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Early fall is a great month for bass fishing in Kentucky

admin — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 02:17:20 +0000

Frankfort, Ky. – September is some of the best sleeping weather of the year. Open the windows, turn the air conditioning off and wake up to crisp, gorgeous mornings.
This kind of weather gets many outdoors enthusiasts excited about doves and deer, but it can be a confusing time for bass anglers. Typically, rain falls the least in September and October, clearing the water in ponds and lakes – and making largemouth bass jumpy.
It seems this slight chill in the air would get bass in a feeding mode, but that doesn’t happen until the water cools considerably. September is a transitional time for bass fishing. This month, however, may yield some huge largemouth bass if you make the right adjustments.
“The fall changes may happen a little earlier this year because we’ve had such a cool summer,” said Jeff Ross, assistant director of fisheries for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “The surface water and the shallows are cooling down already.”
Baitfish location and water depth dictates where bass stage in early fall. “I start looking for schools of shad,” said Frankfort bass tournament angler Dan Bruning. “The fish key on shad in fall. I’ll try a spinnerbait or a medium-running crankbait in shad colors when I find them.”
Bass don’t immediately shove their noses into the bank of a large lake or reservoir when the first few cool days hit in early fall. Many bass anglers make the mistake of pounding the bank when they should be searching for baitfish or fishing intermediate depths on sloping banks in early fall.
Largemouth bass don’t make a move for the shallows until the water temperatures drop into the high 60s. Fish from 8 to 20 feet of water, depending on the lake, in early fall.
A 3/16-ounce jig and trailer combination swum down sloping points is a deadly technique right now. A point that drops into an old channel is a plus. If the point is composed of shale, pea gravel or mud mixed with rock, then all the better.
“As the water clears in fall, I switch to greens and browns with my tubes or jigs,” Bruning said. “Black and blue is universal in summer, but I switch to those colors in fall.”
Browns and greens match crayfish colors. Crayfish move to pea gravel, shale or mud and rock banks in fall because they burrow into them to survive winter. A jig with trailer combination perfectly imitates crayfish.
“Some guys start keying on tree lines on Taylorsville Lake in fall,” Bruning explained. “They throw soft plastic stickbaits like a Senko weightless and let them slowly quiver down the trees.”
Bruning, who fishes Taylorsville, Guist Creek and other central Kentucky lakes weekly, will also search for bass with a buzzbait right now.
If you go to a major reservoir on a bright, shimmering September day and don’t get a strike, then try fishing the same lake at night. Bass anglers associate night fishing with summer, but early fall is a terrific time to fish after dark. Those banks that seem devoid of fish during the day in September often crawl with bass at night. This is best time of year for a shore-bound angler to night-fish.
Another option is to fish smaller bodies of water in early fall. Farm ponds and small lakes cool faster than large reservoirs. The fall bite begins a few weeks earlier than on a lake of several thousand acres.
It is hard to go wrong with a 5-inch soft plastic grub Texas-rigged with a 1/4-ounce weight on a farm pond or small lake. A junebug-colored grub fished along a weedline or probed in brush or a fallen treetop imitates small bluegill. A pumpkin, black or watermelon-colored grub worked slowly on the bottom looks like an unaware crayfish. Largemouth bass in these bodies of water scarf small bluegill and crayfish.
Downsizing your line produces more strikes in fall. Smaller lines give off fewer negative clues to bass in the clearer water of September and October. If you are fishing a bait caster with 12- to 17-pound line and getting no strikes, switch to a spinning outfit spooled with 8-pound line. You may break off a few more fish, but that beats getting no bites at all.
September and early October may perplex bass anglers, but a few changes should get your rod bent over and your drag singing.

Author and photographer Lee McClellan is an award-winning associate editor for Kentucky Afield magazine, the official publication of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. He is a life-long hunter and angler, with a passion for smallmouth bass fishing.

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Kentucky River fishing is like a box of chocolates: You never know what you’re going to ….

admin — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 03:40:35 +0000

Photo by David Stephenson

By Chris Poore

As the boat departed from the ramp and made its way under the fog-hidden High Bridge in Jessamine County, Elliott Hess leaned back and looked up at the bluffs above him.

Sun kissed the big rock ledges. Birds departed silently from treetops. Fog danced on the surface of the Kentucky River.

Hess, a 22-year-old photographer and a student at UK, grew up in Lexington and wandered all over Fayette County as a kid to find the next perfect fishing hole: a golf course pond here, a church pond there, a stream behind a city park.

But his experience with the Kentucky River, like that of many Central Kentuckians, had been limited to the vantage point of the I-64 and U.S. 27 bridges.

So given the chance to explore the river up close, Hess didn’t hesitate.

As the boat made its way on this 16-mile trip from High Bridge to below the dam at lock Number 8, Hess was moved by the river’s beauty.

“I almost don’t care if we catch fish today,” he said.

It was an angler’s version of “knocking on wood,” but it was an unneeded sentiment this day.

