Hello and welcome to Kentucky Afield.

I'm your host, Chad Miles.

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

This week we're hitting the field for the Spring Youth Turkey season with a father and son team hoping to bag a bird.

Then we're headed to the mountains of eastern Kentucky to check in with biologists and some black bear cubs.

But first, we're headed to Nolin River Lake in search of springtime trophy crappie.

Well, today we're out here on Nolin River Lake, and I'm with Cody William with Reel Faith Crappie Guide.

Yes, sir.

I'll tell you, this lake has been really, really hot for Crappie fishing this year hasn█t it?

It has been phenomenal.

It's been fishing better than it ever has.

Nolan Lake is kind of known for its white bass run.

A lot of people bass fish here, but the crappie fishing is, it's historically been pretty good, but it's been on an uptick in man.

Good quality fish.

Very good quality fish.

I would like to say last year's, high waters and, and the flood probably had something to do with, with our quality this year.

This lake is predominantly a black crappie lake.

A lot of good, healthy population of white crappie as well, and even some hybrid crappie as well.

I know you guide on Nolin and Talorville Lake, but we decided to come out here today because a pound, pound and a half from you very coming down here now.

Yes.

We're going to catch probably a lot of pound, pound half fish.

I would not be surprised if we have at least one, if not several 2 pound crappie today.

Wow.

So that's a that's a great crappie.

Well, let's go find some fish.

Man I'm super excited to get out here.

This is the lake.

I spend a lot of time on, but I don't really crappie fish it a lot.

So to get out here and to see how you locate and find these big, thick slab crappie, I'm super pumped.

I can't wait man, to go.

But let's do it.

So we're going to be using some really small stuff today.

This is our Fry daddy Jig.

It's a 1/32 ounce hand-tied jig.

Goldn sir Truce.

Water is a little stained, but not really.

But this is a pretty good color for here.

Very small 1/32 takes a little bit time to get down there, but it's well worth it.

Once it does, it does.

Yes.

And every now and then we'll do a little weight just above it, just to give us a little extra help.

Get on down there he is right there.

And I tell you one thing that's pretty good.

That little hair jig.

One cast right at him Good crappie.

Let me get that net.

It didn't take long.

There you go.

Decent fish here.

There you go.

Thank you sir.

Probably lone in fish or so.

Yeah, probably 11 12 inch fish.

That's a good one.

It's a good white crappie.

Yeah.

Boy, they wanted that little.

That little jig.

Really good eater.

Fish.

Yeah.

That is, that's perfect size for the for the skillet, isn't it.

Absolutely.

Two fish sandwiches.

Can't go wrong with that one.

It's a nice fish.

You got to.

You got to keep it or let it go.

We're going.

Always come back okay.

We're going to get some more bigger then that.

He reacted more to yours then he did to mine.

Here we go.

You see it's a good one.

There you go.

I'll tell you one thing.

He came up here and looked at it twice.

But, I think the the speed, because of this jig here being a little heavier is a little faster.

Yep.

Yours committed right away.

I think that that little bit lighter jig heads because this water, even though it is 57 degrees, it's the time of year right now.

They're they're a little bit slower.

I tell you what.

Crappie fishing in the spring, it's hard to beat for so many great ways to get out and get on fish this time of year, but crappie fishing is probably about the most consistent it is what a fish.

There you go.

There you go.

Good crappie look like.

It looked like a Crappie.

Black crappie.

There you go.

A good one.

There you go.

Look how that thing is full of eggs.

She's fat as can be.

Yep.

That's a black crappie.

There is the first black crappie we've caught.

The other ones have been white crappie.

And that's a keeper.

We haven't caught a real small fish yet.

There we go.

We have pretty good.

That's a pretty fish.

Black Crappie.

Here we go.

If this is a crappie, It's a good one.

What ya got?

Not really sure.

Looked like a black crappie.

I think it's a crappie.

I got your net ready.

Ain█t as big as I thought, he just.

That's a good fish.

Strong is a horse.

That's a fat fish.

And that fish has some shoulders.

Oh, wow.

That's a fat one.

Now that is a perfect fish for the skillet.

Look how thick and healthy that that fish is.

And strong as a mule.

I actually thought I had a really, really giant crappie when he hit because it started burning my drag.

