This kind of weather pattern usually pushes the sunfish spawn back a few weeks, but everything is on schedule so far this year.

“It is about ready to break open,” said Gerry Buynak, assistant director of fisheries for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “With the 80-degree temperatures coming, all heck is going to break loose on sunfish.”

Some lakes already show signs that bluegill and redear sunfish, or shellcrackers, are spawning in north-central Kentucky. Biologists report the sunfish already completed their spawning on small lakes in southern and western Kentucky.

“We saw some bluegill spawning while sampling for largemouth bass at Boltz Lake in Grant County and at Elmer Davis Lake in Owen County,” said Kathryn Emme, assistant central fisheries district biologist for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. “We saw lots of good bluegill.”

A sunfish tagging study on bluegill and redear sunfish is underway at 149-acre Elmer Davis Lake. Kentucky Fish and Wildlife’s fisheries division asks anglers on Elmer Davis Lake to participate in the study. If you catch a bluegill or redear sunfish from the lake with a white tubular tag toward the rear of the fish, please place the tag in a drop box at the boat ramp by the dam. Envelopes are provided at the drop box. Only one tag should be placed in each envelope. The tag may be clipped prior to release for those anglers practicing catch and release.

“We saw some redear sunfish up to 11 inches and bluegill up to nearly 9 inches at Elmer Davis,” said Jason Russell, fisheries technician for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. “We saw quite a few 10-inch redear sunfish.”

A 10-inch or longer redear sunfish qualifies for a trophy fish certificate in Kentucky Fish and Wildlife’s Trophy Fish program.

The bluegill and redear sunfish spawned already in small lakes in southern Kentucky such as 27-acre Spurlington Lake in Taylor County, 17-acre Briggs Lake in Logan County and 68-acre West Fork of Drakes Reservoir in Simpson County.

However, on bigger lakes such as Barren River Lake and Green River Lake, high water placed the sunfish spawn on hold for a time. “Barren is 11 feet above normal,” said Eric Cummins, southwestern fishery district biologist for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. “Green River is 8 feet above normal. The peak sunfish spawning activity on our larger lakes doesn’t look like it has occurred yet. They will be waiting until the water stabilizes.”

That doesn’t mean the sunfish aren’t biting. “Fishing will still be decent for them on those lakes,” Cummins said. “The bluegill and redear will be hanging around flooded brush and trees, but they will be more spread out.”

Cummins recommends Spurlington Lake and West Fork of Drakes Reservoir for large bluegill and redear sunfish although they are in a post spawn mode. “The redear sunfish in West Fork of Drakes are dinner plates, they are huge,” he said. “That lake next spring should be lights out. We saw a lot of 7- to 8-inch bluegill that will be 9 inches plus next year.”

The fisheries division stocked redear sunfish in Spurlington Lake in 2007 and again this year. “There’s redear sunfish in there now that are 8 inches and longer,” Cummins said. “Some of the bluegill in there approach 10 inches long.”

Spurlington Lake holds a healthy amount of aquatic vegetation that shields bluegill and redear sunfish from the largemouth bass that eat them. West Fork of Drakes Reservoir also possesses abundant aquatic weeds in its waters.

Target sunfish by drifting a 1/32- or 1/16-ounce feather jig tipped with a small minnow or mealworm over shallow flats, especially if the flat has whitish circles on it that reveal sunfish nests. You can fish this rig suspended under a small bobber or cast it without one.

One-inch tube jigs and curly-tailed grubs rigged on a 1/16-ounce leadhead jig also produce sunfish right now. Redworms fished across mud flats or down pea-gravel points on a size 6 or 8 Aberdeen hook with just a BB split shot crushes sunfish right now. You can add a bobber to this rig or fish it alone.

Grab an ultralight rod, a few feather jigs and a plastic container of mealworms or redworms and enjoy some of the best bluegill and redear fishing of the year. These fish bite willingly and provide as good a fight for their size as any fish that swims in Kentucky.

By KDFWR

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The proposed regulations would also apply to other department-owned lakes, including Beaver, Boltz, Carpenter, Corinth, Elmer Davis, Guist Creek, Kincaid and Kingfisher.

Local landowners around Lake Malone will soon receive an information packet from the department regarding recommendations made by a 14-member advisory committee. The recommendations include safety and construction standards for any new walkways or staircases along the shoreline under a new permitting system. The recommendations also address permanent structures such as sheds and gazebos built on department property.

Approximately 500 landowners around Lake Malone, where encroachment upon department-owned property is the most widespread, will receive a mailed summary of recommendations. Landowners around other department-owned lakes may see the recommendations online at fw.ky.gov. Residents without computer access may call the department to request a copy at 1-800-858-1549.

By KDFWR

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