Hello and welcome to Kentucky Afield.

I'm your host, Chad Myles.

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

Are you ready for some spring fishing?

Well we are.

We're going to take a look at some of our favorite opportunities, including pond fishing for trophy largemouth bass, white bass fishing on the Nolin River.

And first up, we're headed to Cave Run Lake to crappie fish with Kris Mann.

Today I'm on beautiful Cave Run Lake with an old fishing buddy Khris, Mann How are you doing?

Doing well Chad.

Good to see you today.

Good to see you as well.

Good to be back out.

You've always told me this is one of the lakes that you like the fish the most.

And people think of this like as a muskie lake.

It's not one that comes top of mind, for people█s favorite crappie lake.

For a lot of people, you're not going to hear Cave Run, but you've always said it's one of your favorite lakes to fish.

Absolutely.

This one flies under the radar.

It truly does.

It's a great fishery.

You'll see today just some of the habitat that we have here is second to none on the lake.

And to be honest with you, this time of the year is when I really, really enjoy fishing.

Well, let's get after them.

Let█s do it.

That's about a that's about a ten inch crappie right there.

Let█s see if we can prove it.

He may be bigger.

There you go.

That looks like a better fish.

Oh, yeah.

That's a nice crappie.

What do you got there.

11, 12, incher?

I need to stick it on the tape measure here and see.

What did we say 12 and a quarter, 12 and 12 and three quarter.

And that's a good fish.

Neat fish.

That's a giant there.

You got him.

That█s a dandy.

Looks like a really big fish.

Yes.

Look at that.

Now that's a kind of crappie in a tournament you want right there.

That's your tournament grade fish right there guys.

Pretty belly on her starting to get egged up.

Look at this.

Look across, the back how big shoulders on her.

She's a pretty one.

That's a big crappie anywhere in the state of Kentucky.

A quality fish.

What was my prediction of pound 65?

Oh, I missed it.

Pound 74.

Get her turn back loose.

Beautiful fish.

There we go.

Good job, Good fishing Chad.

I█ll tell you what that fish committed and it came pretty good ways, didn't he?

Yeah, he did.

You really had to work him and get him in there.

Pretty fish.

That it a pretty fish.

Look at the belly on that.

Look at the belly and the mouth on that crappie.

I mean, that's just a quality.

That's like a quality like Kentucky Lake crappie.

Isn't it?

That█s a beautiful fish.

I can see why you like coming to cave.

Run.

Like I said, that that is a really good looking fish.

You got him to.

I reached out Got him way out there.

Look at that.

That's a good fish there.

Well, you saw him come up and hit that bait.

Now, that fish there was sitting right on the bottom, just a beautiful fish that is so cool watching that happen.

Another quality fish.

Nice crappie not quite to the size that your last few but still we're looking at you know that tells you what kind of fish that we're targeting when you pull up a crappie like that is probably 12 and a half inches and you go well, it's a little smaller than we've been catching.

That's a good day.

On the water.

That's pretty good day.

Big old eyes sitting right on top of their head.

So I tell you what we try to.

You can tell where you're at compared the lure compared to this fish in the water column like you don't want to be down here.

Look with our eyes are at.

So I make sure when I'm pulling that bait, I'm trying to keep that bait of either mouth and higher up in this angle you get down here, they just can't see it.

That fish would have to turn complete nose down to see that bait.

So I try to keep that bait right above it.

And Chris has told me today that keeping that baited real slow retrieve is a really good way to entice that strike.

Even with cold water.

There you go.

Uh Oh.

Oh, I'm going to have to hold this up Chad.

Oh no Little comparison.

Here.

Yeah.

Those are good table fair.

Nine and three quarter inch fish.

Oh yeah.

And a lot of people like to keep those.

And that's the ones I suggest you keep.

Yeah.

Let that big baby go back and produce some more big ones.

And that's the way to go.

How often on this live scope, when you see them hit, do you not feel the bite at all?

