Hello and welcome to Kentucky Afield.

I'm your host, Chad Miles.

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

This week we're going to head out to Hodgenville, Kentucky to target a fish species you may be overlooking.

Then we're going to meet up with a vet to learn a little more about how to manage our hunting dogs in the off season.

But first, we're headed out to rough River.

Like to meet up with Jeremy Mattingly to just go fishing and see what we can catch.

Today I'm out here with Jeremy Mattingly on Rough River Lake.

It's late spring.

The water level is way down.

When you called and said you want to go fishing, I just assumed we were crappie fishing.

But you said no.

Bring your bass gear.

Man that's the beauty of it.

The lake is down lake.

There is the same amount of fish with a lot less water guys.

Everything is biting right now.

It's spring.

Love is in the air.

Everything is spawning.

This is just going to be hopefully, one of those magical days that we catch a little bit of everything.

We don't have any game plan today.

We just know that we're going to do a little bass fishing.

We may get some hybrids.

Catfish are out and about, maybe a crappie or two.

Let's just go fishing.

Yep.

I love it.

Let's get this party started.

Get our line stretched.

That's what we want to do today.

Man, I think it's going to be a good day.

I feel good.

Sun is shining.

Birds are singing.

Let's hope the fish are biting.

Oh, fish.

Fish.

You have a fish on?

Yeah.

Sweet.

What do you think?

What do you think we got today?

I don't know.

They're all stacked up right here.

That is not a crappie.

That is not a crappie.

It's got some head shake my arm is getting tired.

What have we got?

We aint going to find out.

Oh, no.

I think it was a hybrid.

I think it was a hybrid.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was a hybrid.

And I'm pretty sure it was a big, big hybrid.

Oh, you on?

Look at that.

That's a spotted bass.

Man, we have been catching some giant spots this year.

Yeah, that's a nice little spotted bass right there.

Let me get him rigged up here where he can't get me.

Let's start this morning right.

There you go.

I'm hooked up.

Wow.

Get this bass back in.

It's a hybrid.

A hybrid.

There we go.

Oh my gosh.

There we go.

There we go.

Two species right off the bat.

Nice fish.

You don't have to wait for the jumps.

You do not have to wait for the jumps.

They're in here year round, aren't they?

Yes.

Look at there.

Another spotted bass.

Look how little that one is.

You're catching the big ones.

Oh, you got something.

I got a good somethin Love it.

Here's to a great day about to happen.

We're both hooked up at the same time.

Are you hooked up too?

Yeah.

That is the beauty.

It's a little better fish than I hooked last time.

Well, if he'll get out of the net.

Oh, he come off right there.

All right, well, we got one of them.

There you go.

I love fishing like this.

You're just sitting here just fishing?

Yeah.

You ain't looking at a screen.

You're looking at your rod tip.

Yeah.

Rough River is, It's got a lot of unique opportunities.

The bass fishing is pretty good.

The crappie fishing is pretty good.

Course, you've got this hybrid population.

For the hybrids, this is legit.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

It takes 26in, I believe, to get a trophy fish award from the state of Kentucky.

I done lost one on a very first cast.

I think we're going to be, contacting the department today saying you need to send me my paper.

Oh, let's find out right here.

What do you got?

I don't feel no head shake so I think this is a hybrid.

Listen to him burning some drag.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Watch it.

He█s going to try to spool me.

Strong fish right there.

Oh.

Jumped over.

Jumped the net.

Jumped the net.

Let's do this again.

There we go.

How fun are those things to catch?

Man, they fight so hard.

That's a nice one.

All right.

Hooked up.

He is on.

Rod bend and drag burning.

That's hybrid fishing right there.

Oh, I missed him.

There we go.

Here we go.

Oh, yeah.

Very nice fish.

Hard fighting.

Strong fish.

Great to eat.

Today we are just enjoying catching them.

I'll tell you what.

