Ohio River To Host BFL Buckeye Division Tournament Aug. 8
July 31, 2009 by admin · Comments Off
MAYSVILLE, KENTUCKY – The Buckeye Division of the $8 million Walmart Bass Fishing League® will visit the Ohio River in Maysville, Kentucky, August 8 for the fourth of five regular-season events. As many as 200 boaters and 200 co-anglers are expected to compete in the tournament, which will award as much as $45,000 in cash, including a top award of $6,000 in the Boater Division.
If the winner is a participant in the Ranger Cup incentive program, he or she will receive a $2,000 bonus from Ranger Boats. If the winner is not a Ranger Cup participant, Ranger will award $1,000 to the highest-finishing Ranger Cup participant. That’s a potential top award of $8,000 for anglers who meet contingency guidelines.
Bombardier will award $1,000 to the winning boater if the winner’s boat is equipped with a qualifying Evinrude E-TEC or Direct Injection outboard.
The winning co-angler will earn as much as $3,000 cash.
![[Digg]](http://kentuckyfishing.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/digg.png)
![[Facebook]](http://kentuckyfishing.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/facebook.png)
![[Feed Me Links]](http://kentuckyfishing.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/feedmelinks.png)
![[Google]](http://kentuckyfishing.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/google.png)
![[Twitter]](http://kentuckyfishing.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/twitter.png)
![[Email]](http://kentuckyfishing.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/email.png)
Rough River Lake Fishing report — KDFWR — July 31
July 31, 2009 by admin · Comments Off
Rough River Lake is a couple of feet above summer pool from recent rains. Hybrid striped bass can be caught trolling around12-14 ft. deep with Swim Shads or Shad Raps. Jump fishing for hybrid striped bass is slow but can still be produce fish on overcast days. Fish for largemouth bass at dusk or later on long points, channel drop-offs or structure 12-15 feet deep using Carolina-rigged plastic worms and lizards. Catfish moderately active on steeper rocky banks late evening and night using cut bait or night crawlers for channel or live bait for flathead catfish.
Rob Rold
Kentucky Dept. Fish and Wildlife
Rob.Rold@ky.gov
Nolin River Lake Fishing Report — KDFWR — July 31
July 31, 2009 by admin · Comments Off
Fishing the jumps for white bass can be productive early morning using a popping cork or floating surface bait and trailer. White bass can also be caught trolling main lake points with deeper diving crank baits. Fishing at night with live minnows or using a jigging spoon 12-14 ft can produce good numbers of white bass as well as crappie and an occasional walleye. Use a Carolina-rigged plastic worm or lizard fished 12-15 feet deep on channel drops and long points at dusk or after for largemouth bass. Fish cut baits or night crawlers for channel catfish and live bait for flathead catfish on the steeper rocky banks at night.
Rob Rold
Kentucky Dept. Fish and Wildlife
Rob.Rold@ky.gov
Kentucky/Barkley fishing reports — Dave Stewart — July 30
July 30, 2009
Both lakes are one foot below summer pool. The bass fishing on the ledges continues to be better in the afternoon and late evening hours on Kentucky Lake. This is due to the fact that the TVA has been an afternoon draw schedule for the past couple of weeks and the ledge fish have gotten conditioned to the current draw times. This does not mean you cannot catch some fish on the ledges during the morning hours but the early fishing has been spotty. Reports indicate that more big fish are being taken during the current draw periods. On Lake Barkley, some days the current is being generated through out the day and on some days there is not much current at all during the day. Savvy bass anglers should watch the TVA draw schedules and plan their trips accordingly if possible. On the other hand, there are numbers of Largemouth being taken shallow in the creeks and bays during the morning and though out the day as these fish are feeding on schools of shad fry from the spring spawns. Most of these fish are small but some good keeper sized fish are also being taken, just not good numbers of them. We continue to have below normal temperatures for this time of year due to cold frontal passages in the lakes area about every three or four days. Another cold front is passing through the area this evening. This cooler weather is also keeping our water temperatures about 4 or 5 degrees below normal for this time of year. The forecast for the weekend is for fair weather with highs in the mid 80’s and lows in the mid 60’s. Reports continue to indicate the night bass fishing on Kentucky Lake is good. I have noticed some good catches of White Bass coming in to the cleaning stations this week also, especially those folks fishing during the late morning and afternoon hours.