Do you sometimes set the hook and you're like, I didn't feel that fish, but I just know he hit it based on what I'm looking at on the screen.

Yeah, it can certainly happen more times than not when you don't feel the fish hit at all and he has hit, it's because you've got a little bit of slack line somewhere, you know, and you just don't notice it.

But there are times when the fish will bite so light.

they're such a subtle bite that that you won't feel them.

And I think there are a lot of anglers out here that aren't fishing with forward facing sonar, that are missing a lot of bites.

And they never know it.

They never know they've had them.

Well, this water temp too this these fish, I mean, these are cold crappie are a cold water fish.

They're not going to come flying across the water to come eat your lure.

You got to put it right on their face, just like we just saw, because the water temperature look, it's 39.5 degrees.

Don't take too many.

Those make a great sandwich.

No sir.

Oh, here comes a big fish.

You got him to.

I never felt that fish bite Chad.

I just saw that he was bound to have overrun the bait.

And I just went ahead and set the hook.

That one get a hook right where you want them.

Right.

And that that part of the top of the mouth.

And that's another good quality fish about a 12 at least a 12 inch fish, maybe 12 and a half.

Beautiful, beautiful fish.

Oh, Oh, that time I just had to kind of be patient as you scanned away and came back to him and wait to see where my lure was and when I to when it came back and I can see my lure.

I happened to be right on it.

You got a good one right there.

He's got you.

Oh, lost my hat almost.

Just don't lose the fish.

We can go get your hat.

what a pretty fish.

Beautiful fish.

Good job Chad.

Beginning of February, Eastern Kentucky catching and beautiful crappie like this, you know, and people for whatever reason, I still have a ton of friends.

When I tell them I'm going to the lake tomorrow, they're like, You're crazy.

And I can sit here.

And this beautiful scenery with a light jacket on catching crappie like this and think if you're not doing this, you might be the ones crazy, beautiful.

I know you've talked about big crappie here at Cave Run Lake that.

You know what seeing is believing and I have seen a bunch of them today.

We've we've had a good day, blessed day and plenty of big fish in this area, you know, just moved around a little bit.

And a lot of people overlook this winter bite and I suggest they get out here and weather these cold fronts and see if they can get on them.

Thank you so much for bringing this out and showing us how to do it.

Thanks for coming.

I appreciate Chad.

Great time.

February here in Kentucky can be the best month to target trophy largemouth bass while pond fishing.

But you have to remember a few things.

Choose the right lure and slow down.

Feel that sunshine.

It feels like it is the middle of the summer.

But don't let that fool you.

If you're a largemouth bass fisherman, this is probably the best time of year to target a trophy fish.

That's the goal.

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 shaded.

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.

I think i█m going I think i█m going to step down.

There█s fish, it took off right there.

Look.

Wow.

Look at these mud plumes that come out.

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.

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 four pound fish right there.

Now.

Yeah.

It's not the largest bass in the world.

But I'll 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.

I need to 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 Senko█s they can't turn it down.

The bait that looks like nothing but works.

Ooh, 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'd pick that Senko up and I let it drift.

I actually went down in size and Senko.

I like throwing bigger baits this time of year to try to attract a 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 lbs solid fish.

Can't beat it.

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 is 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, it's not a good time to go catch 20, 30, 40 bass but if you'll slow down, they have to work with your weight and presentation.

Oh there he is.

Oh, 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 of fish that are biting today.

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

One of the questions that we get most about spring fishing here in the state of Kentucky is about the white bass run.

People always want to know when should we start fishing?

And what I'll tell you is when the action on the hardwood heats up here in Kentucky, the white bass fishing does too.

I█ll tell you what, for me, it doesn't get any better than late March hitting the Nolin River in search of white bass.

Just got down here today, and apparently the fish must be starting to bite because I see a lot of people up and down the bank.

You have any luck today?

Just one.

One.

I'm going to walk up and down the bank today, see if anybody's having any luck.

It looks like some of them are catching some fish.

