Hello.

Welcome to Kentucky Afield.

I'm your host, Chad Miles.

Tonight you have tuned into our annual fishing question and answer show.

Tonight's show is going to be divided in three parts.

First, we're going to meet our guest.

Second, we're going to play a little bit of trivia.

And we're going to finish the show off by answering all your questions.

To my immediate left we have Jeff Ross, who's the assistant director of fisheries.

How are you doing?

Great.

Next to him we have David Baker, who's the Central District fisheries biologist.

How are you doing?

Doing good Chad.

And answering all of our law enforcement questions today we have warden Tyler Willen.

And how are you doing?

Doing good, sir.

So I know we've got a lot of things going on in preparation for spring fishing.

It doesn't start the day people go fishing.

There's a lot of work that takes place to get it to this point.

Tell me a little bit about what you've had going on.

Well, we usually like to get out a little earlier, but I've been a little slow on it.

But I got the fishing forecast up on the web last Friday.

I don't put it together, I compile it, but the district biologists send in all the information.

So the biologists take all their sampling data, their trend data, their creel survey data, stocking data.

And they look at how well the fish have done in the past year if there was a good spawn.

And they use that to predict how the fishing is going to be in this upcoming year.

So they send all that in, I compile it.

What the anglers get is a document where if they like to read, they can go to every lake and read a whole paragraph on, you know what, we think it's maybe a paragraph and maybe a couple of sentences.

Give them an idea of what's biting, what's going to be good and what's maybe average.

But it also provides them a quicker way.

If you don't want to read it all, there's cheat sheets and there's a cheat sheet for the main lakes, and then there's one for the fins Lakes.

And with that, it just highlights the best fishing opportunities by species.

So you can go to like if you're a largemouth bass fisherman, you go to that column.

And every lake that has good predicted bass fishing will have a it's like an orange color to the, to the cell.

And that gives you a quicker way to say hey narrow my choices down to these lakes.

So this is something that's done every single year using a bunch of data.

And it actually compiles every single body of water and fins lake by species.

Right.

So you can search either by species or by by by a body of water.

So it's a good way to kind of plan your trips and yeah and it has within it it it may be hard to see but there's links built in throughout it.

So on the on the main lakes, if you click on a lake it'll go to our web page.

It has the ramps.

All the habitat and all of that listed.

If you go to the cheat sheet and click on a lake, it'll go to the full forecast that's further down in the document.

So it really gives you a lot of good information.

So you can access this on the web.

It's out there every single year.

The new one is now up for 2026.

Yep.

Now is this also loaded into the fish boat Kentucky app right.

Yeah.

So if you have the fish boat Kentucky app you can also out there on the water right.

Literally link right into it.

Yeah.

And you can click on a lake and if it links to our web page, but it's still going through the app.

And you can bring up Google Maps and hit Take Me there and go.

You can actually find structure and everything else right in the water.

Yeah.

Which is what I know you've been working on.

Yeah.

So you, you, you spent a lot of time putting structure out in the lakes this time of year.

Tell me a little bit about that.

So yeah.

So we were actually out on Taylorsville lake today putting out some of our Christmas trees from our Christmas for the fishes program.

So for people who don█t know what that is, that's where, people from Kentucky can donate their live Christmas trees after the holidays.

And then we recycle and turn them into fish habitat.

Okay.

And we've we've had a really good year this year.

So, just looking at statewide numbers, we typically get around 5000 trees donated to us.

Okay.

This year we actually are a little over 6000, so.

Wow, what that means for our anglers is a lot more habitats getting put out.

And, so we're refurbishing piles at Taylorsville today.

And, those trees get use all around the state.

And, it's a quick way for us to get a lot of material and make a big impact.

What all fish species will use those cedar trees.

So what we see kind of the prime time for these brush piles, being in like late summer through the fall into the winter and typically the crappie really, really like them.

But but the bigger bass, they hang out on them because there's like a little buffet of bluegill and other small fish hanging out there.

So it's really gets used by a lot of fish.

Flatheads, some big flatheads hang out in them too.. So.

Okay.

So it's so it's a great way to later in the year when you first put them in, it takes fish a little bit of time to kind of assimilate to them.

But later in the summer, in the spring or last year, last year, cedar trees are also being marked on this app that you're talking about.

You can go and find last years structure you put out as well.

