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 headed out to LBL for a little bit of small game hunting.

Then we're going to take advantage of the snow and do a predator set.

But first we're headed down to Dale Hollow Lake with some live bait to focus on smallmouth.

Today we're out here on Dale Hollow Lake, and this is one of my absolute favorite times of year to be on the water.

A lot of people think we're crazy, but cold weather, bass fishing can be super productive.

And I'm here with the gentleman who's been fishing this lake for a long time.

About 25 years now.

25 years.

Mr.

Rick Hise.

Rick, you spend a lot of time predominantly live bait fishing, and you stay really active on some of the social media platforms, kind of posting how you're catching fish.

And showing pictures.

Right.

And that's kind of how you and I crossed paths.

It is.

Winter time to me is and it produces, you know, I may strike out one day and then the next day, you know, hit 4 or 5 good fish.

What is a perfect condition for you to be out here on Dale Hollow Lake?

You're looking at it right now with this water like it is the bait doesn't get tore up.

I'm using shad, thread fin, alewives.

And by the time that you're throwing it out there and bringing it back and forth, you know, it takes its toll on the, you know, if you've got waves, that's even worse.

And as silly as it sounds, you're bait is key.

For small mouth you want that bait sharp strong and lively.

Well you got me excited.

I'm ready to go.

So I say let's get after it.

Man that was a pretty good impact.

Were you driving when that happened?

I was driving a golf ball.

Oh.

Is that what happened?

$350.

Oh man, I was going to say that, that took a pretty good blow to do that.

Golf ball hit it huh?

I heard it hit something and then about a month later I said that's what I hit.

And when I hook these I just go right underneath the dorsal fin.

I try not to get down too far in the meat.

This bait all came right out of Dale Hollow Lake.

He's able to catch it right here on the waterway.

And it's the exact same bait that these fish are out here eating.

There goes a fish.

Fish on already!

Real down to him.

Ready?

Yeah.

Well.

Fish on.

We only have our rods all out yet.

What do you know?

Now he's using a light wire hook so you could pull this hook right through this fish couldn█t you?

If you're not too careful.

Right.

We're going to just let rod tip play them and keep them locked up here.

Basically keep him from getting down there around something.

That's a nice fish, buddy.

Yes it is.

That was really quick.

What do you think 14, 15 inch fish, maybe 16 inches?

Right.

It's the likelihood when you fish like this that the next 2 or 3 we catch might be this same size.

You know, we're after a better quality fish, but it's a fun fish.

Oh, yeah.

You know, these are good active fish.

There he goes.

Here we go, Chad.

Get on to it.

Got one running.

We got one hooked.

Here we go.

Feels like another hard fighting smallie.

Tell you what.

When you got a fish hooked up, best way to keep them hooked up.

Keep that rod tip bent isn█t it?

Yeah.

And you feel him coming up, push him back down.

Oh, it is a nice one.

Yeah.

There you go.

Smallmouth bass.

This lake is is known for this species of fish.

And I'll tell you if you ever get into fishing for smallmouth, it gets in your blood, doesn't it?

It sure does.

When you start catching smallmouth the way they fight and how aggressive these fish can be.

And there's so much anticipation on how big it's going to be.

It just.

You can't hardly wait to get them in and see them.

And they're such a pretty, pretty fish.

Good job.

Thank you.

This time of year I have more luck throwing a little swim bait, about the size of what we're throwing on a football jig head.

So I brought a couple of those.

Oh, that turned his head.

What do we got here.

This was a cheater fish.

You know, I brought a rod and was just making a couple of casts with some artificial while we're doing this.

And look at here.

We hooked up.

Good fish.

Good fish.

There we go.

What do you know?

We're catching them on artificial and live bait today.

I love it.

I'll tell you what.

It's beautiful thing.

Get down here and thought.

Well, while I'm watching, I'll just make a couple casts and lucked into one.

So there you go.

Biting me.

The front of the boats is in 26, the back of the boats falling into 30.

And I'm going to take this live bait, and I'm going to try to put it anywhere between that range, either closer to the 30ft or the 26ft, and the bait is going to go down to the bottom of that sinker, and then I'll fan those rods a little bit.