By sunset, Hess and his fishing partner had caught eight species of fish — crappie, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, spotted bass, sunfish, white bass, a brown trout, and an eight-pound catfish — most on a white jig with a curly tailed grub. Many were caught near the dam. Others were caught at the confluences of the Kentucky and its tributaries. The catfish was parked under a tree that had fallen in the water.

It was the kind of day many anglers dream of having.

It was also the kind of day that’s not too uncommon on Kentucky rivers if anglers are willing to work a little bit, said Jeff Crosby, central district biologist for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.

“It does take a little time and a more serious angler to learn how to fish a river,” Crosby said. “But after you learn river fishing you can go anywhere in that river and catch a fish.”

And unlike most lakes, a river myriad of habitats make it resemble, well, a box of chocolates.

“You never know what you’re going to catch,” Crosby said.

The fish and wildlife department has been working the past few years at making that river fishing experience even more exciting. River biologist Doug Henley and the department began a stocking program a few years ago in an effort to improve fishing for sauger, white bass, hybrid bass and musky. Some leftover black bass fry are also stocked if they’re available.

It takes about three years to get a true read on whether stocking efforts are working, Crosby said, so this is the first year that electro fishing results have produced meaningful measurements.

The results are promising, he said.

“We went this spring and saw that white bass, hybrids, sauger … are all starting to pick up,” he said. “I’ve been very impressed with the river over the last few years.”

In years past, stocking efforts produced better fishing, but the department didn’t allocate the same kinds of resources to measure success over time. Crosby said this effort hopes to better track which stocking efforts produce the best results.

Kentucky’s rivers offer productive territory for a wide array of fish.

“A river can have a variety of habitat in a short distance – sandy, rocky, the habitat is constantly changing,” Henley said.

Some stretches have relatively still water. Others have current.

Most river pools in Kentucky also have dams, below which can be the ultimate in river fishing.

Tailwaters produce oxygenated water that concentrates baitfish. Predators that chase baitfish love marauding for food below a dam, especially during summer, when the cooler, moving water offers a respite from slower-moving pools.

If the fishing below a dam is good, you’re likely to see a telltale sign as you approach: a lot of people fishing. Good news travels fast.

To Henley, the trip up the river itself makes the fishing more excited. Instead of motoring across a wide expanse of water, you motor around one bend after another.

“To me river fishing can be frustrating but it can also be leisurely if you choose to make it so,” Henley said. “ Around every bend is something different. It’s like a big adventure.”

It’s a good thing, because like most fishing, river fishing is by no means perfect. In fact, it can be much more difficult than a lake depending on the weather and current and water color.

A month of bad weather can mess up fishing for years to come. If a lot of rain keeps the river out of its banks during key spawning times, the population can be much more dramatically affected in future years than a lake’s fish population would be.

Also, some fish – like white bass – like current for spawning. Others, like largemouth bass, like still water. Depending on the weather, either population could suffer.

Relatively stable to near-drought weather the last few years has actually produced some good reproduction on the Kentucky River for all species. It remains to be seen how this year’s heavy rains will affect fish.

Of course, none of this was on Elliott Hess’ mind when he fished the Kentucky for the first time a few weeks ago. After 15 hours on the water, his fishing partner finally had to give him a five-minute warning as he pulled the boat up to the confluence of the Kentucky and Dix rivers near High Bridge.

It had rained the previous few days, so Kentucky Utilities was releasing water from Herrington Lake through the dam and into the Dix. The cold water from the bottom of the lake produces excellent trout fishing directly below the dam.

But trout usually don’t venture down as far as the Kentucky River.

As Hess and his friend pulled up to the confluence, his partner immediately caught a white bass using a Rooster Tail. Then Hess caught a largemouth using a Storm crawfish crankbait.

Both were excited but watching the sky, knowing it’d be a lot easier to get the boat out of the water before dark.

Then Hess’ rod jerked down toward the water. Hess jumped up from his seat and started pulling the fish toward the boat. Thinking he had a big largemouth, Hess tried to horse the fish into the boat instead of giving it time to wear out in the water.

As he pulled it up over the boat’s gunnels, he saw that the fish was a brown trout that had ventured far from its typical home. The heft of the fish – at least 23 inches in length – cracked the crawfish bait in half and the big brown fell to the boat’s floor.

Both men stood and stared at the fish for a moment, not believing what had happened. They had just caught their eighth species of fish, and it was true that they had had no idea what they were going to get.

As they headed back to the boat ramp, the excitement was slow to wear off. Both men counted how many fish they had caught that day. They talked about when they might be able to get back to the river and who else they might be able to bring along.

Then Hess, the photographer, shook his head.

“I can’t believe I didn’t bring a camera,” he said.

