This week on Kentucky Afield.

We're on the water with the state's only high school all-American bass fisherman Evan Fields.

Next, we'll tag along with a conservation officer and see what a day in their shoes looks like during the summer months.

Then, we're looking ahead to fall hunting and the beagles can't wait.

It's all next on Kentucky Afield.

Hello and welcome to Kentucky Afield.

I'm your host, Chad Miles.

Join us as we journey the Commonwealth in search of outdoor adventure.

When you hear the term all-American, you may immediately think about basketball or football.

But now Academy Sporting Goods is putting together their own list of all Americans in high school bass fishing.

High school bass fishing is something that is growing throughout the entire United States and especially right here in Kentucky.

And today I'm out here with a individual who was recently named a high school all-American.

Evan, tell me a little bit about high school bass fishing and this recent award that you've won as a high school all-American fisherman.

High school, bass fishing.

It's the fastest growing sport in the nation right now.

It's it's taking off.

And to be able to get that award top 12 in the nation, that's definitely something I'll never forget.

BASSMASTER does this award it's presented through Academy Sports and they pick 12 people across the country.

Yes, sir.

And the only one from Kentucky.

And it was yourself.

And that is a great accomplishment.

So you fish for Collins High School in Shelby County.

You've won quite a few tournaments.

Yes, sir.

Well, we're here on one of your home lakes.

Yeah, Guist Creek.

This is a lake that gets quite a bit of pressure.

Sometimes it can be a little bit tough to get big numbers of fish.

But I know that they're catching some fish.

I'm looking forward to talking to you a little bit about your future plans and what techniques you like to fish the most.

Let's do it.

I think we'll catch a few.

Look at those fish.

Those hybrids are going nuts.

Hybrid bass would not exactly count in a bass tournament, but, hey, they're super fun to catch.

Does that look like a carp.

to you?

I believe that was our carp.

I'll tell you one thing that'll get you excited, though.

You see something come up hitting like that.

But we're not here to catch carp today.

We'll start at this point and work our way.

This way.

That sounds good.

What do we got here.

Look at that little bitty large mouth, about five or six inches.

We're getting closer it's the species we're looking for just not the right size.

When you're tournament bass fishing in high school, it's a team right?

Yes sir.

So how important is it to have a partner fishing, the same technique or the same pace and speed that you're fishing?

Actually, I've found it better to have a partner that doesn't necessarily enjoy the same techniques as you, that gives the fish a different look and you can cover two different strategies, and that helps out a lot.

If you need to adapt, one of us can adapt and catch them the way the other persons catching them.

So far as a style or technique.

What would you say that is your strength?

Anybody at this lake would say frog, anybody anywhere else would say finesse fishing, deep suspended fish.

Yeah tournament fishing It's not about catching numbers.

It's about catching the five right fish.

Finesse Fishing is a way just to guarantee the best chance to have at least five you know.

So, Evan, you were a senior this year.

You've now graduated high school, right?

Yes, sir.

What are your plans?

What's the next step?

I'm going to attend Campbellsville University in the fall.

They have a top 25 bass fishing program in the nation, and I'm excited to be a part of their team.

What are you going to major in any plans?

Well, undecided as of now, but I know I need to start figuring that out pretty soon.

Well, you'll have some time.

I changed my major a couple times.

What did you end up majoring in?

I got my degree in business management and marketing.

That's probably the route I'll end up going.

Oh, there's one.

He jumped for us.

There you go.

So you're throwing a little top water poppin style bait?

Yes sir ive been throwing a storm chug bug but those have rattles in them and the skitter pop is solid.

There's one.

That thing had some brown color to it.

Oh, just saw the belly.

Oh, look how he's hooked.

Got him wrapped up.

Yeah, they'll do it to themselves sometimes.

I'll need pliers on that one.

There we go.

Little one.

Large mouth bass, large mouth.

Green Sunfish.

Not what we're looking for.

But when you're fishing, technique is finesse.

Fishing, you got to sometimes run through the small fish and sometimes the the species that you're not targeting.

You got to just catch them and get rid of them, get back out there and try to catch what you're targeted Species is which today is large mouth bass.

So, Evan, how did you get into fishing?

I've been fishing my whole life.

We used to live in Minnesota and there's tons of lakes up there.

Bluegill fished, perch fished, just caught what I could catch.

moved here and continued to fish the way I did up there and my seventh grade year they started the bass fishing team at Collins.

Ever since then, bass fishing has been my passion.

So, Evan, what were the qualifications or what allowed you to get this presentation of all American?

So they take a few things into consideration.

They take tournament finishes, GPA, conservation, and then one more community service.