When I'm fanning them.

I'm changing depths.

I'm going from deep up to shallow, and then if I get a run on a rod way out of the deep end, then I'll focus more on the deep side.

Gives you a better opportunity far as if they're out there, they're out there.

You've got to go to them.

All right.

Hooked up.

There you go.

Perfect hookup right there.

Yeah.

We had a two rods, a little tight.

We ended up getting both lines in, but.

No foul.

No.

We're good.

That's a nice fish there.

We just moved a little bit and, got a couple rods out, and that bite came pretty fast.

You talk about these fish moving so much, you know, if you throw out 4 or 5 rods and you don't get a strike in 20 or 30 minutes, it's time to time to move huh?

Time to move.

There you go.

Nice fish.

That one back there, it looks like it's bending.

Oh, yeah.

Get him.

It's running.

Let's see here.

He is going to town.

Trying to make sure I got the hook set in him because he was gone.

All right.

That's if you can keep his head up like that.

Coming this way.

Oh, he's all the way over here.

Bring him by.

Got him over here?

Bring him by.

There we go.

Got him there.

Well.

Good job.

Well, I'm glad you guys made it.

I enjoyed the day, and I learned a little bit too.

Well, I learned some of the ways that you handle the boat and how you set things up.

You know, when you go out with somebody who loves fishing, you're always going to pick up some tips and tactics.

And I definitely learned some stuff with you, but I just love your desire to fish.

So that is really, really impressive.

We'll fish again soon.

We better.

All right.

Thank you.

All right.

Thank you.

LBL in Western Kentucky offers a ton of opportunities for sportsmen and women, especially small game hunters.

We█re out here today with a couple of familiar faces.

We're at Land Between the Lakes.

You know this is an area you were born and raised, right?

Since you were this young man's age.

Even before even.

So we're here with Eli.

Eli, We've had you out fishing and frog gigging, you know, the last two or three times we've been out and you've had your dog, Ellie, with us.

She's a great dog to have in the boat isn█t she?

Yes.

But I heard she also does some What else she do?

Trees, squirrels, she trees squirrels.

So we're we're going to go out here on public land and we're going a different route today.

And then we're taking the boat.

Yeah, go take a boat.

Kind of get away from the roads and maybe get some squirrels.

It's not been chased too much.

we're going to get us a mess of squirrel today.

I got a feeling.

What about the breed of dog that Ellie is?

She's a mix.

Kind of an odd.

She's the female was a border collie.

Male dogs, a Belgian Malinois.

Okay.

she got donated to me at 12 weeks old.

You really weren█t looking for a dog either at the time were you?

I was not really looking for one.

we were going to go without a dog for a while.

But about six weeks, we're thinking about getting a dog.

And my brother said, I brought that one by and said, You need this.

So I've spent a little bit of time with Ellie, She's a pleasing dog.

She wants to please you, doesn't she?

She does.

I think it's, you know, with any dog that wants to do that, you can train them to do just about anything.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So she's only two now?

Yeah.

So this is only the second year you've actually had her to do any type of squirrel hunting right?

Right.

She says there's something there.

Let█s go check it out.

Let█s go see.

Yeah, she says there's one there squat down a little bit Eli, I can see him a little bit.

Here you go.

Right there.

All right, hold up.

Got ‘em.

I think.

Yeah.

well, here he comes.

Give ‘em El.

good shot, buddy.

You see the boat is parked right there.

We let her out.

And before we even made a couple of steps up there, she was already barking saying there was a squirrel up here.

She wasn't lying.

Better check that other tree.

she acts like there█s one there too.

It's not exactly a squirrel.

What is that, Eli?

A possum.

My goodness.

Not a possum.

Ra..... A rac..... It█s a raccoon man.

Huh.

That does not look like a raccoon.

It looks exactly like a raccoon.

Good Girl.

I'm sorry.

I shot a tree limb.

She did a good job.

She was holding tight.

She knew something over there.

Go hunt up, go.

See ‘em?

Yeah.

I can shoot at him if you want me to.

Think you got a shot?

If he sits still I believe I can Oh yeah.

You see ‘ em?

I can see ‘em.