Right?

So so the beauty of it is you can go to our website, go to lakes with fish attractors, and you can see everywhere we put them out.

It gives us GPS coordinates.

You can upload them to your depth finder units and it'll take you right to them.

Typically get you within about ten feet.

Okay.

So get you really, really close to a lot of these sites are built really large.

You know, they may be 80, 100 Christmas trees in a pile.

Oh, wow.

So we're trying to make really big sites.

They're easy to find and they hold a lot of fish.

Very cool.

What's new this year as far as, the fishing side on the law enforcement end?

What I'd just like to say first and foremost that, that having a fishing license, you can have it on your cell phone, you can have a printed copy.

Both are perfectly acceptable.

Just like to remind fishermen that, battery life that can die, service a lot of places where you fish aren't the best for service.

So I just like to remind people that having their physical copy on them is always a quick way for us to check, get out of your hair, because nobody wants to hang with the game warden all the time.

Yeah, well, you know, the great thing is, is, printing your own license using your my profile.

Right at the Department of Fish and Wildlife website.

You go to fw.ky.gov set up your my profile, and it's free to print.

And you can also get your Hunter safety card.

You can take all of your hip surveys, all that can be done and reprinted right onto your license.

So very quick and easy way to do that.

So there's apps in there that the Fish Boat Kentucky app is for one will show you a picture.

But that's only good if your cell phone's good.

Right?

Right.

Exactly.

So that printed copy, is a real quick way to hand that over.

So.

Right.

And we utilize the state police post for our dispatch.

So anytime we can keep that line clear, if there's a real emergency, you know, tied up with a fishing license check.

So that just it's always quicker if you print a copy.

Okay.

Well, now we've kind of met our panel of guests.

We found out we found out what they've been working on.

Now we're going to have a little fun.

Before we get to your questions, we're going to do some trivia.

So we have ten trivia questions.

You guys should have dry erase boards underneath there.

If you want to pull them out and pull your dry erase marker up, we're going to do some trivia questions.

We'll share the answers all at the same time.

And these questions these questions are they range from pretty easy to a little more a little more specific.

So I know, we only got 1 or 2 questions for our game for our game warden here.

I know you don't do a ton of fishing, so, you're going to do fine on these questions, though.

All right, this ought to be a lot of fun.

We have we have questions ranging from lures to bass fishing to, pan fishing to a little bit of Kentucky Afield trivia as well.

So here we go.

You play it, play it, along as, as well at home if you, if you want.

So here we go.

Question.

Question number one.

Why is May often the best month for targeting bluegill in the state of Kentucky.

All right.

We got a couple of, options here.

A is because they migrate offshore during that month.

B is they spawn and concentrate in shallow areas.

C, they're more aggressive after the winter or D there's less fishing pressure during the Derby season.

A they migrate offshore.

B they spawn and concentrate in shallow areas.

C, they're more aggressive after winter.

Or D there's less fishing pressure during the Derby.

All right.

Everybody ready?

So question number one what answer you got.

Everybody's got B. B is the correct answer during that time of year.

May is typically when they spawn.

What's a good thing to look for when you're fishing bluegill during spawn.

As far as like the beds?

Yeah.

What I mean, if you can see the beds that's awesome.

If you if you're clear water, you can you can see on pretty well can█t you?

Yeah.

And if you see that black knot right there in the middle of that bed, it's typically a big bluegill that's guarding that nest.

They're pretty aggressive then.

Aren't they?

Willing to bite.

Me and my son cruise around and look for muddy waters?

Muddy.

You look for where they're actively fanning.

Oh yeah.

Look for the muddy, muddy water.

That that works really well.

So shallow water typically bluegill spawn and what depth water?

It can be fairly shallow.

Maybe a foot or 2 or 3.

Yeah.

So say typically 1 to 3ft I would say 1 to 3ft.

I mean they'll get crazy shallow.

They like to get up under overhanging limbs.

Those are hard to cast to.

There you go.

There's your tips for May.

Next question.

What does the AC in AC shiner, a Kentucky based lure company, stand for?

All cast, anglers catch, action certified, or awesome casting.

All right.

A all cast, B angler catch, C action certified, D awesome casting.

Have you guys ever heard of AC?

I know what an AC shiner is.

I've never thought about what AC stood for.

