When taking kids fishing, it’s not about you
April 27, 2009 by admin · Comments Off
I love to fish so much that I’ve nearly trashed our van on Interstate 75 because I was gazing at South Elkhorn Creek instead of watching the road. I store fishing gear in my car, I’ve raised night crawlers in my kitchen, and I’ve stayed up for 24 hours straight because fish were biting.
I tell you this only because I want you to know that I’m serious when I offer one important piece of advice about taking kids fishing:
Leave your own rod at home.
If you don’t, it will be impossible to follow the second rule of fishing with a kid:
You only have 10 minutes.
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During the spawn, dam if dams aren’t good on the Ohio River
March 1, 2009 by admin · Comments Off
If you want to catch a sauger, now is the time. And the best fishing hole — whether you live in Louisville, Carrollton, Cannelton, Maysville or Smithland — is just outside your back door.”The best place to catch a sauger is in the Ohio River,” said Doug Henley, a fisheries biologist and Ohio River specialist for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.
“You can catch them other places. The Kentucky River has sauger; in fact, we’re continuing to stock above pool 3. The Tennessee River below Kentucky Lake and Cumberland River below Lake Barkley have good numbers of sauger, and some pretty good-size fish, too, I believe. And I would think any of the Ohio’s tributaries should have sauger in them.
“But the Ohio River is our best for sauger.”
To read more, check out Gary Garth’s story at The Courier-Journal by following the link below.
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
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.