Cave Run fishing report — KDFWR — July 30
July 30, 2009 by admin · Comments Off
Lake level: 730.5
Lake temperature: 80.8 degrees F
The lake main lake is murky and the water level has been rising one inch per every 24 hours. Dissolved oxygen levels are good down to 25 feet where the temperature is 71° F. Fishing in general is pretty slow for most species right now though fishing at night for largemouth bass should still prove to be productive around weed beds and structure using plastics and top water baits. Largemouth bass are being caught at depths around 2 to 10 feet up the Licking River where the water temperatures are slightly cooler. If you are planning on fishing either the Licking River or Beaver Creek arms of the lake, please scout these areas out during daylight hours before attempting to navigate at night due to the many submerged tree stumps, of which, the tops are just below water level and very hard to see. Please remember to always ware your PFD when on the water.
Fred R. Howes
Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources
Some tips for wading safety on some of Kentucky’s toughest streams
July 30, 2009 by admin · Comments Off
An angler trout fishes the head of Rainbow Run on the Cumberland River below Wolf Creek Dam. A wade belt (shown in black around the angler's waist) is vital safety equipment for wade fishing.
All was calm when we stepped into Elkhorn Creek that summer afternoon. The clear, cool water rolled by steadily, lapping us about hip-level as we meandered slowly downstream, casting our spinning rods for bass. The five of us easily kept our footing on the moss-covered creek bottom.
Two hours later, we were in a different creek. The water had risen more than a foot as a slug of muddy, post-rain current barreled down from Lexington. Several inches shorter than my fishing buddies, I leaned against the current almost neck-high in water. I was scared. I wanted out of that creek, but struggling toward the bank was like swimming in quicksand.
After 15 minutes that seemed like an hour, I stepped gratefully up onto the bank.
The lesson I learned on my first stream wading trip stuck with me. Though wading can be a relaxing, fun way to fish on a hot summer day, streams can also be unpredictable.
Read more
Lake Barkley fishing report — KDFWR — July 30
July 30, 2009 by admin · Comments Off
Fishing has been tough this week due to low pressure systems and cold fronts, despite the pleasurable weather for anglers. However, we are getting reports of anglers catching some sauger in 15-18 feet of water trolling deep diving crankbaits near primary points and secondary channels. Largemouth bass are being taken on wacky rigged senkos and drop shot rigs fished near channel ledges with brush and rock structure.
Kentucky Lake fishing report — KDFWR — 7-30
July 30, 2009 by admin · Comments Off
On Kentucky Lake we are hearing reports of blue catfish being caught fishing cut bait under jugs near the mouths of embayments. The jug line does not need to reach deep water, but these should be fished near channel ledges or deeper water (15-20 feet). Largemouth are starting to move into shallower water near the backs of bays where fishing spinnerbaits and jigs around KDFWR stake beds can yield exciting results.
Will a Kentucky man win $1 million in FLW’s Fantasy Fishing contest?
Who will be the next fantasy sports millionaire? Will it be the auto production worker from Kentucky, the power plant maintenance mechanic from Oklahoma or the UPS manager from Tennessee?
Poised to make history again, FLW Fantasy Fishing (FantasyFishing.com), an international, online fantasy fishing game will award $1 million to the player who has accumulated the most points over the course of its 2009 season. Founded in Minneapolis by FLW Outdoors, the company that produces the Walmart FLW Tour and the FLW Outdoors TV program (broadcast in high definition on VERSUS), FLW Fantasy Fishing allows bass fishing fans and fantasy sports enthusiasts of all walks of life to create their own fantasy teams from among bass pros who participate in the Walmart FLW Tour, the world’s richest professional bass fishing tournament series. Last year, FLW Fantasy Fishing was first to award a guaranteed $1 million in fantasy sports history.
