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

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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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You’re alone in your boat on one of the hottest days of the year. The water is still. Then, a splash behind you. You turn and find only ripples. Next, a kerplunk in front of you. You look to shore in search of rock-throwing kids. Nothing. You look up for the birds that must be making a bombing run on your fishing trip.

Fishing guide Rodney Hairgrove showed off a typical white bass. He and a client each caught the 15-fish limit within 2 hours on Kentucky Lake.

Striped bass sometimes gather with their smaller white bass cousins to mob baitfish in what’s called the jumps. On Kentucky Lake, boats line up at Eureka Flats during the summer to take advantage.
Before you know it, you look down again and the water’s boiling all around you. And you begin to see the culprits: white bass.

They’re murdering a school of baitfish, and those baitfish are going airborne in a frantic attempt to escape.

The scene, occurring at a lake near you and often called the “jumps” in Kentucky, is the perfect opportunity to do some marauding of your own. Simply throw a Rooster Tail, a small spoon or a small crankbait into the middle of the maelstrom. If it shines and moves fast, a fish is likely to hammer it.

Mid and late summer in Kentucky — when the water is warm enough to rival the coffee in your thermos — is the perfect time to target white bass, a favorite for those who love pan fishing and fish fries.

“It’s fast action,” said Rodney Hairgrove, a fishing guide who has been taking customers out for some 20 years on Kentucky Lake and Lake Bark ley. “Customers love it.”

Bass, bluegill and crappie guides often keep a rod and reel armed with a Rooster Tail sitting on the deck in case they run into jumps, which can appear sporadically during a typical summer day.

For the majority of summer, white bass are lurking deeper, chasing baitfish down below just as they do on top. They’re likely to be cornering bait on points or in underwater creek and river channels. They gang up anywhere baitfish bunch up, which is usually anywhere there’s a break in lake current.

Guides teach anglers who want to catch white bass in the deep to fish vertically. They position their boats in shallower water about 15 feet deep and cast or drop spinners or spoons 10 feet farther down to the ledge where the bottom drops down into an old underwater creek or river channel. They reel the spinners as fast as they can or bounce the flashy spoon all along the ledge.

Then they hold on because white bass have one reliable trait.

“They hammer the bait,” Hairgrove said. “There’s nothing delicate about white bass bites.”

Strong currentattracts white bass

Kentucky and Barkley are among the state’s most legendary white bass lakes.

The reason is current, said Paul Rister, the state’s western district fishery biologist who oversees the management of the lakes.

During the hottest days, the Tennessee Valley Authority pulls water through the dam in response to demand for electricity. The hotter the day, the more people use air conditioners. More air conditioning equals a lot more current.

That current pulls bait clumsily onto and over ledges and sometimes even up onto flats. The white bass wait for it. The most famous flats on Kentucky and Barkley are Eureka Flats near the canal that runs between the two lakes. It’s a short run from the Kentucky Dam Village in Gilbertsville.

When water is pulled through Barkley’s dam, it also pulls water from Kentucky Lake through the canal and up onto those flats. The convergence of water from several directions, the big underwater river channel, and the very shallow flats area create the perfect place for baitfish to ball up. It’s also the perfect ambush spot for white bass and anglers.

On any given day during summer, dozens of boats camp out early in the morning on the edge of Eureka Flats, trolling around to find the perfect spot.

It’s one of the few times in fishing where it’s OK to get a little bit closer to your neighbor. Boats line up along the Eureka Flats edge and fish only far enough away from each other to avoid tangled casts.

While Eureka Flats is the most well known, Hairgrove and other guides usually have dozens of spots they’ve mapped out over the years. Every once in a while, he takes clients away from the crowd at Eureka to try out some of them.

His typical gear is light: spinning tackle with six-pound test. On a good day, the fish average a pound. On light tackle, a one-pound white bass can feel like a five-pound largemouth.

An added bonus to fishing in areas where white bass hang out is that striped bass, their larger relatives, also are known to gather to bombard baitfish.

On a recent trip with Hairgrove, his client hooked into a striper with a Rooster Tail. The ensuing battle lasted five minutes as the angler walked around the boat to keep the fish from breaking off. Hairgrove had a client who went out the next day with his kindergarten-age daughter and caught an eight-pound striper doing the same thing.Drought affecting size

Rister said white bass fishing in Kentucky, and particularly at Kentucky and Barkley, is good this year but probably has been better.

He agrees with anglers’ reports of smaller fish. He suspects the reason is drought in recent years.

White bass need and want current to thrive and reproduce. During drought over the past few years, the TVA hasn’t been able to pull as much water out of the lake. Other lakes have the same issue.

“There are fewer fish,” he said. “But there are still lots out there. Rain this year is likely to improve things.”

It’s a good thing. Many guides make their livings on white bass in the summers. They’ll take clients out for white bass in the morning and then switch to much slower largemouth fishing in the afternoon. Still, that rod loaded with Rooster Tail is never far away.

After 20 years, Hairgrove never tires of scouring the jumps. When clients start catching fish, he laughs and gets more and more excited as the frenzy continues.

“You just can’t beat this,” he said.
Chris Poore, a former Herald-Leader staff writer and editor, is the editor of KentuckyFishing.com, a new online fishing magazine.

