Kentucky Fishing » redear sunfish

Anglers wake up to bluegill bedtime

admin — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 23:09:06 +0000

Last year was my first trip to Kentucky Lake and it was centered around the Spring Crappie spawn. I have never caught so many fish in one trip. For that matter, I’ve never caught that many fish in a season. So, when my father threw out the idea of going back this Spring for the Bluegill and Red Ear spawn, I jumped on it. It was unlike any fishing trip I have been on. We weren’t on the water just before sunrise. We soon found out that we didn’t have to be.
The first day of fishing was the day we arrived and we didn’t get on the lake until after 5 p.m. We put the boat in and searched the cove for a good spot. We found our honey hole near some submerged bushes and started filling the cooler with fish. We were having luck with floating and deadlined red worms. The entire cove was only 6-8 feet deep and when we used a float, we were fishing in the 4-5 foot depth. There was four people in our two boat group, and by the end of that evening, we had enough fish to fill one cooler.

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

Share kentuckyfishing.com content!

The Bream Reaper

admin — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:37:54 +0000

Fishing Kentucky waterways is both a joy and at times can be frustrating. Especially for the fly fisherman. The Dix River is one of the best Trout Streams I have ever fished and the Cumberland River is a bonanza of structure and plenty of trout. Thing is during the rainy season of the year, which we are currently in, it is hard to fish these bodies because the water is too high. We fly fisherman must find other ways to satisfy the fly casting jones. Bream fishing in farm ponds is a great way to both practice casting and timing the setting of the hook on smaller fish. Practicing barrel casts and fishing in tighter spaces rather than wading in a river are good skills to have as a fly fisherman.

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.

Share kentuckyfishing.com content!

Kentucky tags panfish at Elmer Davis Lake

admin — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 02:52:41 +0000

Anglers fishing at Elmer Davis Lake in Owen County can help the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources by returning tags from marked bluegill and redear sunfish (shellcrackers).

Kentucky Fish and Wildlife employees recently inserted tags into more than 250 bluegill and 450 redear sunfish. More fish will be tagged in the coming weeks. Anglers who return tags from these fish are eligible for an award.

Researchers are trying to determine the angler catch of bluegill and redear sunfish. This information will be used in the future to improve panfish fishing in small lakes across the state.

Each tag consists of a piece of white tubing inserted into the back of the fish. Tags contain the department’s name, telephone number and a fish identification number. Each tagged fish will be 6 inches or longer.

Anglers who catch tagged fish should return the tag to Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. For convenience, tags and fish information may be turned in at the lake using the envelopes located at a drop box at the ramp at the lake’s dam.

Anglers practicing catch-and-release may clip the tag from the fish before releasing it. Only one envelope should be used for each tag.

Last year, researchers ran a similar tagging study at Beaver Lake in Anderson County.

Share kentuckyfishing.com content!