This week on Kentucky Afield, we're out and about taking advantage of a great late winter opportunity targeting trophy farm pond bass.

Next, we'll head to the Cedar Creek Quail Club to see some of the nation's best pointing dogs in action.

Then we're trying our luck on the Nolin River, searching for white bass.

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're a bass fisherman, you're probably looking ahead to pre-spawn largemouth bass fishing.

But if you want to catch a trophy fish, right now is the time to hit the farm ponds.

Feel that sunshine.

It feels like it is the middle of the summer.

But don't let it fool you.

It's actually right in that time frame: end of February, beginning of March.

But I'll tell you what, if you're a large mouth bass fisherman, this is probably the best time of year to target a trophy fish.

Now, I happen to be at a time where I've had two or three days where weather has been in the sixties.

This is uncommonly warm.

We've got a couple of really nice days.

Today is day three.

Weather█s going to be almost 70 degrees today.

This is perfect.

Day two or three.

Warm, warm conditions, a lot of sun.

Man, you get out to your local pond.

This is when you catch a big fish.

It's not about catching ten, 20, 30 fish.

Today, It's about catching one or two big fish.

That's the goal.

This is really just a- it's an old cow pond that hadn't had cows in and around it in quite some time.

But the way this pond is set up, it's got a dam side, a steep bank side, and then a side that's pretty shallow right out on the edge.

It's got a mudflat here.

This time of year, it's all about finding that warm water.

And when I say warm water, I mean two or three degrees warmer than the other side.

And that's all it takes to get those fish to move from the deeper water to the more shallow water.

This is also the north shore.

So what that means is, as the sun travels, this side is never shading.

It's getting full sun all day long.

So we've got a south wind blowing that air in this way.

Everything is set up perfectly for this side to be a couple of degrees warmer and hopefully holding those big fish.

Think i█m going to step down.

There█s fish that took off right there, look.

Wow.

Look at these mud plumes that come out.

If those are large mouth, those are big ones.

Those are big fish.

Whatever took off right there.

Uh oh.

Uh oh.

Uh oh.

I don't know what this is, but if it's a large mouth, it's a really, really good one.

And I believe it is.

Wow.

This is why you get out early and all your friends are telling you that the boat's not ready to go yet.

You don't need a boat.

Go hit a farm pond, walk around the bank, find the area that gets the most sun and is shallow.

That's a plus 4 pound fish right there.

Now, Yeah.

It's not the largest bass in the world.

But I tell you what, that is a good, healthy, respectable bass right there.

Probably about a four pounder.

Something tells me there's a lot more of these in here.

Hey, get this thing back in water and get this line weighed again.

Come on, big girl.

What a pretty fish.

There she goes.

Wind is blowing right here.

Everything I know about fishing tells me they should be right here.

Shallow north bank, wind blowing.

There are thousands and thousands and tens of thousands of ponds just like this across state of Kentucky.

And I'll tell you what.

For early season fishing, this is where it starts.

This is just a little senko.

And I literally have it with no weight, zero weight whatsoever.

Get their lips on one of these senkos They can't turn it down.

The bait that looks like nothing but works.

what about that?

Oh my goodness.

That was awesome.

Oh my gosh.

Oh my goodness sakes live.

That bass.

I kept getting less and less weight because I'm getting a bunch of moss and I picked that senko up and I let it drift, and I actually went down size in senko.

I like throwing bigger baits this time of year to try to attract the bigger fish.

I went down in weight.

I took the weight completely off and went down in size.

And I picked that bait up right around these little dark spots.

And it came up and looked at it and I saw the fish and when it sucked that bait in, it was gone.

It was gone.

That's about another four pounder or so.

Like I say, it's not a numbers game this time of year.

It is really about taking a chance at catching the big fish.

You got to be patient.

You got to move that lure very, very slow.

You want to catch big fish, get started early, and you may have to adjust your weight and your presentation.

But, man, how exciting can it be?

Hey, that█s two fish.

I'd say both of them are 4 pound solid fish.

Can't beat it.

A lot of fun.

