This time of year in Kentucky, fish deep points for success
July 18, 2009 by admin · Comments Off
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.
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Mayfield’s Williams wins FLW Outdoors Tour tournament with 9-pounder
June 15, 2009 by admin · Comments Off
Keith Williams' 9-pounder on Kentucky Lake sealed his first FLW Tour win. (Photo by Rob Newell)
MURRAY, Ky. – Even though the Walmart FLW Tour event took off from Kentucky Lake’s north end, pro Keith Williams committed to the New Johnsonville, Tenn., area from the start. In fact, he never made a single cast into Kentucky waters during the four days of practice or the four days of competition.
What drew the Land O’Lakes pro to the lake’s south end was its plentiful hydrilla. On Williams’ first day of practice, he pulled up to a grass flat and within 10 casts had caught a 7-pounder. He explored the area some more and discovered there was a road bed in front of the flat. Furthermore, a small ditch came off the flat and into the road bed. Best of all, the grass in the area was submerged, meaning most of Williams’ fellow competitors overlooked it.
“All of a sudden, I saw (BASS Elite Series pro) Skeet Reese coming right at me,” he said. “That was the final day of their tournament, so, of course, I immediately left. And with him were about 40 other boats, so I kind of wrote the area off.”
Switch methods to catch crappie in Kentucky, Barkley lakes
March 1, 2009 by admin · Comments Off
Frankfort, Ky. – For years, anglers at Kentucky and Barkley lakes sought crappie in spring by jigging baits around drop-offs, fishing with minnows in shallow brush and probing stake beds with grubs. While these traditional methods worked well for white crappie, they are not nearly as effective nowadays because of the growing population of black crappie in both lakes.
Anglers who want to catch more fish from Kentucky’s most popular crappie fishing lakes this spring need to change their techniques.
“People are still looking for white crappie,” said Gerry Buynak, assistant director of fisheries for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “According to our data, there are more 10-inch crappie in Kentucky Lake right now than we’ve seen since 1985. But 97 percent of the ones we collected in our trap nets are black crappie.”
While white crappie still dominate Lake Barkley, black crappie now make up nearly 40 percent of the population. Buynak says anglers will find fish if they put away their white crappie techniques and target the many black crappie the lakes have to offer.
“Black and white crappie differ quite a bit overall,” he explained. “Black crappie move shallow earlier and stay longer. They also prefer clearer water. People don’t usually cast to rocky shorelines when fishing for crappie, and this is where the black crappie are in the spring.”
Western District Fishery Biologist Paul Rister says fishing for black crappie is starting to heat up as the days turn warmer.
“On warm, sunny days in late February and early March, black crappie are up on those rocky shorelines taking advantage of clear water and warmer temperatures,” he said. “You’ve got to key in on the western shorelines that get sun early in the morning.”
Anglers should try curly-tailed jigs with 1/16-ounce jigheads, Rooster Tails and other small in-line spinners. Good jig colors include white, white with chartreuse, white with red, lime-green, chartreuse, blue and pink.
“You need something really light,” said Rister. “The old standard is a minnow fished underneath a bobber, using a slow retrieve. Let it sit for several seconds, give it a bump, let it sit there, and continue to work it slowly.”
Anglers fishing from boats should cast toward shallow, rocky shorelines. Both lakes possess this type of shoreline on the sides bordering Land Between the Lakes, although Barkley Lake is less rocky than Kentucky Lake overall. The lakes’ shorelines are rockier towards the mouths of embayments.
Bank fishing in these areas is also productive. However, anglers must be careful not to spook fish in the shallow, clear water. “If you are fishing from a boat, you must stay back away from the bank and cast,” Buynak said. “If you get too close to the bank, you’re going to spook the fish.”
As cold winter days give way to early spring, the time is right to target black crappie at Kentucky’s two largest lakes. Anglers willing to update their fishing methods will find good prospects this year.
Kentucky and Barkley lakes have a 20-fish daily creel limit, 10-inch minimum size limit for both species of crappie. For complete fishing regulations, pick up a copy of the 2009-10 Kentucky Fishing and Boating Guide, available wherever fishing licenses are sold.
—KDFWR
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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Questions and answers with: Dave Stewart, Bass Buster Guide Service
January 1, 2009 by admin · Comments Off
Dave Stewart of Bass Buster Guide Service in Benton, Ky.Years guiding: 6. Contact number: 270-354-5039. Email: dave@kentuckylakeguide.com
Kentuckyfishing.com: How did you get started as a guide and why?