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Low head dams in Kentucky are much more dangerous than they might seem

admin — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 03:07:36 +0000

A 13-year-old boy died beneath a low-head dam on Elkhorn Creek at Great Crossings in Scott County this weekend. Low-head dams such as this one on South Elkhorn Creek in Franklin County are some of the most dangerous water structures in existence. Just a drop of a few feet creates dangerous water turbulences below the dam that few escape alive. These types of dams are commonly called "drowning machines." Show this picture to your children, and please be overly cautious any time you're fishing near dams on Kentucky's rivers.

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Berea man wins $1 million in FLW Fantasy Fishing

admin — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 17:53:38 +0000

PITTSBURGH (Aug. 1, 2009) — With only a 41 point margin, Terry Moberly, an auto production worker from Berea (pop. 14,430), a small town in central Kentucky, claimed first place in the 2009 FLW Fantasy Fishing season and its $1 million grand prize. Moberly was awarded his $1 million grand prize at Pittsburgh’s Mellon Arena during the weigh-in ceremonies on Saturday of the Forrest Wood Cup presented by BP and Castrol, the world championship of bass fishing, at which tens of thousands of people have enjoyed the tournament and its festivities.

FLW Fantasy Fishing (FantasyFishing.com ), an international, online fantasy sports game with players in 123 countries worldwide, awarded Moberly, 46, his grand prize for accumulating 37,172 points over the course of a six-tournament season that began in February 2009. Like fantasy football, Moberly selected bass pros competing in the Walmart FLW Tour, the world’s largest and richest professional bass fishing tournament series.

Moberly narrowly edged out another Kentuckian, Jeff Short, a cabinet-making instructor from Tompkinsville, Ky., located near Bowling Green, Ky. Short, an avid bass angler, was awarded FLW Fantasy Fishing’s second-place prize, a Ranger Z20 Comanche boat powered with an Evinrude engine, valued at $54,000, for accumulating 37,131 points.

Moberly’s big catch comes on top of the $100,000 prize he collected for coming in first place in FLW Fantasy Fishing’s first tournament, which took place earlier this year in February. Moberly, an avid bass angler, entered that tournament literally hours before the tournament registration closed, at the urging of his two sons, Tyler, a student at Eastern Kentucky University, and his 19-year-old son, Brandon, both of whom fish FLW Outdoors tournaments.

“If my sons hadn’t urged me to enter that first tournament, I wouldn’t be here today,” Moberly said. “Like many things in life, you have to enter to win. And thank goodness I entered FLW Fantasy Fishing!”

With Player’s Advantage, an online research tool offered by FLW Fantasy Fishing, Moberly selected 10 bass pros before each Walmart FLW Tour tournament. Moberly, like other FLW Fantasy Fishing players, earned points for the bass that his pros caught during six Walmart FLW Tour qualifying tournaments, and bonus points if his bass pros finished in the top 10 of a tournament, or finished in the exact positions Moberly had selected his pros to finish.

“This is absolutely unbelievable,” said the even-keel Moberly, a production worker at the Tokico USA, a manufacturing plant in Berea that makes automobile shocks and suspensions. “After my $100,000 win, I knew I had a good head start. So, with Player’s Advantage and the help of my sons, we focused and tried consistently to score as many points as possible every tournament.”

Moberly credits two particular features available with Player’s Advantage for helping him reel in his $1 million catch, the Pundit’s feature, which offers recommendations on Walmart FLW Tour bass pros to pick before each tournament, and the Trends feature, which provides trends information about each bass pro.

Married for 24 years to his sweetheart, Debbie, Moberly says that fishing, along with other outdoors activities such as camping and hunting run deep in his family. Born and raised in Richmond, Ky., Moberly frequently fishes nearby lakes and reservoirs, including Cumberland Lake, from his Ranger bass boat. And while he’s fished a few tournaments himself, Moberly and his wife especially enjoy watching their sons compete in fishing tournaments. Tyler competes on a bass fishing team representing Eastern Kentucky University in the National Guard FLW College Fishing Tournament Circuit, and Brandon has competed in the Walmart Bass Fishing League (BFL) Mountain Division Tournament Circuit.

And what will Moberly do with his prize winnings?

“With the economy the way it is, this win couldn’t have come at a better time,” Moberly said. “We’ll be able to comfortably get my son Tyler through college, and I am going to treat myself to a new Z20 Comanche Ranger boat. Beyond that, we’re going to save the rest.”

Irwin L. Jacobs, chairman of FLW Outdoors and the creator of FLW Fantasy Fishing, an international online fantasy fishing game launched in February 2008, presented Moberly with his $1 million check.

“When we started FLW Outdoors in 1996, winning $1 million as a fishing pro seemed unbelievable,” Jacobs said. “FLW Outdoors not only broke that barrier, we became the first fantasy sport to ever offer a guaranteed $1 million grand prize. That’s why awarding our second million dollars is all that more incredible.