They take all four of those.

Okay.

We had three tournament wins in 2021, which was unheard of in the high school world.

Well, it's the right species, but it's about the same size.

So Evan I'm sure you've kind of looked into college bass fishing and how they conduct those tournaments.

What's the biggest difference in the format and how college and high school bass fishing is done?

The difference between college in high school, well, first thing, you don't have any boat captains in college.

You get to do it all on your own.

You get to travel a whole lot more places.

You get to go around the country.

I'm very excited for that.

I believe somebody needs to come up here with a fillet knife, knock out a couple of these green sunfish.

Man, they are thick.

There he goes.

Three in a row.

There you go.

That bass tried to run that right out here to me.

He picked it up under that bush and ran it straight out.

Look under that tree theres a beaver right there.

It's kind of cool looking.

He's pretty curious.

Usually they'll slap that tail.

Kind of tell you get away from here.

He doesn't seem too intimidated.

There's one that's a good one.

Top water again?

Yep.

It's not a good one, but it's bigger than anything.

We've got all day.

Hey, there you go.

You want a net?

No, I'll get it.

Low and behold, you stuck with it.

You know, you talk about throwing your certain style and having confidence with it.

And that fish there is fat.

Yeah.

A keeper.

Yeah.

Nice job.

Thank you.

Well Evan I'll tell you what, I know you're a bass tournament guy, but we probably should have just targeted green sunfish today because, man, we have caught a blue thousand of them.

We're trying bass fish.

We're here for bass.

Go tell your buddies.

Bass fishing is great.

It's a great way to promote fishing.

But there's one really great thing about just going and fun fishing, and that is when the fishing is tough, we can go get a sandwich, and take it easy.

That's right.

You're tournament fishing, man.

When the fishing gets tough, you got to stick with it.

I'll tell you what, I've had a great time fishing with you, and I appreciate you bringing us out today.

What an accomplishment.

Bassmaster magazine awarding you their all-American status and best of luck at college bass fishing.

I'm sure you're going to do great.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

Any time you're in or near water, safety is always a major concern.

And that is one of the primary jobs of our Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation Officers.

We are on Green River Lake today and we are going to just be out on normal patrol.

Our main goal today is going to be to enforce public safety laws, to make sure everybody stays safe.

We want the sportsmen and women of Kentucky to enjoy the water, but we want to make sure they get to go home tonight.

So we're going to be enforcing lifejacket violations.

Riding in dangerous positions.

If we come across any fishermen, we would check fishing license too, while we're out here and also BUI enforcement for anybody that may be operating a vessel under the influence of alcohol.

So those are the types of things that we'll be looking for today.

This boat is showing an expired registration.

We're going to see if that registration is current, maybe they haven't put it on there.

We'll go ahead and do a boat inspection while we're here, make sure the operator seems to be sober and all that good stuff and we'll just see what we got once we get up here.

Hey, guys.

How are you all today?

Good how about you?

Good.

I'm Officer Ervin of Fish and Wildlife.

I'm going to pull over next to you real quick.

The reason I'm stopping you is I don't see any registration on this side.

I didn't know we had to have one I'm from Florida.

Is this a Florida boat?

It is.

Okay.

You got your proof of registration with you?

While I'm here we'll go ahead and do a boat inspection as well.

That's fine.

If I could see a lifejacket for you two.

A wearable lifejacket.

I see all of it laying right there in the back.

When we pull up for a boat inspection.

This is what we are looking for.

Every boat has to be equipped with a wearable PFD for everybody on board and if your boat is 16 foot or longer, it also has to be equipped with a Type four PFD, a throwable device.

You also have to have a fire extinguisher if you have a gasoline motor.

It's good.

And you also have to have a sounding device, whether that be a horn or a whistle.

Whistles here.

Good deal, guys.

You all got everything you're supposed to have.

I'm going to push off now.

Enjoy the rest of your day.

Okay.

That was a Florida boat.

So that's the reason they didn't have any registration.

On one side, the state of Florida, you only have to have registration on one side of your boat.

However, that is enough for a stop.

They did have it registered as you're supposed to have.

So there's no violation.

There's two guys fishing off this boat over here.

We'll go ahead and check their fishing license and their creel, see if they've got any fish on board.

Hey, guys.

How are you all today?

Good how are you?

Good.

I'm Officer Ervin with Fish and Wildlife.

Going to pull up here next to you.

Go right ahead.

Catching any fish?

Just seen one.

Did you?

Yeah.

Gotcha.

Thank you, sir.

Alright, that's it.

I appreciate it, man.

Thank you.