Tell you what: Late winter, Early spring.

You get a day.

Super nice.

Especially two or three in a row.

Be the first one out.

Social media gets covered up with really big large bass in February and March, and that's because that's the easiest time to catch a big fish.

Now Not a good time to go catch 20, 30, 40 bass but if you'll slow down, you may have to work with your weight and presentation.

Now there is.

this is another good fish here.

This is the time of year, you can go out and catch your personal best largemouth bass.

I tell you what, some of the largest fish I've ever caught have been in that February and March timeframe.

Lo and behold, these are the type fish that are biting today.

It's a great time of year to catch your personal best.

Most people start out fishing by buying one rod and reel and they go fishing.

You know?

And that really works well to get you started into fishing.

But as you want to start trying new techniques of fishing, you may realize that you may not have the right kind of line or the right pound test line for whatever technique you want to try.

As you progress into fishing and you start fishing for multiple different species and a bunch of different techniques, you're going to very likely find yourself having a whole pile of rod reels.

Now, how do you keep it all separated?

How do you know what kind of line is on what rod and reel?

Well, that can be tricky.

And here's a little technique that I like to use.

Go right here and put a little piece of medical tape.

This is something you put on your finger and it's very durable.

And I will write on there with a magic marker or an ink pen.

A couple of things.

First off, I'll put the pound test.

It's 30.

The material B stands for Braid, and then the date in which I put this line on the spool.

Why do I do that?

Well, Braid can last up to two years.

It'll last for a long, long time.

Fluorocarbon, on the other hand, you know, if you use Fluorocarbon quite a bit and it's out in the sun, you might want to trade it out about every 2 to 3 months maximum.

So this one here, what I have on this?

8, F, 5/23 that's 8 pound test on a spinning rod fluorocarbon line.

Great fishing line if you want to use a real sensitive technique.

This line may not last more than two or three months.

It's time to replace it.

So I need to know the date that it was put on here.

Another technique that I sometimes use is just by taking a Sharpie and writing it right on the spool.

And I'll try to put it in a place that my fingers don't touch and rub it off.

So I use right here, this is a silver sharpie and it says 12 M, That's 12 pound test monofilament.

I write that on there.

Now I don't have the date on that particular one.

Should have the date on it.

It's very good to have that.

Now, once you get there, how do you get it off?

Well, a little bit of alcohol will wipe that right off and you can start fresh again and put whatever the new line that you plan on intend putting on your rod and reel, you can write that back on there.

I'll tell you what: technique fishing.

One of the most important things is matching the material and the pound test line that you're fishing with whatever technique you're fishing.

And if you always know what type of line is on your rod and reel, then you will always be able to match that to whatever technique that you want to fish.

Do you really enjoy watching hunting dogs work?

Well, maybe you should go check out the UFTA Nationals.

Where do you go if you want to see over 150 of the nation's best pointing bird dogs?

Well, in this situation, we don█t have to go anywhere.

They actually came to us.

We're here today at the Cedar Creek Quail Club for the UFTA nationals.

Today is the open division so this is the best of the best.

So what we're watching here today It's a timed event with a dog and a handler who also is carrying a shotgun.

And there's three different zones and there's a bird that's going to be placed, a lot of quail, in each of those zones.

The dog has to come up and find the bird and point.

They walk up to it, flush the bird.

If the bird is shot, The handler has to stand still until it's retrieved and repeat the process.

After you've secured all three of your birds, that's when your time stops.

You want to make sure you hunt clean, shoot clean, and you want your dog to point that bird as fast as you possibly can and retrieve it back to your hand as quickly as possible.

I'm here with Kyle.

You're about ready to take your dog out into the field here.

Yes, sir.

What dog you running today?

His name█s Rip, he's a two year old little Britney spaniel.

Should do good today, we'll see what happens.

I like his odds.

What type of time are you expecting?

I hope two or three.

So how do you like to run dogs in Kentucky?

I like it.

I work at a preserve every day, guide for a living and tarpon fish in the summertime.

But I'll tell you what, Kentucky is a beautiful place.