“One of my goals is to see that professional bass fishing is recognized as a leading spectator sport worldwide,” Jacobs added. “I believe that by attracting millions of eyeballs to the Walmart FLW Tour through our FLW OutdoorsTV program and by bringing in new anglers through FLW Fantasy Fishing, which is played by fans in 123 countries throughout the world, that ultimately, we will introduce millions of people to the enjoyment of bass fishing. Getting people to fish, young and old, parents and kids, represents the future of our sport.”

Other Top Five Winners

Coming in third place with 36,723 points was Chris Chappell, a power plant maintenance mechanic from Oologah, Okla., a suburb of Tulsa. Chappell, a Player’s Advantage user, was in first place in the overall race going into the last FLW Fantasy Fishing tournament of the year. He wins the third place prize, a new 2009 Ranger Reata boat powered with an Evinrude engine, valued at $36,265. While not a very active angler, nor a person who plays fantasy sports, Chappell learned about FLW Fantasy Fishing while on eBay.

“I used to laugh at my friends who played fantasy football, now I’m the one who’s hooked,” said Chappell. “I’ll be back for more in 2010 and I’ll be ready with my Player’s Advantage.”

Danny Richardson, a manager with UPS, and a resident of Knoxville, Tenn., came in fourth place with 36,029 points. Richardson drives home in a new 2009 Chevrolet Malibu sedan, valued at $27,000. Richardson is an avid bass angler who has dreamed about one day becoming a professional bass angler. He and his wife Denise, married 30 years, are proud parents of two adult sons, one of whom has special needs.

Andre Daniel, an athletic trainer from Oak Creek, Wis., a suburb of Milwaukee, Wis., claimed fifth place with 35,430 points, winning a $25,000 Walmart gift card. Daniel’s win comes on the heels of winning a $5,000 Walmart gift card for coming in second place in FLW Fantasy Fishing’s sixth tournament. Daniel is the former athletic trainer for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and also served as an athletic coordinator for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL), during the same year the team won the Super Bowl. He’s an avid bass angler who credits watching Bill Dance as a kid on television for getting him into bass fishing.

“My wife knows how passionate I am about bass fishing, but even she laughed when I started playing FLW Fantasy Fishing,” said Daniel. “Now we’re both having the last laugh. It’s been absolutely amazing.”

Top FLW Fantasy Fishing Bass Pros

The top five Walmart FLW Tour bass pros for 2009, based on the selection of FLW Fantasy Fishing players through six tournaments, from February to July 2009, were:

David Dudley, Team Castrol, Lynchburg, Va.

Clark Wendlendt, Team Kellogg’s, Leander, Tex.
Michael Bennett, Team Febreze, Lincoln, Calif.
David Fritts, Team Tums, Lexington, N.C.
Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn.

Fantasy fishing makes fantasy sports history

In its second season, FLW Fantasy Fishing has been recognized as a revolutionary twist on fantasy sports. Offering more than $10 million in cash and prizes, FLW Fantasy Fishing was the first fantasy sports game to offer a guaranteed $1 million grand prize. The online game was launched in February 2008 with the first cast of the 2008 Walmart FLW Tour bass fishing tournament series.

FLW Fantasy Fishing is free to play and is open to adults, 18 and older, throughout the world, wherever it is legal to play. Participants log onto FantasyFishing.com and register to enter the game. Players can sign up any time during the season, up until the day before the final tournament of the six-tournament fantasy fishing season.

Prior to each Walmart FLW Tour tournament, FLW Fantasy Fishing participants select a fantasy team of 10 FLW Tour pro bass anglers. Participants earn points for each tournament, based on the performance (placement in the designated tournament) of their fantasy team pro anglers. Participants could win prizes for an individual tournament as well as accumulate points over six designated tournaments to be eligible for a $1 million cash prize, which is awarded to the participant with the highest overall points for the season. Six $100,000 first-place prizes went to the participants who earned the most points for each tournament. A $5 million bonus is eligible to the first player to correctly rank the top seven finishers in an individual tournament. A $3 million bonus is eligible to the player to correctly rank the top five finishers in the Forrest Wood Cup. Participants could subscribe to Player’s Advantage to get the edge when selecting their team by accessing expert advice, inside information and cutting-edge statistical tools.

The Forrest Wood Cup presented by BP and Castrol is the final event in the Walmart FLW Tour. To catch all of the action at the Forrest Wood Cup, watch FLWOutdoors.com , as well as the “FLW Outdoors” television program, which is broadcast in high definition (HD) on VERSUS, the network that brings anglers the best fishing programming on television featuring the most trusted authorities on the water. The Emmy-nominated “FLW Outdoors” airs each Sunday from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Eastern time.

About FLW Outdoors

FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world and is offering anglers the chance to win more than $33 million through 231 tournaments in 2009. For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com .

