This week on Kentucky Afield, we're enjoying one of the state's premier fishing locations, Dale Hollow Lake, and we're doing it by catching trophy smallmouth bass.

Next, we'll take to the hills in search of a bear den.

Then we're looking ahead to spring turkey season.

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.

If you talk to any angler, you've probably heard the term big bait equals big fish.

But in the winter months, when small mouth fishing, the float and fly method changes the rules.

Well today we█re out here at beautiful Dale Hollow Lake and I'm with Greg Brisendine of Dusk to Dawn Guide Service.

Hey, we got a little bit of rain we're going to battle today.

But you know what?

I'm super excited to watch you and participate in the float and fly method.

I know you have perfected it and it's a great technique for catching large suspended smallmouth bass.

That's correct.

And we should have some luck today, hopefully.

You know, it's late winter.

This is the time of year that you like to use this technique.

I know you're doing some things a little different now.

You█ve gone away from some of the hair jigs.

Yes, I have.

I've got three fish over 6 pounds in my lifetime.

Two of them have been on the bait we're going to be using today, which is a two and a half inch piece of plastic.

Float and fly is a technique that's really good in the wintertime, but it's also really effective when it's hard to catch them other ways, like suspending fish.

Right.

And that's what we're targeting is suspended fish.

And lot of people struggle catching suspended fish because it's really hard to hold your bait in the strike zone.

But when you got a bobber on the top and a leader, you can kind of go, okay, the fish look like they're in 12 feet of water.

We just want to be 12 or shallower, right?

Correct.

You always want to be above the fish.

Yes.

Because if you've ever looked at a fish very much, 90% of them, their eyes are towards the top of their head.

So it's designed for them to be looking up.

If you're a bass fisherman and you go, Yeah, maybe this is not the way I want to fish every day.

If you are fishing for suspended fish and you're struggling catching fish, this is a technique you need to give a try.

Yes, most definitely.

It's been a proven technique for years now.

Float and fly, I was told that it was developed over in East Tennessee by a crappie fisherman and they ended up catching smallmouth bass more than the crappie, and they spread it all over eastern Kentucky and then into Central.

And it's been around for a long time, and it's the deadliest method that I know how to use to catch large fish.

There you go.

Pretty fish, right where he█s supposed to be.

Well, that was the first bobber that went straight down.

I had one earlier, but I missed a fish.

This is the kind of fish we were talking earlier.

That would be a a hard fish to locate and fish.

Unless you were using some type of bait that you could sink down and count it down.

But then it's hard to fish it this slow.

Exactly.

And you can fish it really slow at a certain depth.

And that's what it took.

I don't know of any other method you could fish it any slower.

Well, that's a good fish.

It's a beautiful fish.

Typical Dale Hollow fish.

They got a lot of black in them.

Yes.

Nice job.

Swimming right to us.

He█s going to show us.

Yeah, about the same fish.

Another twin I believe.

There you go.

I believe yours was a little heavier.

See what we got here.

He came up and jumped a little for us.

Yeah, he did.

Yeah.

There you go.

About the same fish that you caught I believe.

This fish you can see the vertical bars on him are really pronounced.

Where the the fish I just caught they were more blended in.

That has a lot to do with how much oxygen that they use out of their bodies while they're fighting, because I don't think they breathe well while they're fighting.

It's not real thick in this area, but look at that belly.

It's very possible it could be a female.

I enjoy catching fish like this because when you have a nine or ten foot rod doubled over with 8 pound test on and you're trying to get a fish that wants to jump and run under the boat.

Right.

You've got your hands full don█t you.

It's a tussle and you can feel every movement that fish makes with that pole.

You don't miss nothing.

I mean, it█s the ultimate fight, that there is.

Let's get it back in the old float and fly coming alive for us.

Check out that eagle right there on that rock.

There's something down there.

He just grabbed something.

He sure did.

Grabbed him a fish, a minnow or something.

You got that eagle named?

No, but I should.

I mean I see them all the time.

There's a pair of them down here on this end of the lake.

I've seen them a lot in the last few weeks together.

I've got photos of them sitting in the trees together.

Usually if they got eggs, one of them will stay there to keep the eggs warm.

They don't usually leave.