A lot of people I think thought it was, the name of the gentleman who who actually made that.

But it actually it's not the name.

It actually does stand for something.

A all cast B angler catch C action certified D awesome awesome casting.

Everybody got their answer.

All right.

What do we have?

I miss this one.

I have no idea.

Well we C is right.

It actually stands for Action certified.

They test every single lure and it's action certified.

That's where it comes from.

Like back in high school you got to see you're way through you know.

There you go you're doing pretty good.

You got two right.

C when in doubt.

All right.

Our next question number three in early spring a suspending jerk bait is most effective when A retreaved very quickly, B paused between twitches, C fished only at night.

D, drug across the bottom.

In early spring, when you're fishing a suspended jerk bait, it's most effective.

When you A retrieve it very quickly.

B, paused between twitches.

C, fish only at night or d drag across the bottom.

You guys ready?

All right.

What do you got?

We've got them all, B the answer is pause to sync between twitches.

And I'll tell you what.

When the water's really cold, sometimes long pauses can tend to really, target strikes.

In kind of a stressed.

Well, you talking like cold water.

Like cool, like early spring when the water's kind of cool.

A lot of times your baits kind of start dying off on real cold nights.

That kind of reminds them of that.

But I've seen Kevin Van Damme fish a jerk bait so fast in spring and still wear them out, but typically long pauses in between your twitches tends to work.

All right.

Number three the largest fish thats been caught on Kentucky Afield in the past ten species.

Ten seasons was which species?

A the American paddlefish.

B a blue catfish.

C, a striped bass or d a flathead catfish.

What was the largest fish species caught in Kentucky Afield during the last ten years?

American paddlefish A, B blue catfish, C, striped bass D Flathead catfish.

I know this is a tough one because it could be any of those right?

What do you have?

What are your answers?

You all have the exact same answer, which is a really good answer because I think that's the largest fish.

Unfortunately, Flathead catfish.

And it was actually caught hand grabbing.

It was a 50 something 60 pound fish that was caught by hand grabbing.

So we weren't given enough information.

Yeah, that's a tough one.

But you guys, you all know your fish species because you pick the largest fish and the largest fish here in the state of Kentucky, which was the B the blue catfish.

Right.

What's the record for blue catfish here in Kentucky?

Oh, gosh.

It's a 96.

Or was it over.

It's over 100 pounds.

106 pounds.

It's over 100.

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah.

So all right, next question.

Question number five.

Slot limit requires anglers to do what?

Keep only small fish.

Release fish within a protected size range.

Use no more than two fishing poles, or d fish only during daylight.

A slot limit requires anglers to A, keep only small fish, B release fish within a protected size range.

C use no more than two fishing poles or D fish only during daylight hours.

Everybody got the answer.

All right.

B it is.

That's exactly right.

A slot limit is, requires anglers to release fish within a protected size range.

This is used, on several of our species of fish in Kentucky.

Yeah.

Primarily bass.

And it's, there may be questions about it, you know, later on in the show.

But back in the day everybody preached catch and release, catch and release.

Well, now people don't keep bass at all.

Yeah.

And they are built.

Their numbers build up so much, they grow slow.

So we use the slot limit to let them take those small ones.

So the small fish part of half of it.

Yeah.

You can keep fish over as well.

Yeah.

So it allows them to thin out the small ones.

And then, but you can also if it works well keep the bigger fish at shore.

The bigger fish are in there.

But the ones that tend to be the the most fertile and the best producers tend to be the ones in the slot limit anyway right?

Yep.

So it gives you, it puts the best producing fish back.

It allows anglers to keeps some, but it protects the trophy fish so that anglers have an opportunity to catch them as well.

So slot limits.

There you go.

Next question.

Question number six.

Why do smallmouth bass often prefer rocky points in the spring?

All right.

Our answers.

A. rocks absorb sunlight for warmth.

B. points provide more escape routes.

C. They hide from anglers.

D. Muddy areas are too shallow.

Why do smallmouth bass often prefer rocky points in the spring?

Because A, rocks absorb sunlight for warmth, B points provide more escape routes.

C, they hide from anglers or D, muddy areas are too shallow.

All right.

What are your answers here?

A. A. I got this one wrong.

Oh,A, A, and B all right, this is Rocky.