FLW(R) is a registered trademark of FLW Outdoors, Inc. For a complete list of rules and prizes for FLW Fantasyvisit FantasyFishing.com

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Some tips for wading safety on some of Kentucky’s toughest streams

admin — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:58:43 +0000

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.
Dave Dreves, a fisheries research biologist for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, recalls some hair-raising wading trips in Colorado and Wyoming. Even in Kentucky, though, some streams require extra precaution.
“I’ve been on Rock Creek down in McCreary County, shocking for trout, and that’s some tough wading,” he said. “It’s aptly named. Everywhere you step, you’re slipping on the large, rounded rocks littering the stream bottom.”
Stream anglers need good shoes to handle uneven creek bottoms. Old sneakers can work, as long as they still possess some tread. But shoes or boots made specifically for wading do a better job of gripping rocks and keeping anglers from slipping. Dreves said that while felt-soled wade boots have been popular for years, recent concerns about invasive plants in streams may be changing that.
“Felt is ideal for transporting those invasive exotic species from one stream to another,” Dreves said. “So a lot of people are going away from felt and getting boots with cleats or spikes instead.”
A wading staff can also help anglers keep their footing in fast current, as well as allowing them to test the depth of the stream before taking their next step. Collapsible models are available that fold up and clip onto a belt.
Dreves cautions anglers to carefully choose the location where they cross a stream. Current and depth can be much different in the middle of the stream than near the bank.
“You want to always plant one foot before you lift the rear foot. Make sure you’ve got a strong hold,” he said. “If the gravel is loose, the turbulence around your ankle and lower leg can wash the gravel out from under you.”
Anglers can also reduce the current’s pull in deep water by turning sideways, facing the bank, rather than standing broadside. This creates less surface area for the current to catch your legs than if you face it head-on. Take small, sliding steps rather than lifting your feet high to avoid being pulled by the flow.
“Always wear a wader belt if you’re using waders,” said Dreves. “It cinches your waders up; that way they don’t fill so rapidly with water if you fall. It’s hard to swim with gallons of water in your waders.”
The question of life vests is a tricky one for stream waders. Many anglers simply don’t wear them because vests can get in the way of fishing, particularly for fly anglers. Vests are an important consideration for anglers wading in tailwater areas, as the water may be subject to sudden rise and an unexpectedly strong current.
Life vests that inflate automatically when they hit water are lightweight and manageable. However, they can inflate when you don’t want them to if you’re wading in deep water. A possible compromise is a manually inflatable life jacket. When not in use, the jacket lies flat against the body. Wearers must pull a cord to inflate it if they need a floatation device.
“I can tell you from experience that when you strap it on, you’re going to forget you have it on,” said Sgt. John Anderson, boating education coordinator for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. “But you have to have your wits about you to use it. If you hit your head and you’re unconscious, it would be awfully nice to have a vest. The manually inflatable life jackets are a compromise between having a vest and having nothing.”
Finally, always check stream conditions before you go wading. The U.S. Geological Survey website lists water flows on streams and creeks throughout Kentucky. Check the site at waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis. Scroll to “Kentucky” in the upper right corner drop box, click on the “real time data” button and then “statewide streamflow table.”
S tream wading is a great way to beat the heat and catch some fish this summer. But keep safety in mind. With the right equipment and information, you’ll keep your feet on the ground and your head above water.

Author Hayley Lynch is an award-winning writer for Kentucky Afield magazine, the official publication of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. She is an avid hunter and shotgun shooter.

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Will a Kentucky man win $1 million in FLW’s Fantasy Fishing contest?

admin — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 04:18:43 +0000

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.

On Saturday, Aug. 1, 2009, the $1 million grand prize winner will be announced before a crowd of more than 10,000 bass fishing fans attending the weigh-in ceremonies at the Forrest Wood Cup, where 77 of America’s best bass pros compete for a $1 million prize themselves. The event will be broadcast live, via satellite over the Internet through FLW Live, available at FLWOutdoors.com.

For this season-ending finale, FLW Fantasy Fishing has invited the top 10 finalists of the 2009 season to the Forrest Wood Cup, where they will touch shoulders with America’s best bass anglers. Each finalist will receive a major prize based on the points they each accumulated during the six-tournament season, which began in February and concluded in July 2009. One of the top 10 finalists will learn that he accumulated more points than any other FLW Fantasy Fishing player in the world to claim the online game’s $1 million grand prize.

The second place finisher will win a new Ranger Z20 boat powered with a 250 hp Evinrude engine, valued at $54,000. The third-place finisher will win a new Ranger Reata boat, powered with an Evinrude engine, valued at $36,265; the fourth place finisher will win a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu sedan, valued at $27,000 and the fifth place finisher will win a $25,000 Walmart gift card.

In its second season, FLW Fantasy Fishing has rocketed to the top of the fantasy sports world, gaining fans from all over the globe attracted to the game’s $10 million in cash and prizes, representing the highest payout of any fantasy sports game in the world. FLW Fantasy Fishing is played in 123 countries and prizes ranging from fishing equipment to gift cards have been awarded to FLW Fantasy Fishing players in Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Serbia, Germany, Japan and even the Maldives, an island nation off the western tip of India.

