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 Eastern Kentucky to learn a new technique that is being used to treat invasive plant species.

Then we're picking up a young fan on his dock and taking him for a morning of bass fishing.

But first, we're headed out on one of the most beautiful streams I've ever been on in my entire life here in Kentucky, to do a little bit of kayak smallmouth bass fishing.

I love Kentucky, i█ve only been here about four years.

From smallmouth, to hybrids, to musky.

There's all kinds of fly fishing opportunities across the state.

It's just a ton of fun.

Where we're at today, we're not going to be catching trout, but we are going to be fly fishing.

Yup.

Flyfishing for smallmouth, yup.

we're going to be fishing some lower profile stuff today.

we've got some tan baitfish patterns here.

In this low, clear water, Chad, tan in the summer tends to work a little bit better than white.

We█ll fish those in low light situations.

Once the middle of the day sets in, we'll throw some deer hair frog patterns on top.

You just create a ton of commotion.

the fish can see them really well in the sun when the sun gets high in the sky, and man when they come up and crush the deer hair frog: better be ready.

Yeah, yeah.

That is amazing, there's actually some art right there.

That's a beautiful, beautiful fly.

These take a long time to tie, but, it's completely worth it.

you know, from streamers to, you know, more complex stuff like this.

it's definitely worth it.

And, you know, the fish will respond well to them.

Fantastic.

We're going to use some kayaks.

We're going to try to get into some spots.

Sometimes we'll be in the kayak.

Some areas where we have public access we█ll be out.

Let's go get a fight on our hands.

Let's go do it.

Yeah.

Awesome.

I really want to fish in this pool.

I don't think we'll catch a fish in here, but I'll at least show you the presentation here.

Are you throwing a very similar?

Yeah.

We're throwing the same fly this morning to start off.

All right.

This is a minnow changer, a really popular pattern, and it's got some incredible action to it.

We█re going to kind of target, Chad, back eddies like this and right in here as well.

Any slow moving breaks in the water.

So I'll kind of aim for the other end of that pool.

Yeah.

Just like that.

Oh, you already got one.

We got one.

We█re hooked up.

This is a decent little fish.

Yeah.

You're talking about a 13, 14 inch fish right off the bat.

That was fantastic.

Let█s see here.

All right.

Yeah.

I can't imagine a better way to start.

Good stuff.

Awesome.

That was great.

Yeah.

All right, let me make a practice cast here.

There we go.

Good stuff, dude.

There we go.

Got one on.

You saw that fish, didn't you?

Yeah.

Lookie there.

Probably about a 10, 12 inch fish somewhere in that range.

To go in and to hand-tie your bait and go out and catch something on it, there's got to be something.

It's very rewarding.

Like, whenever I tie, like, a new pattern or something I make myself and is not already on the market, come out here and catch fish on it.

especially on a deer or turkey I killed.

that's cool.

It's super cool.

That's a great cast Chad.

Yep.

Oh, did you feel that?

I didn't feel it.

No.

Oh I was bring it in and he smoked it.

Oh man that was a nice fish.

I don't think he felt that one either.

I think I pulled it right.

Why don't you put that one back there.

It was like right in there and I went to pull.

Oh he got it!

Yeah.

He got it.

I'll tell you what.

This fish wanted it because he came up and I literally when I ended my cast and jerked the bait up.

Yeah, that's bigger than the last one.

Yeah.

A nice little southeastern smallmouth right there, Chad.

Beautiful fish.

Oh.

Got him.

Chad, you█re tearing them up now.

Oh, man, that was awesome.

You obviously came here knowing how to flyfish.

You've been doing that all your life.

Right.

Tell me a little bit about how you gathered so much knowledge in just four years.

Right.

Like today, knowing where to go in, where to go out.

Anything from from blue water trails, information on public access points, put-ins, take outs.

Oh, it's just so informative.

I mean, if you go to Blue Water Trails on Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, you'll see 3 or 4 different floats on the South Fork like we're on today, you know, a million on the green, great fisheries like the Barren and Elkhorn and it's just it's just a wonderful resource for, for anglers of all kinds.

you know, of course, you can always, you know, stop in your local fly shop.

Resource of the internet and looking at spots on google maps, you know, especially at Kentucky Fish and Wildlife.

Come on Got one looking at it?

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

You got him.