I don't know if I can hit this one or not.

I'm going to try.

Here he comes.

Get ‘em Ellie!

That's a pretty good shot of the pistol.

Nice shot, Jim.

I didn't even notice it.

You know that█s the rule.

So you get it.

When you bring a 22, you get to shoot, and it's your turn to keep going till you get a limit.

Or you miss.

Then guess what?

What?

Papaw gets to shoot till he misses.

You may have to go over there right before he shoots and nudged him a little bit.

See if you can't get in to miss and then be your turn again.

I'll tell you one thing.

There's very few things that bring you back to your childhood.

Than slipping through the woods with a 22.

Yeah.

It's a lot of fun.

A lot of fun.

Good practice.

Let█s check these other trees, then we'll make our way back to the boat.

You█d think there would be up this tree.

You'd think he'd already gotten nervous and bailed out by now.

if he was.

We may have a prospect over there.

Oh really?

Yeah.

She's on that tree right there.

Come here buddy.

Got a perfect spot right here for you.

Make sure it's all the way down.

All right.

There you go.

Nice shot.

Got em.

He█s getting ready to come down.

Let's go ahead and reload.

But, he's getting ready to come down.

there you go.

Good girl.

Nice shot.

You put it right.

Right in the head there.

Way to go!

Hey, good shooting.

Yeah.

Let's go see.

We can't find some more.

We go ahead and head east in the boat, Move up the, lake a little way.

There he goes right there.

One out of the big tree.

It came out of here and went to the next one she█s at for sure.

Yeah.

There's another one down there by the water line Jim.

He's on your side of the tree.

He█s gonna go.

Better kill him.

Eli, you see ‘em?

Now I see ‘em.

Oh he's hit.

I hit him right on the head.

I believe he's coming out.

Here he comes.

Nice job, buddy.

You're working on a limit today.

Perfect.

Beautiful little gray squirrel.

I'm going to put him in here.

Your job is to fill my pouch up.

I walk out here, with squirrels like this.

Now I at least need four.

You wanna try another spot?

If you're up for it, I'd like to try one more.

Okay.

Come here, right here on the ground.

What is this?

It█s an armadillo!

Armadillo!

Look right here.

I was wondering what in the world I was looking at right here.

You know, I█ve heard of armadillos moving into Kentucky and I've seen them dead on the road, so I know 100% for sure they are, but, I never expected to walk right up on one like that, sure enough.

That█s what that was, an armadillo.

Ellie!

She█s alright.

She aint gonna hurt it.

Isn█t that wild.

Sure enough, an Armadillo.

Well, they don't have a little bitty mouths, Yeah.

Feel his teeth, Here.

Come on.

Come here.

That armadillo was like, Man, I wish I'd stayed in Texas.

Good girl!

Come on.

Well, did not expect to see that.

But you know what?

That's the reason to get outdoors.

You never know what you may run into.

You know, we've seen we've seen all kinds of deer sign and we've seen raccoons, squirrels, all kinds of birds of prey just getting out outdoors.

You never know what you may see.

It█s like a giant roly poly.

A giant roly poly.

That█s what it looks like.

You got warpaint on, don't you?

Chad.

You see it?

Yup.

He█s on your left hand fork there.

Close to the top.

Oh I think you got it.

I love watching Eli shoot.

He is a dead eye.

It wasn't a headshot but, I don█t care.

It wasn't a headshot?

Well, then it don't count!

Yes, it does!

Oh, you Sure?

That was a great shot.

Nice job, buddy.

Good shot of Eli.

Jim, thanks again for bringing us out.

You're raising a heck of a special little grandson here.

He's really, really good in the field.

Yeah, well, I appreciate that.

You almost got a limit.

You got four.

You got to see him shoot one with a pistol.

That's really cool.

I tell you what, if you if you spend time on the couch or if you've got things that you need to get away from, it's as close to you as your nearest WMA isn't it?

It is this.

Get out and do it.

Put on some extra clothes and go for a walk.

Well, this is a good time.

Thanks, guys.

You're welcome.

Thank you, Chad.

Are you looking for a good reason to get outdoors with this snow on the ground?

Well, I can tell you that this is perfect for predator hunting.