“The intent with FLW Fantasy Fishing was to bring more people to fishing,” said Irwin Jacobs, chairman of FLW OutdoorsÒ and creator of FLW Fantasy Fishing. “By making FLW Fantasy Fishing fun and easy to play, offering great prizes, and connecting them with bass pros who are entertaining to watch and learn from, we’re hooking new anglers on fishing every day in every part of the world.”

The Top Five $1 Million FLW Fantasy Fishing Finalists

The top five finalists for the $1 million FLW Fantasy Fishing grand prize have been determined based on the total number of points accumulated over a six-tournament season. None of the top five finalists will know, until Saturday, Aug. 1, when the $1 million winner will be unveiled, in what place they finished the entire season. The top five finalists include:

Chris Chappell, a power plant maintenance mechanic from Oologah, Okla., a suburb of Tulsa;

Andre Daniel, an athletic trainer from Oak Creek, Wis., a suburb of Milwaukee;

Terry Moberly, an auto production worker from Berea, Ky., located near Lexington;

Danny Richardson, a manager with UPS from Knoxville, Tenn.

Jeff Short, a cabinet-making instructor from Tompkinsville, Ky., located near Nashville, Tenn.

In addition, FLW Fantasy Fishing will recognize the players who finished in sixth through 10th place for the entire FLW Fantasy Fishing season at the event. These finalists include:

6th Place: Gayle Janes, a retired assistant sheriff from Bermuda Dunes, Calif. (located near Palm Springs), who won a $15,000 Walmart Gift Card.

7th Place: Jason Willbur, a program manager in the automotive supplier field, from Wixom, Michigan (Detroit area), who won a BRP Can-AM Outlander All-Terrain Vehicle valued at $8,000.

8th Place: Terry Allbee, a biologist and business manager from Bismarck, N.D., who won a BRP Can-Am All-Terrain Vehicle valued at $8,000.

9th Place: Mark Kinsey, a private high school bookstore manager from Hixson, Tenn., a suburb of Chattanooga, Tenn., who won a BRP Sea-Doo Personal Watercraft valued at $8,000.

10th Place: Donald Stanley, a furniture manufacturer production worker from Newton, N.C., who won a BRP Sea-Doo Personal Watercraft valued at $8,000.

How FLW Fantasy Fishing Works

Prior to each Walmart FLW Tour tournament, FLW Fantasy Fishing participants select a fantasy team of 10 FLW pro bass anglers. Participants earn points for each tournament, based on the performance (placement in the designated tournament) of their fantasy team pro anglers. Participants could win prizes for an individual tournament as well as accumulate points over six designated tournaments to be eligible for a $1 million cash prize, which is awarded to the participant with the highest overall points for the season. Six $100,000 first-place prizes went to the participants who earned the most points for each tournament. A $5 million bonus is eligible to the first player to correctly rank the top seven finishers in an individual tournament. A $3 million bonus is eligible to the player to correctly rank the top five finishers in the Forrest Wood Cup. Participants could subscribe to Player’s Advantage to get the edge when selecting their team by accessing expert advice, inside information and cutting-edge statistical tools.

About FLW Outdoors

FLW(R) is a registered trademark of FLW Outdoors, Inc. For a complete list of rules and prizes for FLW Fantasy visit www.fantasyfishing.com.

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Fly Tying Basics at Kentucky’s Salato Center August 1

admin — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 03:01:58 +0000

Frankfort, Ky. – Join members of the Frankfort Fly Fishing Club for a basic introduction to fly tying and techniques of fly fishing from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 1. Fly tying can be a challenging art, but few things are more rewarding than catching a fish on a lure you made yourself. Tying your own flies is fun and can save you money on your next fishing trip. All participants will take home the flies they make and get a chance to try their hand at casting a fly rod. The cost of the program is $35 and is open for ages 9 and older. Registration is 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 may require a registration fee, general admission to the Salato Center is free.

For more information 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 Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, 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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The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources manages, regulates, enforces and promotes responsible use of all fish and wildlife species, their habitats, public wildlife areas and waterways for the benefit of those resources and for public enjoyment. Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, an agency of the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet. For more information on the department, visit our web site at fw.ky.gov.

Media Contact
Kristy Stroud (800) 858-1549 ext. 4498

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Erlanger man talks about Kentucky record grass carp on Kentucky Afield

admin — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:40:48 +0000

Here is the 58 pound, 8 ounce state record grass carp taken on 6-17-09 by Robert Marsh. The fish was 48 inches long and 31 inches in girth.Photo by Dave Baker

(Check out the video on right side of our home page!)

Frankfort, Ky. – The record stood unchallenged eight years, until a northern Kentucky angler dunked it in mid-June. On July 25 and 26, “Kentucky Afield” television offers the details on the new state record grass carp.