That's a good fish.

Yeah That's the best one of the day right there so far.

Yeah.

Nice fish.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Got it?

There you go.

This is the one we want.

Oh, yeah.

You can see it from here.

Stay buttoned It looks like a really good fish, what you got 16inhes or better?

You know, let me get him in.

It looks like it.

He█s fighting a lot harder than he.

He looks like a good one.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

He's a great fish.

Look at the vertical bars on him.

beautiful fish.

We've been crushing them on streamers today.

Just caught of big one on the streamer.

It's the middle of the day, though.

I think it's time to catch a big one on topwater and we've been seeing some frogs.

So we're going to put our deer hair frog on and, see if we can get a big one on this one too.

Oh, yeah.

Nice fish.

Nice fish.

Yeah.

Nice fish.

Oh, that looks like a great fish.

Yeah, a great frog fish.

Fish on a frog.

I'll tell you what.

I can't tell you how cool it is to sit here and watch you on a fly rod with the frog pattern that you tried, that looks absolutely beautiful.

Fish it the exact same way that I'd fish a frog on a bait caster and catch him out here on the river.

Yeah, look at that thing.

that's a great fish.

Yeah, that's a that's a 17 inch fish.

Yeah.

Wow, what a small mouth.

What a beautiful fish.

Doesn't get much better than that.

Congratulations.

And I tell you what.

That's got to be rewarding.

Yeah.

You said it took you 40 minutes to tie that frog.

Yeah, it's cool to, you know, kill a deer, right?

And then use that hair, tie a frog pattern and catch a fish like this.

It's really rewarding.

I tell you what, Ryder, I've never been on the South Fork, and I can't tell you how stunningly beautiful it is.

I have been just amazed at the beauty and the smallmouth fishing quality.

It's unreal.

Yeah.

I mean, it's a gorgeous fishery.

I mean, when I tell people about this place, you know, I talk about the fishing, but, you know, you always forget about the scenery.

It's it's pretty unbelievable.

Well, hey.

Thank you.

Congratulations on catching that great fish on your hand tied frog.

It's been a blast.

We got to do it again.

Have you ever wondered how we treat invasive plant species in the mountains or on uneven ground?

Well, the best answer is to do it from the air.

We're here on Rock Castle River Wildlife Management Area in Pulaski County.

The prior land use on this property was strip mining and during that, especially during the reclamation stage.

Oftentimes, landowners will use fast growing species to put back on the landscape.

In some instances, especially previously, they used species that are non-native invasive species.

So in June of 2023, we started a fairly extensive invasive species removal project.

We rented a dozer and actually spent a month dozing out autumn olive, bush honeysuckle, multi-flora rose, and basically just piling up these invasive species.

To eliminate or reduce the amount of autumn olive specifically on this property.

Doing one thing alone is not going to be the answer.

We've got to follow that up with other types of management practices.

So prescribed fire is another tool that we're using and then of course this herbicide treatment and we're trying to adapt, you know, as things evolve and technology is coming along.

And so we had the money to go ahead and fund this project to get the helicopter out here, do the aerial spraying.

We did 330 acres of that, and then we followed that up with 65 acres of the drone treatment out here today.

It's just a really good way to get a good coverage of herbicide across the area.

And it's a different technique, something that we haven't done in the past.

So we can compare those two practices and just see which one is going to be the most efficient moving forward.

Non-native invasive species are really good at establishing quickly on the landscape.

They can reproduce very quickly.

They can also spread very rapidly and pretty much cover a landscape and smother out all of the native species.

If you don't get every single stitch of root out of that autumn olive, it will re sprout.

So the helicopter coming in, basically what we're doing is we can spray 333 acres fairly quick.

We can get a landscape level impact for the habitat and for the local wildlife.

So you're talking about a very large impact really quick.

Autumn olive is one of the most hearty plants and hard to kill plants out there.

And he was able to run that thing with 95 gallons of herbicide in it, and he was treating about 20 to 25 acres at a time.

And then he would run that herbicide out, come over and land it on top of the tanker truck, refill it.

So we could see we were getting a good coverage of herbicide that's being treated.

Herbicide application with a helicopter has allowed us to address multiple acres.

In the project that we've done this week that would have taken us months on the ground if we were spraying it via a tractor or if we were going in and actually cutting those down.