Now, this is kind of tricky question, because sometimes the shallow areas are going to warm up faster and the fish are going to come out there.

But smallmouth bass tend to hang around rocks because they absorb sunlight.

I'll tell you what some of our lakes, like on Cumberland and Dale hollow or Laurel Lake that have those real dark black rocks you tend to see more warmth hit those areas.

I've seen anglers specifically target the dark, dark colored rocks because they heat up faster, especially those that are south facing.

They were quicker too.

South facing.

That's exactly right there you go.

Next question what does creel limit refer to?

This one's all you man.

You got this.

Don█t put that pressure on me.

I don█t know if you█ve missed a question but this one's all you.

Yeah.

All right.

What does creel limit refer to.

The number of rods allowed.

B, boat horsepower limit.

C, the number of fish and angler may keep per day or D, the number of hooks allowed.

What is Creel Limit?

What does that refer to?

A, number of rods.

B, boat horsepower.

C, number of fish an angler may keep.

D, number of hooks allowed.

All right.

What do you got?

You guys got it?

The creel limit is the number of fish an angler may keep per day.

Now a lot of times we'll have a creel limit.

And there's another limit which is called your what possession limit.

Possession limit.

What's the difference between crew limit and possession?

So it's real common with, when you go camping.

So you fish one day, you got your daily creel limit.

That's as many you can keep in one day.

Your possession limits how much you can have in your possession over, like said, 2 or 3 day trip.

So usually twice the daily creel limit.

okay.

So the creel limit in the possession limit.

Creel limit is how many you keep per day.

Yes sir.

All right.

Next question here.

Hybrid striped bass are stocked primarily because?

A, they reproduce naturally in reservoirs.

B, they eat zebra mussels D they prefer muddy water or r I'm sorry.

C, they prefer muddy water.

D, they grow quickly and provide sport opportunities.

Hybrid striped bass are stock primarily because, a, they reproduce naturally in reservoirs.

B, they eat zebra mussels, d, they prefer muddy water or I'm sorry, c, they prefer muddy water, or d, they grow quickly and provide sport opportunities.

Everybody ready?

Everybody got it.

Hybrid striped bass.

They grow quickly and provide sport opportunities.

And boy do they provide a good sport opportunity.

One of my favorite fish to catch is hybrid striped bass.

The Ohio River you named is a great place to go.

I know Taylorsville Lake has got them, Barren has got them.

Guist Creek.

Rough█s a good one.

Rough River has got a bunch of them.

So very fun fish to to target.

Bass fishing in the spring you're liable to catch one.

They get up there kind of in some of the same areas.

So all right next question.

In Kentucky, what is the maximum number of jug lines allowed per person and per boat?

All right.

In Kentucky, what is the maximum number of jug lines allowed per person and per boat.

25 and 50, 50 and 50, 50 and 100 or 25 and 100.

The number maximum number of jug lines allowed per person and per boat, a, 25 to 50, B 50 and 50, C 50 and 100, D 25 and 100.

All right.

Everybody ready?

Your answers.

You got it.

That's a tough one.

Now, is that every single body of water?

The exact same rule on that as far as you know?

That's as far as I know.

Yes.

Okay.

All right.

So you're allowed 50 jugs per person and per boat.

So throwing an extra couple people on the boat doesn't help you out in that situation.

You're allowed 50 per person, 50 per boat.

So if you got one you're allowed 50.

You got 20 on the boat.

You're still allowed 50.

You want more jugs get another boat.

Need another boat.

All right.

All right, our last question.

I don't know what our official tally is.

It really doesn't matter.

But I don't think you█ve missed a question.

I know.

I was going to say.

Sometimes it just goes that way.

Fantastic.

That's great.

All right, our next, our last question here.

What is the best way to avoid spreading invasive species when moving between lakes?

This is a hot topic here.

We don't want to be spreading invasive species.

A, keep live bait in a cooler.

B, drain all water and remove vegetation from boats and trailers.

C, released.

Release unused bait into a new water body or D, transport the fish only at night.

What is the best way to avoid spreading invasive species when moving between lakes?

Keep the bait in a cooler.

Drain all water and remove vegetation from boats and trailers.

Release unused bait into a new water body and D, transport fish only at night.

All right, what's your answers?

B we had a lot of B█s on here.

You're all right.

That's that is, that question is right.