Well, Chuck, we're out here in Henry County.

This is your deer hunting farm.

Yes.

Your turkey hunting farm.

Your rabbit hunting farm.

That's it.

Today, It's a little different, though.

Yeah.

Gonna be a little coyote hunting farm.

Yeah, we're going to do a little bit of predator hunting.

Primarily focusing on coyotes.

Yeah.

It's a cold morning.

Got a layer of snow on the ground.

This is an opportunity for us to get out and hopefully if we present an early meal— easy meal, maybe we can get a coyote to come in.

I hope so.

Like I said it's been cold now for going on almost two weeks straight.

Still got a lot of snow on the ground.

So hopefully they're they're ready to eat.

I tell you what.

We probably got about 25 minutes till light.

You█re wanting to move to the very, very back side of the farm, right?

Yeah.

Let's start there and then work our way back to the front of the farm.

We should be good.

The south wind█s going to be coming to the— Okay.

We should have in our face the whole time going in there.

And once you get down there, how far do you think we'll be able to see?

Like for shooting lanes?

It█s gonna be kind of tight.

But, as clear as it is with the snow, we may be able to ge— You know, get a good window, get a little further.

Coyote.

That was close.

That█s a big— that█s a big coyote.

It█s down.

It█s down.

He█s down.

Got another one.

I can— I could hear something That's why— This is the same spot last year I called it a double.

A male and a female.

That was awesome.

Oh, yeah.

That was, you█re talking about close encounters.

You know, when we came back here in the woods, this is not like most coyote sets that I do in the sense that I'm usually set up in a spot that I can shoot 300 yards if needed.

This is tight quarters that first shot— that was an archery style shot, that was 35 yards.

Man you can see the blood trail in the snow from that female.

Oh yeah.

Oh she was pumping blood.

I'm surprised she went that far.

Yeah.

But I had to shoot through a little bit of brush or I might not have hit her as good as I wanted to, but I can see her laying down there.

Yeah, I can see her there too.

So man, that was great.

You put us right here on them.

Like I said, I will tell you this.

You heard the second one and you actually made a motion to cut the volume and you were like, kill that sound.

I hear something running through the snow.

Yeah.

So when I hit that mute button, that coyote was 60 yards or closer.

Yeah, I heard it, but I couldn't tell if it was on the same hillside that male came in or if it was on this hillside we're sitting on.

That's why I said cut it, because I wanted— you know.

And she was right here as well.

Right on top of us.

Man, you made two good shots.

Let█s round our stuff up and get moving.

Wow.

I think it went that way.

It█s over there somewhere.

Well I tell you what, Chuck, this was a perfect switch up to sitting in a deer stand.

Yeah, for sure.

This was absolutely great.

And, you know, I know that you've had a lot of coyotes on this piece of property.

Yeah.

You've been actively trying to manage them.

Yeah.

This is a this is, you know, we had this snow— January, right before the breeding season.

What a perfect opportunity to get out here and to hunt these things.

Conditions were perfect.

You know we've had this snow on the ground for over a week now.

Really cold weather, you know.

You know they're hungry.

And I think I think in these situations we're in right now, I think it's a perfect time to call one in.

Well, it couldn't have worked out any better.

We called in a double and neither shot had to be more than 50 yards.

What a great morning.

It was a lot of fun.

Let█s go get a cup of coffee.

Yeah, let's do that.

This is definitely coffee weather.

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 Clyde and Benjamin Chandler.

They went on a duck hunt in Rowan County and was successful in bagging these birds.

Nice job.

Here we have David Smith Hart, who's carrying a raccoon that was treed by his dog, Buddy.

This hunt took place in Henderson County.

Nice job.

Here we have a familiar face with 12 year old Ashton Lacefield.

Looks like he went trapping in Woodford County and got this beaver.

Nice job.

Jordan Knott is hitting Nolan Lake in Grayson County and did a little crappie fishing.

He said he caught this beautiful black crappie and released it to the grease.

Nice job.

With this snow on the ground and these frigid cold temperatures.

It offers some unique opportunities for outdoors men and women.

But be careful and limit your exposure and listen to your body.

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.