Yeah, there you go.

Thank you, sir.

That's it.

Can we take a look in your livewell while we're here?

Don't mind a bit in the world.

Awesome.

You all do some musky fishing?

Yes sir.

Is that what you are after today?

Yeah.

I mean, they're fun.

Yeah, absolutely.

Well good deal guys, I hope you all have a great evening.

Catch a bunch of fish.

So we got to check fishing license right here.

Everybody was compliant, super friendly and no fish yet.

But, you know, maybe they'll get on them later this evening.

A lot of times I get asked what does a conservation officer do?

And I think a lot of people don't understand us because there's so few of us.

But just so everybody knows, a conservation officer, we have full enforcement power, just like any other police officer in the state.

We do have a specific mission set.

Our main mission is to go out and to enforce hunting, fishing and boating violations.

However, while we're doing that, if we run across anything else, whether it be drugs or anything, we certainly have that authority to enforce those regulations.

And we do that.

We're in a day and time where you can't just go out and work, hunting, fishing and boating and not expect to run into something else because it's everywhere.

Somebody set some noodles out here.

See if they can catch some catfish.

By law, you got to have your customer I.D.

number off your fishing license on it.

So we're going to pull up make sure it's properly documented, and we'll go from there Yeah they've got it on there.

We can actually run that customer I.D.

number through our system, make sure whoever set these noodles has a current fishing license.

So this is a legal noodle.

I'll throw that back in the water.

We'll go out here and get a count on them, make sure they don't have more than 50.

That's allowed to have by law.

It looks like they got 49.

They are compliant and good to go.

There's a couple kayakers over here.

I'll go over and check on them.

Hey guys are you all doing all right today?

Yeah.

Good.

I'm Officer Ervin with Fish and Wildlife.

You all have any luck?

Gotcha.

He's at least 12 inches he's good.

You all got a fishing license handy?

Thank you, sir.

All right.

All right.

Thanks, sir.

All right.

And what about you, man?

I do but don't have it on me though.

You don't have it on you?

No.

He gave me his name and date of birth, so I did call it in and ensured that he did have a current 2019 fishing license.

I just want to make sure that everybody knows that you do actually have to have your fishing license on your person and you can be issued a citation for that.

The individual day was issued a courtesy warning.

So you've got a life jacket.

You got a life jacket.

Everybody's got a life jacket.

So I appreciate that.

I think a lot of times I see kayakers out on the water and they don't understand or they don't know the law about having to have a life jacket with them.

It is a vessel.

It is on the water.

And by law, you do have to have a life jacket with you in the boat.

Well guys I'm going to push off.

You all be safe.

Enjoy the rest of your evening ok. Hey, guys.

How are you all today?

Alright and you?

I'm good.

I'm Officer Ervin with Fish Wildlife.

I'm going to pull up here next to you real quick.

Thanks guys.

How you fellas doing?

I'm doing great.

Hey man the reason I'm stopping you is you're showing an expired registration sticker up in the front.

I know this is a rental boat.

Oh yeah.

I noticed that once I stopped you.

So I tell you what I'm going to do.

I'm going to do a boat inspection real quick.

Make sure y'all got everything you're supposed to have.

If I could, driver you're the operator, so if you could just give me a lifejacket for everybody on board and just hand them out, y'all sit down.

Just let him hand them out.

There you go, buddy.

Do you got to throw cushion like a square throw cushion right there.

All right.

A fire extinguisher.

Make sure it's good.

Yeah it's good.

Thank you, sir.

Appreciate it.

And horn or whistle, something makes a noise.

So you got a whistle right here.

Hey man I see some alcohol, some flasks.

How many have you had to drink today?

Not a whole lot.

So as conservation officers, you know, we do wear many hats.

We get to check a lot of people fishing, hunting, boating.

We want people to be able to come out here and enjoy the outdoors.

That's what our job is, is to make sure that everybody stays safe.

And whenever people make poor decisions, they put other people in danger.

Then we have a job to do.

Whether that to issue a citation or make an arrest.

Our Fall hunting seasons here in Kentucky are right around the corner.

And one season I'm really looking forward to is rabbit season.

It's funny watching a dog like that, feeling like he's being left out.

Well, it looks like we jumped our first rabbit and got our first rabbit down.

man, I believe that is a swamp rabbit.

That's a good sign.

Yeah, it's a swamper.

Well, we said we were far enough.

Come here girls, come here, girls.

That's a really good size rabbit.

Look at that.

Come here, girls.

Nice job.

Thank you.

All right, so this little man said he wanted become a competition champion.

Rabbit hauler.