What took a half-hour to reel to shore proved worth the struggle for Robert Marsh of Erlanger. Today, his name is among an elite group – state record fish holders. His grass carp tipped the scales at 58½ pounds, besting by a full 3 pounds the previous record established in 2001. Marsh appears on Kentucky Afield this weekend to talk about what was going through his mind for that 30 minutes that will now last a lifetime.

Also on this week’s show, Migratory Bird Biologist John Brunjes updates the reckless destruction of protected shorebird habitat on an island near Paducah. Evidence shows that an off-road vehicle overran warning signs and destroyed nest sites of the federally endangered interior least tern. This federal crime can trigger a $100,000 fine.

Finally, host Tim Farmer tries his hand at bowfishing on the Tennessee River below Barkley Dam. His aim is for the invasive bighead carp.

“Kentucky Afield” is a production of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. It is the longest continuously running outdoor television show in the nation. The program airs Saturday at 8:30 p.m. Eastern /7:30 p.m. Central and is repeated Sunday at 4 p.m. Eastern/3 p.m. Central on KET 1 and on the Internet at fw.ky.gov. To see the latest news about “Kentucky Afield” television and view your favorite show segments from the past, sign up today for the electronic newsletter.

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Biologists worry about water temperature in Lake Cumberland

admin — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 15:37:35 +0000

: Because of ongoing repairs to Wolf Creek Dam, temperatures in the river rose to the point of stressing trout over the past couple of summers, but conditions are much better so far this summer.

Frankfort, Ky. – The cold air that blankets Kentucky each December, January and February is uncomfortable for most people. Few of us enjoy pulling on extra clothes, driving in snow or being cooped up inside during winter.

Although we might not like winter, the cold water being stored in Lake Cumberland at that time of year is important to the health and survival of trout, striped bass and walleye in the lake and its tailwater the following summer.

“That winter water stored in the lake is the habitat for the trout in Cumberland tailwater and for the striped bass and walleye in the lake,” said Dave Dreves, fisheries research biologist for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “There is a finite amount of this winter-stored cold water after April.”

Fisheries biologists are concerned about the amount of winter-stored cold water that remains in the lake this year. Heavy rains in May and June have drained a significant amount of cold water from the lake, as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers siphoned water from the Lake Cumberland’s colder lower reaches in an effort to prevent the lake from rising too high.

Corps officials are keeping the lake at an elevation of 680 feet above mean sea level to relieve pressure on Wolf Creek Dam while repairs are underway. The normal summer pool for Lake Cumberland is 723 feet.

The lower water level effectively reduces amount of important cool water being stored in the lake. Releasing colder water and replacing it with warmer water compounds an already delicate situation.

John Williams, southeastern fishery district biologist for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, said fish are already reacting to the change. “According to the fishing guides, the striped bass are already moving down toward the dam – where there is better water quality in the summer,” Williams said. “This usually doesn’t happen until August.”

This situation worries Williams because the worst part of the year isn’t here yet. “We are still two months away from the critical time,” he said. “That deeper, oxygenated, cool water gradually depletes as you go through summer. Fish and other organisms consume it.”

Typically, September is the critical month for maintaining oxygen levels at the temperatures preferred by trout, walleye and striped bass. These fish cannot survive without enough dissolved oxygen in the water. Fish also prefer a certain temperature range. If the water grows too warm in the lake, the walleye and striped bass could seek deeper water that does not have adequate oxygen. In the tailwater, trout can overstress if the water temperatures climb too high.

Williams fished earlier this week for striped bass in Lake Cumberland and did well. The fish he caught were in good condition.

The rainbow and brown trout living in the Cumberland River below Wolf Creek Dam also utilize similar water temperatures as striped bass in the lake.

During the past two summers, water temperatures in the lower section of the Cumberland River from roughly Burkesville downstream to the Tennessee line warmed to the point of stress for trout.

Water temperatures are better so far this year. “The water temperatures recently were 56 degrees at the dam and 62 to 63 degrees at Burkesville,” Dreves explained. “If it stays like this for the rest of the summer, it will be good for the trout. It was above 68 degrees at Burkesville at this time last summer.”

Trout stress in water greater than 70 degrees. The warmer water in the lower part of Cumberland River pushes trout upstream toward to dam to find cooler water. This concentration of fish is good for anglers, but bad for growth of trout.

“There are some skinny fish in the river right now, and some that look okay,” Dreves said. “We are doing really well on catch rates, but growth rates and body conditions are down a little from 2006.”

As the weather becomes drier, water temperatures in the river could become a problem. Dry weather increases water temperatures in Cumberland River because less water is released through Wolf Creek Dam.

“If we continue to have a cool summer, that would help tremendously,” Dreves said. “Everything is good right now. We just hope it holds out.”

Author Lee McClellan is an award-winning associate editor for Kentucky Afield magazine, the official publication of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. He is a life-long hunter and angler, with a passion for smallmouth bass fishing.