We love when they have the Nationals up here.

So I tell you what, tell me a little bit about what it takes to win this.

I mean, I know it obviously take a really good dog.

That█s right.

It takes shooting clean, right?

That█s right.

And it takes a little bit of luck.

It does.

It does.

And the luck comes in when you're watching these fields.

If you can get a safety bird up front that's going to help you where you don't have to cover the whole field, well, good luck.

Thank you.

We hope you get it time better than you expect.

I think so, we'll see.

Good luck.

here.

Let's go.

Whoa, whoa.

Here, here, here, here.

Let's go.

Whoa, whoa.

Gun█s clear.

Rip, here, here, here, here.

Let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go, Let's go.

Here, here, here, here, here.

Time.

That█s what I'm talking about, son.

Yeah!

Ah, we had a four.

We get to play more tomorrow.

It█s fast.

I'm out of breath.

Front and back, four.

That's about as good as we're going to do today in this mud.

Happy with him though.

Pretty good for a two year old.

So I'm here with President Brett Biel of the UFTA.

How are you doing?

Oh doing good.

Pretty day.

Getting ready to run.

UFTA, tell me what that stands for for those that don't know.

United Field Trialers Association.

This is your second year in Kentucky in a row?

Second.

Yeah.

It█s actually our third year of having nationals, my second year of being the president.

All right.

How do you like coming to Kentucky?

Oh, we love it.

It's a good central location.

We have people come from all over.

I'm from Alabama.

You█ve got a lot of good, strong clubs here in Kentucky.

Cedar Creek is a strong club, got great members.

They got facilities.

It's just a great place to come to, as you can see.

Look at some of these fields, the venue that you can oversee the fields and watch, and that, your know, allows people to learn how to play the game and just enjoy watching dogs run.

Hey, Joey, I've been out here and spoke to you before here at Cedar Creek Quail Club.

Man, what a big event you guys have going on here today.

Huge.

A lot of dogs, a lot of folks.

Probably 15 states, just a lot of friends, hunting dogs.

The great thing about this venue is that it's rolling hills and you can stand up and kind of watch all the action as a spectator.

Yes, it's a great place to actually be able to stand and watch all the fields.

You get to watch the dogs work, which is what we all love to do, to be able to see what those dogs have been trained to do throughout the year or years to get to this point.

This is a huge event.

It's not just your average dog here.

How much time and effort have you guys taken to get these fields and get everything set up?

We've actually been preparing for this for the last year, but true efforts it's probably since July.

So six months, a lot of hours, a lot of help, a lot of members.

But we pull it off every year, so.

Well, you've done a great job.

I can't tell you how much I just appreciate the habitat and all the camaraderie out here with hunting dogs.

It doesn't get any better than that.

No, better than that.

That's for sure.

Thank you.

Now is the time to get out and start scouting some of your favorite white bass streams.

Once the word gets out that they're biting, you might be too late.

Well, it's mid-March and here in Kentucky that means that it's time to catch crappie.

And you know what?

Also, white bass.

It's a little bit early.

They're not really pulled and staged into areas really tight.

So we would like to do it a little different today.

And that is bring a boat.

You know, you don't have to have a boat to white bass fish.

Matter of fact, usually I prefer it from the bank, but when the fish are moving like they are now, we're going to try to use the electronics and move up and down the river and find them staging on these shoals.

The water is falling and a little bit stained It's a little bit early in the year, but because of some really warm rains that we've had, we're already almost 52 degrees.

So the temperature is right.

Hopefully today we can catch a couple of them because, man, it sure is fun.

Maybe pound for pound.

One of the hardest fighting fish we have here in the state of Kentucky.

We came up the river here and there's a little inlet with a waterfall on it, fresh, clean, clear water.

And it's probably just due to the fact that it's supposed to be 70 degrees, probably a little warmer.

So we're going to set out here, see if there's any fish here.

Here we go.

A little bit of fresh water.

The question is, what have we got here?

White bass.

My first white bass of 2021.

Hey, these are great to eat.

If I can get enough of these to make a mess, be pretty happy.