Let's keep going.

Yes, sir.

We talked about we didn't know we were going to fish for.

But now that they're hitting, we've already caught two different species of fish.

I say we just keep catching these until they quit.

They are so much fun.

Oh, what do you got there?

I got a good one.

Yes, sir.

Sweet.

There we go.

Good one.

There we go.

Good one right there now.

That is a nice, nice fish.

There you go.

I'm just casting out.

I'm letting it hit the water.

I'm counting to 12 because I want to be about 11ft deep.

Yeah.

And then I just start ripping it very fast.

Jerk.

Trying to trigger a reaction bite.

Let her drop and do it again.

It's about a simple grassroots fishing as you can get.

You got to be pretty consistent with your counting.

And make sure you're not on the bottom, because they will get hung up.

Yeah.

Pretty easy.

Pretty effective.

And, you know what?

It's a great way to get somebody into fishing.

Cast it out.

Let it go down a little ways.

You can do it on a spinning rod.

You can do it on a baitcaster.

You can do it on any type of rod and reel.

You can throw it on there, cast it out, rip it.

Yep.

And rip it.

Oh, I got that one.

Oh, boy.

Watch that reel go.

Well, I think we got some special right here Chad Miles.

I love it.

Oh, that's a good one.

Oh my goodness, that's a big, big get out there.

Oh my goodness.

Oh my goodness.

Oh there we go.

That is a giant.

What a beautiful fish.

That one is probably 20in or right at it.

Nineteen and a half.

Six inches top of its back to its belly.

So that thing's 14 15in girth.

It's going to keep you coming back right there.

And so let's get it back in here for somebody else.

Here we go.

Got one?

I don't think he's that big.

Here he come.

Oh, yeah.

He's a little bit smaller, but that's perfect.

It was not a good hook set on that one.

He says a little bit smaller, but we're still talking over 15 inch fish.

Yeah.

Now here you're allowed to keep five per person over 15in.

15 per person, but only five over 15in.

We aint caught one under 15 in yet.

Yeah, we would be done if we were keeping fish right now.

Oh yeah.

Oh oh.

This is not a giant.

Here's another one of Chad Miles “not that big fish”.

17 incher.

Yeah I know.

Oh, it's just a 17 inch hybrid guys.

Look at that.

What a beautiful fish.

Oh, yeah.

Here we go.

We got one.

Yep.

They get big real fast.

Yeah.

I think loosening that drag up a little bit was key.

They get up here and start seeing that boat.

Oh, that's a good one.

Oh, there we go.

There's a good double.

Yes, sir.

That's how it's done right there.

What I love about this is, like I say, we came out with really without an agenda, and we come out and put on the most old school bait, found some fish.

Started casting to them and being aggressive.

And now it's just every cast.

It is every cast.

I'm hooked up again.

Oh, you got another one?

I got one taking me to the back of the boat here.

Oh my goodness.

Tell you what, this will give your line, your rod, your reel all your equipment, a good workout.

Oh my goodness Chad Miles.

That is probably a trophy fish award right there.

Look at that.

That is an absolute giant.

Oh my goodness.

Look at that.

It is four inches wide.

Look at that fish.

I mean, just beautiful big old solid stout fish.

Look at that thing.

It has been an outstanding day.

You know, it's been an absolute blast.

We came out here and spent two hours just stacking these things about as hard and fast as we can catch them.

You are a crappie guy.

I like to smallmouth fish, but to be able to come out here and go you know what?

Let's just take what the Rough River Lake gives us.

Sometimes you got to remember what it's all about, and it's just about getting out and having fun and fishing with friends.

Yes, sir.

That's it.

I couldn't ask for much better day.

It was an absolute ball.

The common carp is a fish species that can be found in just about every body of water in Kentucky.

Very few Americans fish for them, and they're a hard fighting fish.

Look, there's quite a few fish coming up hitting the surface over here.