So it's much, much more time efficient and then also cost efficient when you look at all the cost, that is rolled into there.

So helicopter application is definitely something that is going to benefit us at being able to address large acres of this species over time.

We're also spraying with the drone and the drone is actually going to be used to spray a different type of invasive called sericea lespedeza.

It's more of an herbaceous weed that grows in these poor soils.

And what it does is it basically takes over as well.

It outcompetes all your native species and has zero benefit for wildlife.

The drone is going to treat a smaller area, but for situations like this, we had 65 acres here today.

We could have never contracted that chopper to come over and do that because it's not worth their time.

So drone comes over.

They got a 25 gallon tank on it, you know, much smaller than what the chopper is.

It's a slower process, but this guy's flying like 13 feet above the vegetation.

Same set up.

He's got a tablet.

We can see the transects he█s flying.

We keep the herbicide where we want it.

And you can see in the video, I mean, he's getting awesome coverage on everything that we're spraying.

And so it's another tool in the toolbox for us.

If we're treating a smaller area, we can call on the drone to come in and do it.

Or if we've got these bigger acreage plots, three, four or 500 acres or more, I think that's at a place where we want to use the chopper.

Not only are we addressing that acreage here on Rock Castle River WMA, but we're also looking to expand this and have done that on some of our WMAs in eastern Kentucky as well.

The landscape is extremely similar and unfortunately it's inundated with these non-native invasive species such as autumn olive and sericea lespedeza.

The next step is we're actually going to come in next week, once some of these weeds start dying down, and we're going to drill native warm season grasses and forbs.

We have a lot of quail in this area and there's not very good nesting cover or escape cover for those quail, which is what you need.

So we're going to come back in and plant some native warm season grasses, which acts as their nesting cover, and then some forbs as well, which brings in those insects.

It allows for good brooding habitat for young poults and it creates great browse for deer as well.

So it's kind of a one stop shop.

Once we get some native cover on the ground, that's actually going to be a fire tolerant species and it's going to allow us to run some hot fires through this.

The thought process is that we're going to be able to set back these invasives over time.

That way we can provide better habitat for all of our wildlife species.

Evan Walker is a young Kentucky Afield fan that had no idea we were going to pick him up and take him fishing.

Well, this morning, we're going to do something fun.

We're out here on my home lake, Nolin Lake.

And this morning I'm going to go pick up a young kid who has no idea that we're coming to get him.

He's a gentleman I met about two years ago, and he absolutely loves to fish.

He's 12 years old.

His name is Evan.

He's from central Indiana.

Super good kid.

Huge fan of Kentucky Afield.

And I just got word that he is standing on his dock hoping that the white bass come up this morning.

We've already okayed it with his parents, so we're going to pull up.

He has no idea we're coming.

I don't know what is the reaction will be.

We're going to pick him up and take him fishing for a day on Kentucky Afield, and hopefully it's a day he'll never forget.

And we'll catch plenty of fish.

You catch anything?

You seen him in the jumps yet?

Well guess what?

You want to go with me?

Your dad knows you're going today's your day man.

We're going to go out and try to catch some white bass and you're going fishing on Afield if you want to go.

You want to go?

Have you got any fish yet?

Well, let's get in the boat and run up the up the lake a long way.

See if we can locate some more fish.

We already saw the bald eagles already caught him a white bass this morning.

See if we can't go have some luck.

Hop on in.

So, Evan, how old are you now?

12.

And how long, how long you've been fishing?

Maybe eight years now.

Okay.

Yeah.

So you started really young, you know?

I know you watch a lot of the Kentucky Afield segments because you're always asking me about them.

You don't get Kentucky Afield up where you live do you?

No.

So how do you watch it?

We have a lake house down in Kentucky that we just we me and my dad get up early in the morning and we just watch the show.

Okay.

So you record them?

Yeah.

Okay.

All right.

So tell me, which ones have been some of your favorite shows?

Well, I like the ones where you go and you go to, like, Green River and stuff and you go catch smallmouth bass.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, well, it's going to be a good time.

I'm seeing a couple of ones and twos jumping, but not like big groups of them.

I'll tell you what, let's cast a rod out and troll for a minute.

And while we do this, we'll just wait and see if we see him start coming up.

But I know there's fish right here.

We're going to move and see if we can't find the fish.