It's all about catching the water at the right time, and usually in March is the time to start checking it.

But you really want to get that water if it's slightly rising after a warm rain, that's when it can be gangbusters.

What do you know, fellas?

Good man.

Doing alright?

Yeah.

You█ve grown up a little bit in the last four or five months.

My buddy Evan and his dad, Dan, are down here.

It looks like they've found the honey hole, and they're catch some white bass too.

Let me get a stringer.

Those white bass fight don't they bud?

Yeah.

There's one.

Got one?

Oh, it's a white bass.

That's a good one too.

Good job, buddy.

That's a big female.

That's what we want right there.

Here we go.

Man, I was barely, barely, barely moving that bait.

Barely moving that bait.

A small one here.

I tell you, these things they fight so incredibly well.

It's just so much fun to catch.

You know, and the great thing is, I'm looking up and down these banks and there's so many people that get down, and enjoy this style of fishing.

You can go in a boat.

We got some guys here doing that.

But also just grab you a couple of little lures.

Really, anything you can catch a crappie on, you can catch a white bass on.

Either spinners, hair jigs, and when the water gets staind like this, I like throwing something with some pink or something with some chartreuse.

It seems to work really, really well.

But man, this little fish right here doesn't look like much.

Had this rod bent around.

They fight so incredibly well.

Just so much fun.

We're gonna let this one grow up another year.

Evan is the same young man that got a house right down from my place on Nolin Lake and picked him up last year for a surprise fishing trip.

White bass.

White bass.

That's what we been looking for.

Nice job, buddy.

You've been catching big fish?

Yeah.

You can't beat that.

I'll tell you what, Evan, I know you play baseball, and your family likes to get out and spend time outdoors.

I have to think that a spring break, an entire week at the lake when the fishing is really good is probably a perfect spring break for you, isn't it?

Yeah.

I like being out here just catching white bass and just the thought of being out here and the nature.

It's just really fun and peaceful.

I love it.

So what's your favorite thing about white bass fishing?

The fight.

Yeah.

They fight like crazy for their size.

Sometimes they'll trick you.

You'll be fighting the thing to the bank and you be like, oh my gosh, this thing is huge.

And you get it in and you█re like, that is what was pulling my line that hard.

That fish ain█t six inches long.

They're fun to fight.

You like eating them?

I love eating them.

I'll tell you what I know me and my kids, we love eating them, too.

My wife, they.

You know how to clean them and get that red meat out.

They are hard to beat.

They█re fantastic to eat.

That's right.

I love them.

You know, I know that you have a boat and you fish from a boat quite a bit.

A lot of times you go find the fish.

But when these fish are making a run up the river like this, you can kind of stay in the same place and let the fish come to you and you might have 20 and 30 minute stretches without getting a bite and then you may catch three or four in three cast.

Oh.

Got him?

Yeah, I got him.

Nice.

There you go.

You're on the other side again.

You know, if you look at this water, it's kind of got a mud line it's out there.

By the bank is kind of clean.

You're making long enough cast that you're able to fish both that mud line and this mud line.

What have we got?

Seems pretty nice.

He█s pulling drag.

Another beautiful white bass.

Nice job, buddy.

Thank you.

That's a pretty good one.

Dan, you know, you and I spoke before about catching white bass.

I've always said that March and April down here on the river was really the best time to catch them.

Yeah, I'm glad you told me about this, and I'm glad it worked out.

We could be down here at the same time and catching fish together.

Yeah.

You know, you and I get to hang out a lot in the summertime, and then, you know, you got a house right down the road from us.

We became lake-time friends.

But March is kind of the time I don't get to spend a whole lot of time at the lake.

So this is bonus days for us to kind of get out here and do this and catch fish.

Yeah, it's a bonus.

The weather's beautiful and the fish are biting.

So that's where we want to be.

Now that's a fish.

That fish there█s got an attitude.

I've probably thrown back more than I've kept and that I would not throw that one back.

I believe I would keep that one.

Dan, that's a great fish, man.