Dave Stewart: Actualy, I got started after I retired from the military in 1995. I moved to Kentucky Lake and I was living at a resort. People at the resort asked me if I could take some people out who weren’t catching fish. I helped them catch fish and this eventually became a business.
Kentuckyfishing.com: What do you like about the job?
Dave Stewart: I like he people. Outdoors people, especially anglers, have got to be some of the best people to be around. For me, watching clients catch fish has become more fun than catching the fish myself.
Kentuckyfishing.com: What do you not like so much about the job?
Dave Stewart: Winter. I hate the off season. I get bored.
Kentuckyfishing.com: What is your favorite tactic?
Dave Stewart: I primarily guide for bass; it makes up probably 95 percent of my business. For smallmouth, I love to fish crankbaits and jerkbaits in teh spring. In the summer I fish for largemouth and I love to use Carolina rigs. Kentucky and Balrkley are good Carolina rig lakes. I love to fish tubes, too. That’s kind of a trademark of mine, tube fishing.
Kentuckyfishing.com: Why do you like to fish for bass over other species?
Dave Stewart: I started ot fishing fo bass in clubs and tournaments. It just seems to be the most challenging of the fish here to catch. I enjoy taking people out, especially those who are having trouble finiding fish. I started out guiding as much crappie as I did bass. But I turned to bass. That’s where my reputation is. Ninety-five percent of my business is tournament preparation.
Kentuckyfishing.com: Are tournament anglers tougher to deal with? Are they more difficult to deal with?
Dave Stewart: Not really. You ahve to take each client as they come. Probably my most favorite clients are children — fathers and sons. But tournament types are not that hard to work with.
Kentuckyfishing.com: Do your clients have special tactics they want to try?
Dave Stewart: I find that for the majority of them, since I do a lot of tournament preparation, most people will leave it up to me. They realize one tactic is not a catch-all. But I do have a lot of people who want to try Carolina rigging.
Kentuckyfishing.com: What is your favorite lure?
Dave Stewart: As a go-to lure I’d have to say a tube. I’ve been fishing them for years and years and years. They’ve just become popular down here in the last few years. I’m not sure I’m happy about that. (laughs) My favorite lure to throw, though, is probably a Carolina rig or a crankbait. But a tube is definitely the go-to lure. When nothing else will work a tube will get you some fish.
Kentuckyfishing.com: When do you most like to fish?
Dave Stewart: I love spring. I love the early smallmouth and the pre-spawn largemouth. It’s got to be the most productive and the most fun fishing there is. Those are the days of the big numbers and the big fish.
Kentuckyfishing.com: What kind of cover or areas do you like to fish the most?
Dave Stewart: The obvious would be stumps. Old stump fields are the most productive. I also like brush piles. If you find those brush piles you can score fish. But fish like to cruise open water. So it changes all year long.
First published in The Kentucky Fishing Journal, February 2003
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 .
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.
For Kentucky smallmouth in the heat, turn your back to the banks
August 29, 2008 by admin · Comments Off
“We’re going to live or die on one hole,” Lynn Lane had told a tournament partner. By noon, the latter was looking more likely, with neither a bass in the livewell nor a missed hit to lend hope. Lane stuck with his guns, however, and at 12:30, after six hours of fishing, he got his first bump. By 2:30, when he and his partner had to head for the weigh-in, they had an 18-pound limit in the boat.
The difference?
Current.
Tennessee Valley Authority began running enough water to create current over the bar that Lane was fishing, and the fish turned on as if someone had hit a switch. Such is the nature of summer smallmouth fishing on Kentucky and Barkley lakes, where Lane guides and competes in tournaments and has fished all his life.
Lane, who typically fishes for largemouths and smallmouths together more so than he targest one species, does most of his summer fishing with his back to banks. “Out on the deep structure near the main river channel is where you’ll find the most fish — and usually the best fish — on these lakes,” he said.
Going vertical for ledge cats
August 1, 2008 by admin · Comments Off
By Steve Vantreese
Lighten up and get down, but don’t expect to chill out.
Kuttawa, Ky., fishing guide Malcolm Lane isn’t offering philosophy of grooving when he advocates going lighter. He means tackle and line. And down means contact with the bottom. Any chilling, meanwhile, seems unlikely when it comes to one of his favorite endeavors — mid-sumer catfish pursuit on the big waters of Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake.
Lane, who operates on the big western Kentucky waters as Hook, Line and Sinker guide service, is a 40-year pro fish finagler who more and more nowadays looks to the whiskered species for amusing visiting anglers. On the giant, canal-linked reservoirs, the headliners traditionally have been black bass and crappie, with a special summer consideration for the swarms of white bass that are popular with masses of locals and visitors alike.