And, he's not as big as I thought.

But I'll tell you what, that is a perfect fish for the skillet, man.

I tell you what, the the amount of fish action we are seeing and the amount of bait chasing.

Look how fat these fish are.

You know that they're getting pretty close to spawning from crappie, white bass, white crappie, spotted bass, large mouth.

There█s a little bit of everything.

Lookie There.

What a fish.

What a pretty fish.

Oh, look, there's a good one.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, you go another beautiful fish.

Just hanging on that little piece of timber right there.

This fish was just sitting right up on this timber here and dropped the jig down.

And the fish is sitting like this, and you got your jig down on the fish and its nose is up and gets vertical under your bait.

And that's the end of it.

And this is the result of it doesn't take much structure does it.

No.

It's good white fish.

Real good fish like.

So you found that using the live scope, But if you want to just come back here and cast these stick ups, you can do it without live scope.

You can just hit all this timber with a cork and a jig and cork and menor, or how you want to do it, and just cover water and cover trees and you're going to catch a lot of fish.

Here we go.

Oh, that's a good thing that like that one I like the bass.

I█ll still net him for you.

Another bass to it.

It's amazing how these bass are sitting out here around this timber just like the crappie are.

Yep.

These fish have moved up with this sunshine out.

And they're literally just like you were saying, Cody, these fish are laying two feet of water right against that log.

Sun bathing.

And that's a spotted bass.

A bunch of these on this lake.

Not so what if you're crappie fishing and you're keeping fish, You get these up 12-13” long, They really make for a pretty good table fare.

for sure.

Yeah, they do as well.

But we're not keeping anything today.

It's crazy as we are.

We're just pitching them all back.

We're doing it for the fun of this right.

Here it comes back.

You got it.

Get it.

It's got your rod real doubled over.

Oh, yeah.

Thank you.

There you go.

It's a good way to do it.

All the fish all right there.

Caught it for us.

Yep.

You got it down there a little faster.

You know you saw this fish out there and you want to try to get a shot at that.

The wind picked up.

Yeah.

And getting this little bitty 1/64 ounce jig down there in a presentation with the boat moving was tough.

Yeah.

So you put added that little split shot on there.

That sealed the deal for us for sure.

Got him!

Yeah, There we go.

There you go.

Big nice crappie.

Good decent fishing fish there.

There you go.

Fell right on out.

There you go.

That's probably that fish is probably what do you think 12.5 13in 12.5.

And every bit at 12.

Probably 12.5”, yeah.

13” probably.

That is a nice sized crappie no matter what lake you█re on in Kentucky thats like a kentucky lake style crappie and I'll tell you what I don't know how many we've caught this size today, but it's been a fantastic day out on the water.

It has.

And, I just appreciate it.

Here this is kind of like my home lake.

I spend a lot of time here.

I don't spend enough time crappie fishing.

But you have changed my mind.

I'm going to have to go pick up some, 64th ounce little Popeyes.

And, get down here, get the kids out.

Absolutely.

I tell you what, it's been an absolute blast.

I can't tell you how much I appreciate coming out with you today.

Absolutely.

Thank you.

And, you definitely know what you're doing.

And you have a passion for crappie fishing.

Every spring, our turkey season gets kicked off with our youth turkey season, which is always the first Saturday in April.

This year, the fourth and the fifth.

There's several that way.

If there's one roosting over there, he'll probably fly over here.

That would be sweet.

How about that hen that█s over there yelping?

She's probably going to come over here right in front of the gun.

She sounds a little better than I do, doesn't she?

Yeah.

Well Hudson, you think we're going to get your first turkey this morning?

Yep.

I hope we do.

It's opening day of youth season, so I think we'll see something here sometime today.

So we just got to be patient.

This is the same spot your brother got his turkey last year.

Yup.

And he had three big Toms come out.

I remember you were supposed to go with us.

And you didn█t go.

There was three.

You could have shot one, too.

Yeah.

We got several birds within calling distance, so hopefully at some point today they make their way over here.

You remember where to shoot them?

Straight where the feathers meet the neck.

Right.

You shot that gun pretty good yesterday, so I don't think you are going to have any problem if he shows up.

No, this gun's pretty easy to shoot.

Yeah.