That's a good looking guy there.

How█d that one hit?

He just smoke it?

Oh, he smoked it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

They sure are pretty too.

I like to appreciate how pretty they are.

Dan, I guess we met about four or five years ago.

I noticed that your son Evan had an extreme interest in fishing.

He wanted to fish, and I was able to fish with him a couple of times, but we were trying to catch bass in the jumps and that's a lot of fun.

But, you know, to do that, you almost need a boat.

You actually are here for a week for kid█s Spring break, have your boat at your dock, hopped in the car and ran out here just to try this out.

You know, there's less to deal with as far as the boat and the trolling motor.

Just walk down the bank with a handful of jigs and catch fish like that.

Can't beat that.

No can't beat it at all.

I'm glad you told me about it.

And we were able to work it out to where we could be here together.

How old were you when you kind of got into fishing?

Probably about Evan's age.

Ten or twelve, thirteen years old.

When my grandmother used to take me fishing out in eastern Indiana, Brookville Lake.

And we used to catch a lot of channel cat and bluegill and crappie and everything we could out there.

It was a good time.

Kind of got me started.

I'm glad I've been able to pass that on to Evan.

As a dad, you got to love when he gets out here and wants to do this as much as he█s doing it because you don█t have to worry about him being in any trouble.

He's eat up with it.

Oh, he is.

He definitely ate up with it.

It was a pleasure getting down here and seeing you.

We█ll be spending a lot of time together this summer with our entire families together.

Yeah.

But hey, these fish will be doing this tomorrow too.

You and Evan got choices.

You can run back up here and catch them again.

Yeah, I think so.

Now let's check in and see who else has been out having fun.

And this week's ones that didn't get away.

Check out 12 year old Kellen Wilson with this nice buck that he took in Russell County.

Congratulations.

Jeffrey Wells took a kayak trip down the Barron River lake and caught this nice string on a crappie.

Nice job.

Brian Montgomery went fishing at the falls of the Ohio in July and caught this 55 pound blue catfish.

Nice job.

Harvey Carter decided that he was going to go rabbit hunting on his birthday, so he took a buddy and headed to Central Kentucky and had a successful day in the field.

Four year old Hunter Schmidt went out fishing at Mills Park and caught his first trout.

Nice job.

Check out this beautiful smallmouth bass that was caught by nine year old Lee McNeese.

This fish was caught in a creek in Jessamine County.

Nice job.

Tyler Vogler and his son Virgil got these three nice rabbits while running with their dogs Addie, Belle, Sue, and wooly.

This was the last day of the season.

What a day.

Do you have more questions about spring fishing here in Kentucky?

Well, you're in luck, because our annual spring fishing call and show is coming up.

It's on February the 17th at 7:00 on YouTube, Facebook, or FW.KY.GOV And remember, hunting and fishing on private property is a privilege.

I always ask permission to 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.

Did you know the Kentucky is home to the largest Elk heard, in the eastern U.S., with an elk zone twice the size of Yellowstone National Park.

Look how big animal is.

I mean, this is just amazing.

And we enjoy one of the most diverse fisheries in the country.

Just ask Christine.

Very nice.

Oh, and by the way, Kentucky is known for being one of the top five states for trophy whitetails each year.

Additionally, more than 100,000 Kentuckians have benefited from our conservation education programs like the Salado Wildlife Education Center, summer conservation camps, good job, and our Learn to Hunt and Fish classes.

Or did you know about the 1.6 million acres open to the public?

These are just a few things that Kentucky's Department of Fish and Wildlife have helped preserve.

This is one of several we have on the Kentucky River.

She's got plenty of room in that nest for chicks.

Who pays for conservation in Kentucky?

Well, since the department receives no general fund state tax dollars, we rely on the sportsmen and women of the Commonwealth.

He's been waiting years for that.

So if you enjoy Kentucky's resources, help us manage them by purchasing a hunting or fishing license today.

You can do so by visiting FW.KY.GOV.