And we're going to be fishing while we're while we're looking.

Oh, yeah.

Here we go.

We've got a couple we're going to troll you right through those.

So get ready.

Our lures should be getting close.

Here you go.

You want real this one in?

What do you got there buddy?

Largemouth bass.

Largemouth huh?

Or a spotted.

Oh yeah, it is a largemouth bass.

Hey, that's a fun catch.

Is not exactly what we're after today, but we'll take that.

If we start catching a bunch of those, we'll move.

All right.

But we'll try it.

We'll see what happens.

I'll tell you what.

Let's turn around, troll right back through there again and see if we catch two largemouth, three largemouth, we'll go find some white bass.

He's super hot right now.

Oh, man.

That water temperature is literally 87 degrees.

It's like bath water.

It is like bath water.

Here you go.

Let's just turn, make a cast and try it again.

Here we go.

Oh it's a largemouth again.

You can reel it.

This might be a spot.

Nope, Largemouth.

Nice fish.

A little bit.

A little bit better.

Nice one.

There you go, largemouth bass out here in the jumps.

Tell you, tells you that's where all the bait is at.

Yeah.

Oh, here we go.

Here you go.

You want this one?

White bass.

White bass.

White bass.

It's another, I think it might be, it's a white bass.

White bass, white bass, white bass.

That's what we've been looking for.

Nice job, buddy.

Hey, we're out here in the middle.

I know that's where they're at.

There you go.

White bass.

Now, you caught a couple of these off your dock of the day, right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, that's a good sign.

Sure is.

All right.

There you go.

Nice.

Nice job.

Thanks.

You want to turn it loose?

I know you're a really good caster on that rod and reel.

We're going to try one more spot and they may be black bass, but a spot that we may be able to get in there and let you make some cast and catch some that way.

Oh, I got one.

Uh oh, fish on?

Largemouth.

That's pretty good little fish.

Pulling.

He's pulling hard isn't he?

Yeah.

It's a spotted bass, look at that.

That's a good sized spotted bass.

Nice job, buddy.

That's a good one.

Pretty fish.

There he goes.

Well, Evan, it's only 9:00 and it is getting hot.

What do you think, you want to want to call it quits?

Yeah.

I'll tell you what.

Fish are still jumping, but it is so hot it's hard to be in the boat.

But before we go in, I want to take you back to this creek, show you something really pretty.

This is going to be cool.

So what do you think about this?

So this is a good place to come when it's really, really hot.

I know.

Feels cool doesn't it?

Lot's of shade.

lot of shade.

When we've had more rain.

There's usually a little waterfall coming off right here and I want to come here and cool off, but I don't believe we got enough enough water to do it today.

Well, I'll tell you what, that was a fun day of fishing.

It's hot out there, though.

I brought you back here.

This little spot, because it's kind of a really pretty location that's also cool in temperature and it's a good place to come have a drink and a granola bar, what do you think?

It's been a lot of fun.

You and I get to fish quite a bit together.

Today wasn't the best, but I had a great time and I really appreciate you coming out with me.

Welcome.

Thanks for having me.

It was a good time.

We'll do it again soon.

How about that?

Sounds good.

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

Brothers Jarrett and Judson Bolen doubled up and took these nice gobblers in Hardin County, Kentucky.

Congratulations.

Here we have ten year old Isaiah Murphy, pictured with his brother Samuel.

He took this nice turkey in Bath County, Kentucky with an 11 inch beard.

Nice bird.

Three year old Jackson Odell caught his very first fish ever.

This beautiful bluegill from a farm pond in Spencer County.

Check out this beautiful red ear that was caught by Brian Howard.

This fish was caught at Lake Barkley and weighed 1 pound ten ounces.

Nice job.

The smile tells it all.

Hunter Whitt caught this beautiful largemouth bass at a farm pond and Waddy, Kentucky.

Nice fish.

Check out this beautiful photo of this nice gobbler that was taken by Jaden Wilson.

This bird was harvested in Shelby County, Kentucky.

Nice job.

There are plenty of great opportunities to be outdoors this Memorial Day weekend.

The fishing has been good and frog gigging season is now in.

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.

It's a new year, and that means new outdoor opportunities in the state of Kentucky.

Start your outdoor adventure by purchasing your annual fishing license at FW.KY.GOV