You were going to use your .410, but... The 20 is a better option.

If he gets within 40 yards, he'll be in trouble.

That's.

Yeah, I will.

Well Hudson, we still got a few gobbling, but I think they flew down and found some girlfriends.

We need their girlfriends to come out in front of us.

What do you think?

Yeah.

Yep.

Maybe once girlfriends leave them we can call them in.

They've been on the cameras about every day, so if we just be patient, I think I'll show up.

Did you hear that one?

Yep.

He's not too far.

He█s not terribly far.

Hey Hudson.

What?

There's a hen down there.

You see that hen at the end of the ridge?

Yeah.

She came out of nowhere, but hopefully there█s a gobbler following her.

And hopefully she feeds this way because he's going to follow her, I█d say.

If there is one with her.

Yeah.

I forgot our decoys this morning, but she'll be our decoy.

She just needs to get closer.

There█s a deer up there behind her.

Do you see her, Hudson?

Yeah.

There's another.

Is that a buck?

It could be.

I bet you they're about to go bed.

Hudson, are you ready to go get some lunch?

Yeah, I'm pretty hungry.

Alright we will slip out of here and we'll be back soon as we can.

All right.

Well, we just got back.

I got my decoys I forgot this morning, so hopefully that'll help us out.

And, I guess we█re going to go spend the rest of the day in the blind.

You ready?

Yeah.

Hopefully we don't have to wait all day, but we will if we have to.

All right, let's go.

Well, as far as we know, we didn't bump any turkeys coming in.

So hopefully if they come out and see these decoys, they come right up to you.

Yeah.

The decoys really help.

Aim at that jake decoy.

Just like you're aiming at a real turkey.

Does it feel good?

Yep.

Are you right on his head?

Yeah.

Right where the feathers meet the neck?

Yeah.

Okay.

Oh Hudson don█t move there's a hen, like, 20 yards to our left right now.

She's in this long, tall grass heading for the decoys.

Just don█t move.

She's a good decoy isn█t she Hudson?

Yeah.

Did you hear him?

Yeah.

We got one over to our right that is answering us.

I'm hoping he gets in a position where he can see our decoys.

And I think if he does that, he'll be on his way.

I see him.

I see him coming.

They█re in the woods up there.

Oh, yeah.

You see him?

Yeah.

That's 3 gobblers.

He's looking.

He sees the decoys.

Hudson stay really still.

I mean, they might not want to walk through that little gap of tall stuff.

They might want to come around from the left.

Hudson, baby.

Hey.

Hudson, Hudson there's a gobbler.

Put your face mask on.

He's down here to the left.

He's really, really close.

I█m so tired.

He's going to come up here I think.

Hudson you want to shoot this turkey or not?

No.

Hudson, you got to shoot him.

He's coming.

I'm tired.

There's a gobbler in the field.

Oh, he's going to come.

He█s strutting.

Pull your mask up.

Ok here grab your gun.

He's coming.

He's coming straight to the decoys.

You're going to see him pretty soon.

Just don't make any sudden movements, okay?

Ok.

He's going to come.

Oh, man.

He's a big ole tom.

I can see him.

Okay.

He's giant.

He's coming.

Take your gun off the safety but don't put your finger on the trigger.

Just don't move your gun a lot.

Okay?

Ok.

I'm going to call real soft to make him stick his head up.

Okay?

Ok.

Right there, Hudson.

Just go ahead and shoot him right there.

You got him, Hudson!

Yes!

You just smoked your first gobbler.

Good job.

I told you, I said, I said, if we can just stick it out, you're going to get one today.

Man.

We sat in this blind all day, and you just got your first gobbler.

And he's a giant.

He█s giant.

How beautiful was that?

He█s a longbeard too.

He's a big old long beard.

Well, Hudson, we spent all day in this blind.

I don't know how many hours we put in that blind today, but it was a lot.

We saw three that way.

We thought they were going to come, but for whatever reason, they decided they didn't want to.

We've had birds on these other ridges gobbling at us all day long.

I had to wake you up from your nap.

You were sleeping good, weren't you?

Yeah.

But you woke up and took care of business.

And he's got a big ole beard on him don█t he?

Big ole long beard.

Big beard and spurs.

A pretty fan.