This morning we're out here in Hodgenville, Kentucky, at Salem Lake.

And I'm with the gentleman, Erik Taylor, who taught me every single thing I know about carp fishing.

How are you doing this morning?

Good.

You?

Hoping to get on some today.

I know that you are an avid carp guy.

You have all the equipment and all the gear.

Carp is your favorite species of fish to target, is it not?

Yes.

I've been targeting them now for about five years.

The first time I came out here with you, we caught quite a few fish.

And I realized pretty quickly why a person would want to target carp.

They are hard fighting fish.

It takes a lot of skill to land one because that little hook.

You got to be careful with one.

If you try to power one in you're not going to win that battle.

You're going to either tear that hook out of that fish's mouth or lose it.

Yep.

And if you're a type of person that you catch and release 99% of your fish anyway, why not fish for a fish that's readily available at a lot of lakes?

A lot of fun to catch.

Hard fighting.

I see why carp fishing is so popular in other parts of the world.

And you're bringing it right here to Kentucky.

Yup.

And I absolutely love that.

So let's get rigged up, get some lines out, see if we can catch fish.

What do you think?

It sounds good to me.

This one's oats, bread crumbs, corn and orange Jell-O.

I tell you what, if you think carp fishing is just dough balls and a hook, Erik will show you that you're wrong.

The number of rod reels and things that he'll be putting out, the different techniques, all the equipment that he uses, the technology that's involved in it.

Blew me away.

If it seems like we're not paying any attention to rod and reels at all, because we█re not.

He's got these alerters of some sort to where the line goes through.

You█ll hear it ding ding ding.

So he'll know when he's getting a bite.

Oh, there he is.

It looks like you got a good fish.

They're all good, but this one seems good and exceptionally big.

He's definitely a carp.

How big?

Hopefully a nice one.

Look at the fight.

They're incredibly strong species of fish, aren't they?

Yes, they are.

And they can be found in almost any lake in Kentucky.

I mean, look at that thing.

Dogging that.

Dogging that line.

I mean, and you have it on a really, really, really small hook.

I mean, not small by trout standards, but by bass fishing standards it is a super small hook.

So you can't just horse them right in can you?

Sure can█t.

What a pretty fish.

What do you think that fish weighs?

He's under ten.

Probably pretty close to it, though.

There you go.

And what type of carp are we looking at here?

A common carp.

This is a good size one for this lake.

Okay.

They get to be about 60 pounds.

Think 58 is a Kentucky state record.

Okay.

And they're absolute freshwater fighting machines.

Well, it's just a thick, strong fish.

I mean, look, look how thick.

And you could tell it's as strong as it can be.

And you had that little hook and you could see that it just went in right there.

Once you got that hook out, this fish is going to be released as healthy as it can possibly be.

Live to fight another day.

Oh, here we go.

Got a screamer.

Got him?

Yep.

Got him.

There you go.

Look at here.

We got another one hooked up here.

Way out there.

There he is.

Something beautiful about coming out here and catching exactly what you're targeting.

The absolute scale pattern on that.

Just.

Just the way his scales join together, he's going to be a very unique fish once he hits 20 pounds.

I hope you're here to catch him.

How do you think this fish is?

Well, he's probably about a year.

Year and a half.

Okay.

Maybe two.

Hooked him right there in the corner of the mouth.

Now he is healthy and ready to go back.

There he goes.

There he goes.

There you go.

Get ready.

Yup.

If that drag feels too loose at the top you feel free to play with it.

Oh, look at that rod bent.

I'm not going to rush him.

We're going to let him mess around for a minute.

Whoa!

Just let that bait keep that hook in that roof of that mouth and let him wear himself down a little bit.

Just enjoy the fight.

Hopefully he stays buttoned.

If you like to just fight big, heavy fish and you typically turn your fish loose, you need to come out and give carp fishing a try.