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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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—Steve Vantreese

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Whoa. The thought that the interstate that runs a few miles from my Frankfort home could lead not only to a new adventure – fly fishing is challenging enough in daylight – but also a “honey hole” for a prized gamefish was compelling. And I-64’s eastern terminus is Chesapeake Bay and Virginia Beach – precisely at Atlantic Avenue smack across from a Holiday Inn fronting the ocean. (Technically, it’s I-264 but that’s quibbling.)
Striper nirvana for Christmas beckoned. For background, they’re rich in history, one of the icons of recreational and commercial fishing. In colonial times, their sale was taxed to support public schools. It’s a boom and bust fishery. Their numbers fluctuate with pressure from commercial and casual fishing, pollution and government regulation, among other factors.
Stripers took on a whole new dimension nearly a half century ago when biologists discovered they could not only survive in fresh water, but thrive. Thus today, they’re worth millions to Kentucky’s Lake Cumberland economy because that fishery has become one of the nation’s better freshwater destinations for stripers – 40-pounders are not uncommon. All it took was one nationally-aired TV program of the Cumberland stripers and it became Kentucky’s hottest fish.
But long before that, stripers were providing one of nature’s most spectacular scenes. That’s the fall migration of stripers and other species from Maine south down the Atlantic coast to North Carolina’s Outer Banks.
It’s one of the world’s greatest wildlife migrations and it’s addicted millions of fishers in boats and with surf rods fascinated by stripers when they go on a feeding frenzy. The water literally boils as pods of stripers chase and trap schools of baitfish. They cut them to ribbons with viscous, slashing strikes. The striper feeding mass is sometimes so thick that the quality of a good fly is one made of materials that will slide easily off their backs and into the water where it can do some good.
It’s called a “blitz.” To find blitzing stripers, fishers look for birds circling to prey on the baitfish. Some enterprising entrepreneur could probably sell tickets to tourists to witness the whole scene. It’s that spectacular.
There was no blitz on the Chesapeake the night Pepper took me out to weave among the bridge pilings. The bay stripers are called “schoolies” and they hang around mostly year around as a sort of a side show to the main event. But there they were, under the bridges, at night, attracted to the baitfish which were attracted by the bridge lights. It’s the food chain thing.
Fly fishing is traditionally known as a gentle, serene pastime with cool mountain streams murmuring with flowing water. That was not at hand here. It lacked every element of serenity. The boat rocked and bounced to choppy waves and strong tidal currents. It was cold, three-layer clothing cold.
Pristine? Murmuring? Exhaust-belching heavy trucks roared a few feet overhead. Tires whined and slapped the pavement. Horns blared from motorists rushing in Christmas-shopping traffic.
We cast our 6, 7 and 8 weights tapered to 15-pound fluorocarbon sidearm because of the low ceiling. The key was keeping in sight the fly – in this case heavy Clousers. If you don’t know where your fly is hitting the water in relation to the stripers, you’re out of luck.  For practice, try throwing something lead-eyed 30 feet at a tea cup. At night. The other key is to keeping the boat in position around the bridge pilings for the casting, no easy task given the wind, cold, tidal current and poor visibility. Pepper’s better at the helm than he thinks.
So it was with the I-64 stripers. I caught more than I could count in the 18 to 21 inch range (they must be 18 to keep There’s no better testimony to a good time on the water with a fly rod than losing track of the numbers. They say the best time to go fishing is when you can because you never know when or where you’ll find it good. That made Christmas in the Chesapeake with its bridge stripers all the sweeter.

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A day's catch on Kentucky Lake.

The next morning, we were on the water around 9:30 or so.  We fished until lunch time when our coolers were completely full.  We cleaned all the fish we had caught so far and made room for an afternoon of refilling them.  While at the cleaning station we talked to some seasoned vets that showed us their massive red ear and let us know they were catching them on chucks of night crawlers.  During lunch time a nasty storm rolled through, unfortunately while we were stuck on the dock, but that story is for the “Near Death Experiences” website.  After the storm subsided and we ate, we were back at it around 2 p.m.  May dad and I began to kill it.  Just about every cast pulled up a slab bluegill or red ear.  We were laughing, because it was that unbelievable.  We weren’t even able to get more than one line wet.  I felt like I was doing something wrong, like stealing money from somebody.  We filled our cooler in what seemed like an hour.  We went over to our friend’s boat and emptied our cooler into one of theirs.  We then proceeded to fill it once more before we went in.  We were dumbfounded.  We were throwing back smaller fish that we normally would keep closer to home.  The night crawler tip paid off.
That evening, a cold front moved in threw off the fishing for the last day of our trip.  I will never forget the sight of the cleaning table being completely full with panfish and the electric filet knife saved us about five hours of cleaning.  We ended up bringing home over 250 panfish and 5 or 6 catfish.

By kentuckyfishing.com contributor Jacob Knight

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Editor’s note: Jonathan Palmer is a frequent contributor to www.kentuckyfishing.com. He’s also a terrific photojournalist who manages to shoot great pictures while he’s fishing. Check out his work in a publication near you, or at www.jonathanpalmer.net.

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By Phil Junker

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