I was hearing you say he's right there.

And I was like, where?

And then I looked out, peeked out with one eye from one of those holes in the blind.

And I saw him.

Yeah.

You were half asleep.

Yeah, he was strutting.

He was strutting his stuff.

And we tried our best to get his head to stick up, and he never would do it.

So finally, I had to tell you just to take a shot.

And I don't think you got any shot in the breast at all.

I think you did perfect.

You going to carry him or you want me to?

I'd rather you carry him really.

He's heavy.

Think you can?

Here put him over your shoulder.

Yep.

Just like that.

Ok.

You good?

Yeah.

All right, let's go.

He's as big as you are.

Yeah.

That's what I said.

The black bear population in Kentucky continues to grow.

So let's meet up with some biologists and head to Eastern Kentucky and check on some cubs.

I'm here today in Wayne County with Doctor John Haas.

So we're here today to learn a little bit about bears.

And interesting enough we're going to actually go and check out a potential mother bear that may have some cubs.

Right.

So how long have you been doing this project?

How many bears have you got the sample.

And what do you what are you finding out?

Yeah.

So over the years, I mean, going back to when, I was a University of Kentucky and the people before me there, we've been doing bird and since about 2002, 2003. so we've got a huge long, 20 plus year data set as bears have increased their population here in Kentucky.

And we moved into a hunting season.

this has been something we've been doing, really since I was in Kentucky.

All I see is two.

It's icy message Got their eyes opening.

About a month old.

Male or Female?

That's a male.

any other information in the 20 plus years you guys been doing bear study that you just find very interesting Yeah.

The biggest thing that I think and it's a, it's a wonder of the bear world is they will reproductively compensate based on like their density.

if they're in a place with a high density, they're going to produce more male offspring that then disperse out.

So they're leaving that area.

So somehow they can tell physiologically that the place has got a lot of bears.

They have more males.

Those males leave.

So they're almost controlling the population a little bit on their own biologically.

Yeah.

and so down here this is a little bit younger population.

We're not as high of a density.

We're seeing more females.

So when you look at our sex ratio between, say, Wayne and McCreary County to Harlan Letcher Pike places, we've had bears for a long time now, it is more skewed to females down here.

And it tells us a little bit about how our population are growing.

rate of these cubs that are making it to adulthood is pretty high in Kentucky, isn't it?

It is.

we don't have a lot of really good information on that true Cub survival.

But around the area including what the numbers we've got about 80 to 90%.

Wow.

That's spectacular.

Yeah.

It shows how quickly our populations grown.

So all we do with all our cubs, is we put a pit tag in them, which is a passive integrated transponder.

They'll have a unique barcode to each individual, and this will stay with them for the entirety of their life.

But we can take a scanner and be able to find those later on.

If this bear comes up, if we catch it again or if it shows up in harvest, we█ll be able identify that bear.

And when we caught it.

So between the sex and the number that's in the litter, that provides us with good data for our population estimation.

So these just go under the skin that's and that's it what we did today is a big component of of understanding how many new bears were recruited into the population annually.

you guys have got a lot of, metrics set into your, bear season.

If you're not a bear hunter to know that you're trying not to take females, you're trying not to take younger bears.

Right.

Exactly.

this is a great, thing to point out.

So with our den work, we know that our females that are expecting cubs go in the den mid December.

So I always get a lot of questions about why is or late rifle season in December so late.

Part of it is be conservative, we█re protecting some of these bears that we know we're having cubs here.

it can make hunting a little bit tougher.

But at the same time it's an opportunity to get out that's going to take more of those younger males.

It's conservative way to protect the resource and provide opportunity.

And that's really what the Department of Fish Wildlife tries to do.

Provide opportunity, protect the resource.

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

Check out our old buddy Jonah Hurst with the beautiful 16 inch black crappie that he caught from Green River Lake.

Nice job.

Check out this beautiful 27 inch walleye that was caught by Austin Keeton.

He caught this at the spillway of Cave Run Lake in Bath County.

Nice job.

Here we have Cammie with her first fish ever.

A nice 13 inch black crappie that she caught while fishing in Bullitt County.

Nice job.

April is finally here and the fishing is hot and turkey season is right around the corner.

Now is your time to get ready.

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.