Those eagles, they usually follow you around because they know that you know where the fish are at.

We'll look at there.

Those green fish like that, that little plastic jig too.

They do.

This a good size, healthy, large mouth.

But I have seen people catch four and 5 pounders I'm sure you've seen it a lot.

Oh yeah.

Pretty for a large mouth here.

Nice job.

So, Greg, if someone wanted to come out and try this technique out, what's some tips that you give them as far as obviously you need a long rod, But give me some other things that you'd you'd consider before coming out and trying this.

Well, one of the main things I would consider is this gentleman right here.

This is a center weighted bobber.

You can do this without it.

It's just an aid in detecting strikes, if it doesn't have weight pulling it down, it won't stay upright.

It will lay over on its side, that being center weighted.

So this center weighted bobber, the way it sets up there, if a fish comes up and takes it from the bottom, you're saying it will roll over like this.

And, you know, if you ever see both colors that floats telling you that you're either on the bottom or something is pushing up on the bait, which is the strike indicator, is what it is.

A lot of times they█ll come up and just take the weight of the jig off, which is very light.

We're fishing with a 16 ounce lead head.

So, yes, it is light.

I mean, they're little, you don't need a lot to suspend that bait.

You just need something that will keep the plastic from floating.

So as far as how long the leader is, that's different every day I guess?

We'll I want to be above them.

If the fish are suspended up real close to the bank I might not throw, but at like an eight foot leader.

But when they're off the bank a little bit, anywhere from 10 to 12.

Here we go.

Fish on.

Here he comes.

Come on in here.

Here we go.

There you go.

That's about exactly like the other it's a solid 3 pound fish.

Yes it is.

Look how little the mouth is on him.

That's pure small mouth right there.

That is such a cool fish.

I love that color.

Beautiful.

Yeah.

I mean, they're in really good shape.

Yeah.

Greg, you and I fished several times before, and I know you obviously love to float and fly.

We talked about throwing those hair jigs at night, Which is your favorite thing to do?

Right.

We've showcased both.

There you go, bite!

I hate that you got interrupted.

Oh interrupt me any time you want when that bobber disappears.

Yeah, I did.

I told you that time.

I was looking at you.

I know.

I was watching your float.

I love it.

It's a little nicer fish, too.

Yeah.

There we go.

Got it.

That's good.

There you go, right there in the... right there in the top of the lip.

It█s perfect.

That█s how you want it isn█t it?

Exactly.

This style fishing right here, watching this float go under then fighting the fish with this long, wimpy rod...

These things are addictive.

Black bear populations here in Kentucky have been increasing the last several years.

And biologists are collecting data on those bear cubs as soon as they leave the den.

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.

That long piece of rootman.

We'll go in on that side and then climb up on top of that log that drops off.

That█s the easiest way in, alright appreciate it.

what we got today, litter size.

and then what is the sex ratio of that litter.

this particular bear, this the second time we've denned her.

she's been wearing a collar for about four and a half years.

that's the other thing we do.

This is a good, easy opportunity to update her collar.

so two years from now, we'll probably come back and and check her out again.

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.

Are you ready for the 2024 spring turkey season?

Well, it will be here before you know it.

Well, it's opening morning of turkey season here in Kentucky.

The decoys are set about 25 or 30 yards so today is going to be a bit of a waiting game.

I've done zero calling so far.

Birds should have been coming off the roost literally five, six minutes ago.

I've been here for about 15 minutes.

Let's see what happens Oh, Hey Hey, two hens right at the decoy.

This little, this little field we're on we're at the skinny part of it and that's where they like to cross but it's domed, which means that if the birds come out of the field across from us that's literally only twenty-five yards before we can see them.

So we got to be ready at all times.

And that's what just happened, they literally came straight across the field.

Of course, its two hens so there's no gobbling.

hopefully if a if a big male turkey comes in, we'll hear him before he's right on top of us But that's a good sign we've got hens right here.

We've been out here about an hour and a half.

My experience in this field is that normally the birds don't show up real early.

Typically it's after they've flown down, henned up, then once they're finished up with that, typically when the sun hits this field, the birds usually start showing up just starting at this edge over here.

Still dark right here in front of me.