You see that right there?

This here is a male, and the males will actually run up this river before the females.

They get a little bit excited.

This is this is milk from a fish.

So this is this is definitely a male fish.

So, you know what?

Hopefully we find some females.

As with most fish species, the males are the small ones.

So the females will be bigger.

We fished this spot, made several more casts with no luck.

Time to move.

We're moving up to the next shoal.

Skinnier water, more current.

Hopefully that's where they█re at.

Need a spinner bait?

This is such a great walking opportunity.

Looks like he's throwing something that█s got a little pink on it and has got a nice white bass.

I do like that sheer rock wall.

It might have some depth right on the edge.

Here we go.

A little bitty one.

Is this a crappie?

Sure is.

A little crappie this one is not going to be big enough to keep.

That thing█s about six inches long.

Not quite enough.

Sometimes it█s the smallest amount of influx of water can just change the oxygen in here.

And so you see, here's a little bit of a drain coming in.

So this is a spot that we're going to want to give a try.

And there's another one.

See, they're in there.

You never think that that little bit of water right there would be enough.

This is a better fish.

I don't know what it is.

Hope it lets us know.

White bass.

There we go.

Just a little bitty spot with some inflow of water and two casts in a row.

Two fish.

Need about ten of these.

Here we go.

You can tell it's got this rod just doubled over how hard these things fight.

So it's not a huge fish, but they're just so incredibly strong.

Another male fish, you know, the females are obviously the ones hauling the eggs.

So you really can come up here and catch your limit of these males and you're not really hurting the population much, but it█s definitely a male.

Here we go.

Another white bass and that is sitting right against that rock wall.

So we█ve floated a lot of this river today.

And it seems like the spots where we're getting fish held up are either where there's an influx of water or where you've got a little bit of just a sheer drop where the water is a little bit deeper and there's not as much current.

That seems to be where they█re at.

Here we go.

Right at the boat.

Nice fish right there.

Again, it's just putting that pattern together.

And for whatever reason, every day it changes.

You might have it where you got a lot of flow and it just drops into a pool and they'll be right in the middle.

Today, they are right on the edge of the banks in these little areas where you got a slight bit of slack water and a little bit of depth right on sheer rock.

Hey, we're going to mess around here and get us a limit of white bass.

You know, it's early, so this is usually, you know, you're you're looking right around the last week of March to April is really when this starts to happen.

This year, we've had some warm weather.

Matter of fact, when I get this fish in, I'm getting this jacket off.

It is getting hot.

There he is.

Right on this sheer rock wall again.

Little joker there but still fights like crazy out in this current.

I tell you what, we just made about a two or 300 yard float trying to fish everything.

Not a bite, next sheer rock wall There it is, caught a fish.

This one's a little smaller.

Is a male, though.

Big enough to clean.

I tell you what, coming here and floating this Nolin River is a great way to spend an afternoon in March.

We're a little early, but everybody's catching fish.

So we talked to a lot of people and it seemed like everyone had caught either crappie or white bass.

Just not big numbers yet.

But you know what?

I bet you about the last week of March, first week of April, it's going to be the place to be right here.

Check out this beautiful striper that was caught by Steve Shepard.

This fish was 46 inches long.

Nice job.

Here we have Tucker Duvall with his first fish ever, a nice rainbow trout that was caught at Wolf Creek Dam.

Congratulations.

Here we have young Caitlin Reese, who went squirrel hunting with her dad.

She was able to get four squirrels and they got nine total using their hunting dog, Tucker.

Nice job.

Here we have Jayden Mantel showing off his nice black crappie.

Congratulations.

Here we have Case Jupin with his first ever limit of squirrels that he took in Meade County with this 20 gauge 1100 Remington shotgun.

Nice job.

Check out the size of this striper that was caught by T. Mason Woest.

This fish was caught out of the Cumberland River and it was his first striper ever.

And it weighed over 38 pounds.

Nice job.

Days like this, sunny and near 70 degrees are going to become more frequent.

Hopefully.

Have your rod and reels lined up and ready to go.

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.