Raffle. The Hillary J. Boone Center is
on the campus of the University of Kentucky at 510 Rose Street. The Center’s phone number is
859.257.3288 and more info can be found online at www.uky.edu/boonecenter
Float-n-fly feeds smallmouth addiction during winter
February 8, 2009 by admin · Comments Off
There’s nothing wrong with TV fishing shows – after all, they placate many avid anglers through long, cold winters.
But come mid-January in Kentucky, many of those pent-up anglers have heard Roland Martin say, “Son, that’s a big fish,” so many times they begin to wish harm on the noisy old fishing pro.
With freedom in mind, and despite an admonition – “You’re crazy!” – from a co-worker, Lee McClellan and Chad Miles set out last Monday to get their smallmouth fishing fix on Lake Cumberland.
It doesn’t get much tougher than it was Monday – 20 degrees outside with winds of 10 to 15 mph, the water 41 degrees. It’s only a few small steps removed from ice fishing.
But McClellan, associate editor of Kentucky Afield Magazine, and Miles, administrative coordinator for the Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, have the winter blues worse than most; after all, they spend their days listening to fishing stories.
On this day they’re going to try to perfect their float-and-fly technique, a go-to method for catching sluggish smallmouth when water temperatures drop below 50 degrees. That’s when smallmouth “suspend” in the water column and move as little as possible to preserve energy; it’s also when baitfish suspend and, in some cases, die off.
Float-and-fly is effective because it mimics baitfish in the throes of death by dangling a small hair jig on light, ultra-clear line 7 to 15 feet below a bobber. The jig’s hair puffs out, and the waves or the angler’s twitching of the rod makes the jig jitter like a dying shad. Most experts think that action triggers an instinctual message in the smallmouth’s thumbnail-size brain: “Eat that thing; it’s the best you’re going to get for a while.”
At 8:15 a.m., McClellan, Miles and the author were the only ones on the lower end of the lake, in Guffey Creek near Wolf Creek Dam. That’s one of the things McClellan likes about float-and-fly fishing in 20-degree weather.
“We have the place to ourselves,” he said.
He also likes it because he’s had success. He and Miles have thrown everything at smallmouth in the depths of winter – spoons, blade baits, crawfish jigs, grubs. And, like most in winter, they’ve been skunked more times than they’d like to count.
They’ve also been skunked throwing float-and-fly. But more times than not, the method has proved successful.
Given the conditions, and depending on definitions, Monday was successful: three smallmouth, each about 2 pounds, after about eight hours of fishing.
All were caught about 9 feet deep along shady bluff walls in the back of Guffey Creek. As water temperatures hit the low 40s and fish have less energy, McClellan finds that bluff walls produce more fish. When water temperatures are a bit warmer and fish move more, McClellan also finds fish on deep lake points.
Each fish was caught using slightly different action. One angler dipped his jig in lots of “fish dope,” a petroleum-based gel laced with garlic or other fish scents. Another found it too cold to be applying “dope” and did without. One angler tended to twitch his rod a bit more.
Each had a number of “pull downs.” When a smallmouth grabs the jig, the action of the bobber varies. Sometimes the weighted bobber will lie on its side. Other times it will dive straight down. Last Monday, it went straight down on each strike.
McClellan chose Guffey Creek for several reasons. One was safety. On a frigid day, there might not be other boats on the water. If something goes wrong, it pays to be close to the ramp. Guffey is a two-minute run from a new ramp near the dam.
He’s also had success there, as well as in Beaver and Indian creeks. All have bluff walls and are near the deep water at the lower end of the lake. He said Harmon and Difficulty creeks also can be hot spots.
McClellan and Miles worked their way along virtually the entire creek, spending extra time on steeper walls and on points. It took patience to catch fish. But when they did, the excitement provided enough warmth to get them through the next hour.
Their last stop – about 5:30 p.m. – was the mouth of the creek. By this time, the wind had kicked up and the boat was getting tossed around.
But there were big fish and baitfish all over Miles’ sonar screen.
As the boat tossed and Miles fought the trolling motor, the wind whipped up more and more. The sun dipped behind the hill, adding to the chill. And the little bobbers struggled to stay above water.
Eventually, Miles gave it up, even though he was sure there were fish on that point.
On the ride home to Frankfort, as core body temperatures got back to normal, thoughts turned to food, warm drinks and spring fishing.
The anglers began to tell fishing stories again. One fell asleep, hoping to catch up on fishing shows he had taped over the weekend.
The end-of-the-day, unbearable cold was soon forgotten, and thoughts turned positive and hopeful.
Maybe Roland Martin isn’t such a bad guy after all.
—By Chris Poore
State releases 2009 Kentucky Fishing Forecast
February 2, 2009 by admin · Comments Off
Frankfort, Ky. – The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources has released the 2009 Fishing Forecast.
It’s the Poor Richard’s Almanack of Kentucky fishing, and to many pent-up anglers, it’s a must-read before spring fishing begins in earnest. Simply pick your favorite lake or species, find it in the forecast, and you can get the state’s best guess for what your fishing success might be this year.
Here’s what the forecast can predict for certain:
Click FOR FORECAST
Follow link below for the rest of this story.
Read more
2009 Kentucky Fishing Forecast
BE SURE TO READ BEYOND THE INTRODUCTION TO GET TO FULL FORECAST
From the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources
Welcome to the 2009 Fishing Forecast for Kentucky’s major fisheries. The forecast is based on 2008 fish population surveys, creel surveys, fish stockings, and historical knowledge of the fisheries. This handout is designed to assist anglers in planning their fishing trips and improving their fishing success. Additional fishing information is available from the Department’s website at fw.ky.gov or by obtaining copies of the 2009 Sport Fishing and Boating Guide available at most sporting goods stores. The Kentucky Trout Waters brochure is contained in the 2009 Fishing and Boating Guide.
To locate fishing access sites in Kentucky, visit our website and click on “Fishing & Boating”, then “Where to Fish”, and finally “Find a Place to Fish”. You will be able to search for your favorite water bodies and get directions to all major boat launches and access sites.