Because this fish is fighting like a ten, 15 pound fish and it's I don't think it is, but they just fight like crazy.

Here he comes.

Fish landed.

And, you know, I think yours is bigger than all of them today.

You think so?

That's a very nice one.

A lot of time and effort went into prepping and learning the game, but you can get started relatively cheap for under a hundred bucks.

You can be out here fishing.

Nice fish.

Let's get it back.

What a pretty fish.

Here we go.

Fish on.

That might be the fish of the day.

There we go.

Another good size fish.

Appreciate it.

All right.

You may take the rod.

Yup.

Eric, you are a fisherman that beats to your own drum.

And I can honestly say that it's an opportunity that's a lot of fun.

And I see why you enjoy it so much.

It's an absolute blast.

I mean, you tell me you've had days where you've caught over 20.

You know what I love how you're sharing your knowledge of carp fishing with other people here in the state of Kentucky.

And there's a lot of places to go.

And you choose to come here because it's close.

But there are places, either big lakes or small municipal lakes like we're at today.

Many of the department owned lakes.

Carp are in every one of them aren█t they.

Yep.

We thought we were going to catch some fish on cicadas, and we kept two cicada rods out the whole time.

Just didn't happen today.

It just tells me that, the gear that you've got that is specialized for this, you know, some of it is homemade.

It definitely works.

There he goes.

The fall hunting seasons will be here before you know it.

And if you own a hunting dog, you want to keep your dogs in tip top shape.

Even in the off season.

Well, if you're a fan of Kentucky Afield, it will be no surprise to you that we love to hunt using dogs.

I personally own dogs and that makes the experience so much more exciting to be in the field with a dog.

So today I have a professional with me who is a semi-retired veterinarian, as well as a dog trainer, and you just have spent a lifetime around dogs.

Dr.

Heye, how are you doing today?

I'm doing great.

So many people own dogs.

But if you're a hunter and you have a dog, there's certain things you need to know about your dog's health and conditioning and nutrition.

So let's talk a little bit about how you should manage that hunting dog, both in season and out of season.

Yeah, it's really important for them to be as healthy as possible, especially during the season.

So you want to keep them that way throughout the year.

About three things that you can really do to help is, feed them well and feed them a good plan of nutrition.

It's well worth the money to use dog food that's been researched and developed by companies that know about and work with sporting dogs.

Another important aspect is maintain their level of activity and keep them in good shape.

You can do that a number of different ways throughout the year, because when it gets to be hunting season, you want them in top flight shape to enjoy the hunt with them.

One way I do it is train them year round and also compete in field trials and hunt tests.

And there's a number of different activities for almost every breed of dog, a sporting dog.

It's fun for the dog and for the family to participate in.

I encourage people to do whatever they're interested in, including especially beagles.

Keep them in shape and if possible, compete with them.

Beagles can put on some weight, especially older beagles.

If you keep feeding them the exact same amount, they can put some weight on pretty fast.

Yeah, well, you have to be careful with that.

The food intake and you might have to reduce it during the off season.

And feed restricted amount and try to maintain their weight.

And there's other things you can take them for walks and swim.

I had a beagle and he swam all the time with my other dogs.

So that's important even in the off season to maintain their weight and throughout their life, that's going to help them live a better life and be able to enjoy the hunt.

The third aspect of maintaining would be the health, and prevention of disease processes, including ticks and fleas, heartworms, internal parasites, and vaccinations are all extremely important to help the dog throughout its life.

I think it's a good idea to visit your veterinarian on a yearly basis and make sure they have a heartworm check and their own heartworm prevention and flea and tick control.

And most of the heartworm medications take care of internal parasites also.

Some of the disease processes when I first started practicing have almost been completely eliminated because people are vaccinated.

But it's also important to check the dog and make sure there's no other problems.

When you get them vaccinated.

Check the heart, check the skin.

You know, check the ears and eyes, and teeth.

That's important.