Three simple tips for catching largemouth bass in Kentucky
July 28, 2009 by admin · 2 Comments
Larry Williams of Murray, Kentucky used a Carolina-rigged watermelon with red flake straight 5-inch worm to catch this largemouth bass in early summer on Kentucky Lake. Williams uses a Carolina rig to fish both shallow heavy cover such as a brush covered flat or weedbed, but also to fish deep humps and ledges.
Terms such as “Texas-rigged worm,” “Carolina-rigged lizard” or “wacky rig” are part of a bass angler’s everyday lexicon. But to a beginner, the experienced anglers might as well be speaking Chinese.
The Texas rig is probably the most popular fish-catching innovation in the evolution of bass fishing. The term stems from Nick Crème and Crème Manufacturing, the company given credit for inventing the plastic fishing worm. Crème created a double-hooked plastic worm with a straight tail. He tied the hooks to a leader, and then added a couple of red beads and a propeller out front. People called it the “tourist rig” because it was so easy to catch bass with it.
The rig worked great in open water, but snagged logs easily. Crème introduced an improved version of this rig in 1964. He replaced the propeller with a slip sinker and a bead, and the double hook with one large hook. Crème imbedded the hook point into the worm to make it weedless. He called this the Texas rig.
The basic design hasn’t changed much since.
The Texas rig shines for bass around stumps, submerged trees and in weeds, because the hook is nearly snagless and the sinker punches through the cover. A medium to medium-heavy rod with a stiff tip is needed to drive the hook point through the worm and get the fish out of heavy cover.
A Carolina rig is an evolution of the Texas rig. It employs a ½- to 1-ounce egg or bullet-shaped slip sinker slid onto the main line from the reel, followed by two red glass beads. Brass is the preferred material for the weight. Brass makes a better clicking sound than lead when it contacts the glass on the retrieve.
The main line is tied to a barrel swivel. An 18- to 36-inch leader of monofilament or fluorocarbon line goes on the other loop of the swivel. The leader material is usually a lighter pound test than the main line, such as a 17-pound test main line with a 12-pound leader. A wide-gap offset worm hook goes on the business end.
This rig is versatile because it presents soft plastic worms, jerkbaits, lizards, creature baits and even live bait to hungry bass. The heavy weight of the rig allows the angler to follow contours of the bottom while covering water quickly. The Carolina rig is highly effective for fishing large mud flats, channel drops, ledges, sandbars and submerged humps. It is the go-to bait for many bass anglers fishing deep water, especially in summer and early fall.
You can also toss a Carolina rig onto a brush-covered flat or in the middle of a large weedbed. The heavy sinker on the front of the rig punches through the weeds and brush down to the bottom with the soft plastic bait hovering just above it. This method works wonders for bass on Kentucky Lake.
The wacky rig is a departure from both the Texas and Carolina rig. Several theories abound on the origin of the wacky rig, but one of the most often cited involves two novice anglers bass fishing one of the large reservoirs in Texas. They didn’t know how to thread a plastic worm onto a hook properly, so they impaled the middle of their Crème Scoundrel worms and let the ends dangle. The worms hung on the hook like a clown’s frown.
The pair threw their worms over weedbeds and caught large bass after large bass. When they returned to the dock, a couple of onlookers asked how they did. The two anglers opened their livewells and showed off some huge bass. The onlookers asked what they caught them on and the anglers held up their funny-looking worm rigs.
After some mighty guffaws, one of the onlookers exclaimed that it was the wackiest looking rig they’d ever seen. This was the birth of the wacky rig.
The wacky rig is great for fishing docks and up and under overhanging or flooded trees because you can skip it across the water. The undulating action of the worm drives a bass hanging under a dock or in a flooded tree crazy.
Soft plastic jerkbaits such as the Senko work great for this technique. They also draw strikes fished over weedbeds or stumps by pulling the worm up and allowing it to flutter back down.
Don’t let terminology stand in the way of learning to fish for bass. Get out this summer and toss one of these rigs in a lake near your home. You’ll soon become addicted.
—Story and photo by Lee.McClellan