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This time of year in Kentucky, fish deep points for success

admin — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 03:57:10 +0000

The meeting of the land and the water often points out the fish for us.
This was, it seems to say, its earthen or rocky digit extended from shore outward, “Out here.”
Rodney Hairgrove knows that straight bank is never quite as attractive to bass as one with a wrinkle on it. The irregular shape of a point, a protrusion of the shore toward the deeper recesses of the water, is a double dose of fishing fortune: On one hand, it attracts and congregates the bass; on the other, it constitutes an often glaring feature that should flag the attention of the angler and usher him to where the fish wait.
Hairgrove, 37, spends much of his time probing the waters of Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley. A transplanted Texan and now for years a Marshall Countian, he operates Big Bear Guide Service out of Big Bear resort on Kentucky Lake’s western shore. When he’s not guiding other fisherman for black bass, white bass or crappie, he’s often bass fishing just for pleasure or in competition. A frequent tournament angler, Hairgrove is a regular in the check-collecting lines of area events.
Much of the fishing year, Hairgrove looks for and finds bass around points in the bays of the two canal-linked reservoirs.
“It starts early in the spring when bass start moving in during the pre-spawn, and it goes on after the spawn when fish are moving back out,” Hairgrove said. “Some of the bass never leave the bays, though. Some of the points that have a good food source and deep enough water nearby will hold fish all through the summer. They’ve got everything bass need, so there’s no reason for them to leave.”
To understand the attraction of bass to points, fishermen must remember that what you see is not necessarily what you get. While points are obvious to the eye, the portions of them that are above the water line for anglers to see are not really what counts. Bass only care about the stuff below the surface.
“What’s important is what’s under the water – what’s on the point and what it’s close to,” Hairgrove said.
“Some good points will have only maybe five feet of water up on top, and others will have 10 or 12 feet up there,” he said. “Even if it gets pretty shallow on top, I think you have to have up to 15 feet or more close by to make it a good spot as the weather gets warmer.”
With deep-water access close by, a point is more likely to be used by bass that can scoot in and out on feeding forays, Hairgrove said. When those fish are on a point, a sharp drop along one side of it will be most likely to hold them when they are there, he added.
Features on a feature – extra elements on a basic structure – are usually what make one point better than another, he said.
“It always helps to have some cover on a point – stumps, brush, stake beds or big rocks,” he said. “Especially if you’ve got cover along the edge of a sharp drop on one side of the point that’s where the fish are going to locate.”
An error that some fishermen make is to relate a point to the place where water and land meet. They sometimes tend to fish right where a point slopes into the lake and where the water is too shallow.
“Early in the morning, fish might get right up on the bank, but most of the time they’re going to be back out a way,” Hairgrove said. “Some of these points run 200 to 300 yards out into the lake from what you see up on shore.
The places that hold fish might be way off the bank.”
That’s where topographic maps and electronic depth-finders come into play.
Information not available upon first glance on the water is what is critical in deciding which points really are worth fishing.
“Probably 60 or 70 percent of the good points show up on a good topo map,” Hairgrove said. “You can see features on the map that make them good. The rest, though, aren’t legible on a map. You have to find them with a depth-finder. The points that aren’t obvious and don’t really show up on a map probably are a little better because they don’t get fished as much.”
Each productive point is different and has its own features to which bass relate. A point that is as long as a football field may boil down to a single location the size of a living room sofa where bass regularly congregate. Learn the spots one at a time and remember them to accumulate a series that can be fished in hops, Hairgrove suggested.
“There are hundreds of points on Kentucky and Barkley,” he said. “You just have to put in some time to learn the good ones and where the best spot is on each one.”
Fishing tactics on points can vary with the season of the year, the time of day and the depth and cover of the sweet spot on each. The biggest variance is depth.
“Even in the summer, early in the morning you can catch fish up and feeding on the shallow ends of points,” Hairgrove said. “You can catch them on topwater lures if they’re up on the surface.
“A lot of it, though, will be off in deeper water. You can throw plastic worms, Carolina rigs, jigs or crankbaits and get down to where the fish are.
“I like a big worm, a Texas-rigged 10-inch (Harville) Baby Huey, or later in the summer, a smaller, 6-inch worm,” Hairgrove said. “A Carolina rig with a one-ounce weight and a lizard is also good because you can cover a lot of water so quickly.
“Crankbaits are awfully good, too,” he said. “You can use Poe’s 400s, (Norman) DD22s or Luhr-Jensen Hot Lips crankbaits and get down as deep as you need to for summer bass.”
Bass naturally adapt to points as routes between deep and shallow water.
Just as they focus the attention of fish, points are a logical draw for fishermen; at least most points are glaringly obvious where they curl off the land into the water.
Knowing which points are the most generous and finding the high-odds spots on each one takes a little experimentation and study. That’s the fine-tuning. But the basics are clear: If a fisherman doesn’t recognize the bass-attracting characteristics of points, he’s missing one.

—Steve Vantreese

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