So hopefully sometime in the next twenty, thirty minutes, we get a little bit of sun up here to get the bugs out and hopefully we get a strutter.

after about 3 hours, very little action, I call a little bit and I heard a hen cluck.

So I called back to it, it answered me, and this hen has come in and it's about a 40 yard behind us, it's going ballistic.

The beautiful thing about that is, there is a gobbler about 200 yards away.

That's responded, and he's on his way it sounds like.

There he is again, let's hope that she, not me, let's hope this hen can now call this gobbler in and close the distance.

every 2 or 3 minutes that bird gobbles and it's getting about 10 or 15 yards closer every time.

I'm hoping that when it gets to 100 yards away, it'll be in this field and to be able to see these decoys and it'll run in like on a rope, that would be super exciting.

I see his head right now.

He's cruising to us.

I'm guessing that bird is out about 120 yards out right now if he sees this hen and goes in the woods.

we are going to only have a 50/50 chance.

he's coming across.

you ready?

what an exciting turkey hunt.

I've never been lucky enough to use a hen.

I'd like to go over there and shake her hand.

that hen I call the hen in, and then she called this gobbler in, and all I did was give him enough excitement to keep him out in the field where I had a chance and not up in the woods where that hen is.

I tell you what, quite often when you try to compete against a real hen.

You don't win.

And I didn't I didn't out-call that hen.

What happened is I just made myself easier.

I was in between the hen and the bird.

And when he saw the decoys, he decided he had to go check them out.

Wow, that was awesome.

Let's go check this bird out.

Look at her right there.

This hen right there, she sit right behind me for an hour, and I'd call and she'd call.

And it was a battle of bringing that turkey in.

This thing was so far away that the first two or three times that we thought we may have heard a gobble.

Wasn't sure it was a gobble it was that far away.

We're talking 400 yards.

And I knew that if I could get that bird into this field and keep it in this field, it would make its way to my decoys.

And sure enough, I think if I'd let it go another eight or ten feet, I believe it was going to beat the fire out of my jake decoy.

But in these blinds, you got certain windows where you can shoot, and it was getting right to the edge of my my window.

So I had to pull the trigger.

Let's go check it out.

Man Opening morning slow as it could be for me.

Did see those hens, but then was able to start working this bird with the help of a live hen about 40 or 50 yards behind me.

What a beautiful bird.

Look how sharp these hooks are on that bird, man.

Look at all the color.

It's no surprise that Ben Franklin wanted this to be the American bird.

I mean, it's blue, red and white all over the head.

Today, this is one of my favorite styles of hunting, even though we had to wait him out and it wasn't run-and-gun, getting a bird strutting and gobbling all the way, that is about as exciting as it gets.

I'm super excited to have this bird.

Now let█s see who else has been out having fun in this week█s One█s that didn█t get away.

Check out this giant £3 crappie that was caught by Kenny Ray at Taylorsville Lake, what a fish.

Phil Hiezal said he's having his best spring bite on Green River Lake ever in his 60 years.

No bananas on this fishing boat.

Nice job.

Check out this nice flathead catfish that was caught by Cody Angel at Guist Creek Lake.

Nice job.

Here we have ten year old Jarrett Bowen with his first duck ever that he took in Breckenridge County.

Nice job.

Here we have a nice hybrid bass that was taken from Guist Creek Lake by Hannah Wall.

Nice job.

Here we have Marvin Medford with a nice £4 Lake Barkley, small mouth.

Nice job.

Here we have Gage Hills with two nice white crappie.

These fish were caught at Kentucky Lake.

He said the crappie fishing is getting good.

Here we have Jeff Bonham with a nice £5 large mouth that he caught while fishing at Cedar Creek.

Here we have Allison Findlay with a nice channel catfish that she caught while fishing at her farm pond in Campbell County.

Nice job.

Do you know a youth that's interested in youth turkey season?

Well, this upcoming weekend, April 6th and seventh, is your chance.

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.

Nothing sends shivers down your spine like the sound of a gobbling tom echoing through the woods.

It's time to apply the face paint and pattern your shotgun because Kentucky's spring turkey season is coming up soon.

Be sure you have your hunting license and permits and are up to speed on the rules and regulations.

For more information, visit FW.

KY.GOV or call 1-800-858-1549.