As well as getting the vaccine.

There's a lot of ways to handle fleas and ticks.

What do you kind of recommend is one of the best ways for a sporting dog?

There's a number of different products on the market, including injectable medications that last six months or a year for heartworms, and flea and tick medications that are both topical and oral.

So it's the owner's choice, and many of them are excellent.

Rarely, if ever, find a live tick embedded in the skin of my dog.

Now, I might occasionally see one crawling on them, but the medicines that are available are extremely good.

One of the other things, if you take a dog out and you work that dog in the field and say it's a 3 or 4 hour hard day of work for the dog and you bring them in.

What should be your level of inspection of that dog before you put them up?

A cool-down period after the exercise is important, and let them relax and walk.

And then you look for potential problems, lameness, any cuts or abrasions, and then watch their temperament and their breathing, their food intake, their urination, defecation, all those things are important to watch for after you train them.

Pretty common that after a dog works that hard, you may get something in there paw.

A briar in their paw or they have a little cut or scratch on their ears because, man, they're all out.

I mean, you think about how I look like sometimes coming back through the woods I'm cut up too, you know, you're so focused on what you're doing and you█re enjoying what you're doing, that a little cut becomes just part of the game.

Kind of the same way for the dogs as well, but they may need your help to help tend to those wounds.

They may need some help.

And if you ever have any question, of course, whether they need additional help more than you can give them, then contact your local veterinarian and maybe even describe the problem and see if they recommend coming into the clinic.

Many of the little scratches can be cleaned up just with soap and water at home by yourself.

And, removing any of the burrs.

Or there's some weeds during the summer that produce some thistle type growths that can be dangerous to the dog too, inhaling them.

And, so that's something to be aware of also.

Any other tips for us dog hunters out there?

Things that we should consider when it comes to training our dogs, both off season and in season?

My philosophy is don't train for tomorrow.

Train for the dog.

If you have a 13 month old dog you want to train for two, three, five, seven year old.

So they learn over time.

Just like going to school, kindergarten, grade school, high school.

And, don't expect them to be perfect the first time you take them out.

It's good to take them out in a controlled situation when they're first experiencing the hunt, and you can control the situation.

So there's not ten dogs running and people shooting everywhere.

For the beagles you can control the situation and have them have good experiences.

As far as working and training a female dog during her heat cycle, is there any precautions you should take there?

Well of course, keep an eye on them.

Most of the people that I work with continue to train their dogs during the heat cycle.

Sometimes train them after training the male dogs so that there's no interference with that.

The question everybody wants to know... male or female dog?

Which one makes a better hunting dog?

Statistically, in competition, and hunt test and field trial, the males are slightly more popular than the females, but it may be just because of the heat cycle twice a year that they're not able to compete during that time period.

So you've had great both males and females?

Males and females.

Me too.

I tend to like the females, but I've had both.

Well, as a dog owner and a hunter myself, it's really great to get out here with a veterinarian and a passionate dog lover and trainer, to kind of get your take on overall dog health and what we should be looking for.

Thank you so much.

You're welcome.

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 six year old Corbin Meredith with a beautiful Creek smallmouth that he caught in Floyds Fork in Jefferson County, Kentucky.

Nice job.

Patrick Everson didn't give up and took this nice gobbler with his Stevens .410 shotgun in Boone County.

Congratulations.

Will Sams took this nice gobble that he said gobbled on the limb for a long time before it finally flew down in Shelby County and gave him a shot.

Nice job.

Hannah Whal went fishing at Lake Cumberland Wolf Creek Dam and caught this beautiful sturgeon.

She caught it, photoed it, and immediately released it.

Nice fish.

Seven year old Collins Kelsey took her first turkey with a 410 shotgun in Stanford, Kentucky.

She shot this bird at 33 yards.

Nice job.

Memorial weekend is coming up.

Make sure you're making plans to get outdoors with your family now.

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.