Well, we're going to get started with a swamp rabbit right off the bat.

How about that?

Alright.

How's that feel?

Feels like success right there.

Doesn't it?

The dog said, Hey, I'm moving on.

There's more rabbits than that, fellas.

Don't get down.

That rabbit drag you down?

He was high stepping just for a second.

I don't think we got it.

They got to get us back to the range.

stay that way, because they didn't get it.

There you go.

Nice shot.

Stay right there where the dogs will go get it.

Right here it is.

Right here.

Right here it is, girls.

Here it is, girls.

Yeah.

Pick it up.

Pick it up, pick it up.

There it is.

There it is.

There it is.

good girls boy, that's a heck of a chase, you boys had hit it.

Did you all see it when it come out?

I had a gimme because it was crawling.

Oh.

It was hit a little bit.

Nice shot Paul I saw it when you said he's right here.

I was kind of looking this way, trying to spread out, and I saw It come through.

you put a good shot on it.

Good job.

Beautiful.

Good girl.

Where was he at?

Oh he come out of there like a rocket.

I mean, that rabbit had its ears laid back.

It only touched the ground once between the thicket and about right here.

Get him, girls.

Get him, girls.

Lets get one more.

I'm telling you, man, it's just like Red Rover.

They know where the weak link is.

They're gonna run right by Darren all day.

I hear him.

Got one down.

I'll tell you, what, every rabbit that has been killed has been big rabbits.

Do you see that thing?

It may need to be tagged and telechecked.

Yeah you done taught this boy to work.

What's your limit?

They said three was his limit.

Just jumped that one.

new rabbit?

Yeah.

she just jumped that rabbit.

Is that a rabbit right there?

I think that's the dogs white.

You sure?

Right there, Chad.

Dead.

Did you hear that voice change?

like she just jumped that one.

Oh my Gosh.

Oh, that's a good one there.

That's pretty good.

That's a kangaroo.

You ever seen such a rabbit?

Look at that joker thats a good one there.

He was slipping right down the edge of this this ditch right here, right on the top side of it, had to shoot through some pretty thick briars.

Now look there's where it's dead watch them turn back around.

Lets hope.

Come here.

Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.

Come here Marie Anne, here, come here, here, here.

Good girl.

Good girl.

Is Gracie girl with you?

Get ready.

Rabbits coming at us boys.

Did you see that?

have a little trouble ditch?

Did you get it?

They sound like it.

Pretty confident.

Just boom.

It's a big one.

And, you know, this isn't the type of area that I would expect to be seeing swamp rabbits up here.

But it's about all we've jumped.

And it's crazy too because the dogs ain't really been able to run them because the the couple I've seen them rabbits are literally just crawling and then dogs come up on them.

and they'll take off a little bit.

And man, they held tight.

And you know, we talked about the other day, I love to fish.

I'd rather fish than anything but this right here is hard to beat.

You get it?

Oh, did you?

Right here he is.

Right here.

Right here, right here, right here, right here.

Look at there.

Look at there look at there.

Look at there.

That's him thats him.

Come here.

And here it is, Dottie.

There it is.

I love listening to these dogs.

When they get excited and they start carrying on and gets me excited, I enjoy it.

I could do it all day.

Every day.

Really.

What'd we get, six bunnies?

Do we have any cottontails?

I'm curious to see.

I think that one I shot might have been a cottontail.

Yeah, but I think the rest of it may be swampers.

Big ones look at that.

Right?

So come on now.

Come on now.

Share, don't you share?

Compare the size of that rabbit to that dog there.

If I would have got a limit would have had to brought a wheelbarrow.

Yeah.

To get them out of here.

Look at them.

Well, let's go get some some sausage.

That's always the best way to end a good rabbit hunt isn't it?

I ain't got no complaints, lets go do that.

Now let's check in and see who else has been out having fun in this week's ones that didn't get away.

Here we have Eric G. showing off his very first catfish.

Nice job.

Here we have Brooklyn with a nice catfish.

She knows how to beat the heat and fish in style.

Nice job.

Check out the size of this crappie caught by seven year old Joshua W. This crappie was caught in Woodford County and it's a giant nice job.

Check out this nice smallmouth bass that was caught by Case C. This fish weighed three pounds and five ounces and was caught at Cave Run lake.

Nice job.

Are you someone that's been wanting to learn more about hunting?

Well, our Field to Fork classes are a great place to start.

Go to FW.KY.GOV and search for Field to Fork, and remember hunting and fishing on private property is a privilege.

Always ask permission and thank the landowner.

Until next week, I'm your host, Chad Miles and I hope to see you in the woods or on the water.