Not only is that the best way for plant invasive species and all that, releasing your bait into a new water body is a bad, bad idea, right?

Kind of made me chuckle when you, that is that is one thing you absolutely do not want to do.

So.

Well, that was fun.

You guys did great.

I'm, I'm really impressed.

That was fantastic.

All right, well, now it's time to get to your questions.

We've made up our own questions, and we've answered those.

Now it's time to get to all of the questions provided by our viewers.

Looks like our first question.

Can you explain trout season and trout permits?

And if you█re smallmouth fishing in a stream and accidentally catch a trout and immediately release it, can they get in trouble for that?

For not having a trout permit?

So majority of our job is looking at intent, right.

So yeah.

We understand accidents happen if you catch one trout on accident, you release it back.

You know, that is what it is.

If you're out trout fishing.

Absolutely.

You need to have trout permit.

Yeah.

And in that instance, I wouldn't be too worried about that.

So you just make sure you release it and, and know if you got a whole thing of nothing but flies on there and you're fly fishing and intent, the intent is shifted now.

Right?

So that's what we typically look at.

Okay.

All right.

So, trout permits that, trout permit actually that does come on your sportsman's license.

Right.

And so if you have a sportsman license, you don't have to worry about it from that point.

But we also have season dates for trout where they can be kept in certain bodies of water or can be kept.

We have a seasonal catch and release season usually.

Well, they all run now from, October or till the end of March.

Okay.

And you got to release the fish.

That's more those those streams don't get stocked a ton from when we stock them in the fall.

So we want those fish to hang on.

So you got to, we ask people to release, well you have to release them per regulation.

On the trout permit, you have to have a trout permit no matter what you're doing.

On Cumberland Tail Water and Hatchery Creek.

Okay.

And really, if you're fishing Cumberland River, most people, they are trout fishing down there.

Yeah, that's the reason we did that is really, you know, everybody down there is probably fishing for trout.

Yeah, yeah.

But, the FINs lakes may you know, a lot of people, new anglers, they go to FINs lakes and you make sure if they're going to right now, you know, we're stocking trout.

So that's probably what you're going to catch stocking.

And people want to know more about the stocking.

They can also get that information on our website.

Yeah.

We have a like a general stocking page that has trout and a lot of other things.

And then we have the fins page that'll tell you every FINs lake and when it's getting stocked.

This week is like a big trout stocking week.

Okay.

So this week and last week are our big ones for February.

So if you're thinking about going fishing we're going to get some better weather next week.

And you get one more month in March.

We'll get trout going in on in most of the FINs Lake.

Okay.

Next question here.

How are Muskie doing in the lakes.

And have they rebounded in the Kentucky River?

So you have a muskie update?

Yeah, I think the lakes are doing fairly well.

We had a couple of years.

It kind of kicked off with Covid and then, a few other issues that we had, and we had low stocking numbers.

So anglers may have seen that, but, I've heard reports of, you know, some nice muskie coming out at Cave Run now.

Decent sized fish.

I'm guessing that person is talking about maybe after the fish kill on the Kentucky River.

That'd be my guess.

Yeah.

And we try to stock the river every year.

It had a couple of years where it didn't get stocked, but I know people are catching them there for sure.

Okay.

So I'd say it's an all in all, it's in pretty good shape.

And we've had several years in a row where we've been able to stock the lakes for sure.

So they should see, you know, pretty good populations in them now.

So Cave Run Lake is a good muskie destination.

Green River Lake.

Buckhorn has them.

Buckhorn.

And Dewey in the fishing forecast is listed kind of as an up and comer because that's the last lake we decided to stock.

And those fish are now crossing the keeper size, 40in.

Okay.

And people are catching them.

So it may not be as dense a population as some of the lakes we've been stocking forever, but that's another one that people probably don't realize.

It has muskie in it.

Yeah.

And they're catching them.

And stream fishing, you know, you have the licking and the Kentucky River, Tigerts.

We have a whole list.

Yeah.

And the Green River's really good down below the lake.

Yeah.

So there's a lot of opportunities to catch Muskie if you if you have the patience to muskie fish, there's a lot of opportunity out there.

Yeah.

All right.

Next question.

What wadeable Rivers near Louisville give me a real shot at trophy class River smallmouth on the fly.

He's looking for 18 plus 18 inch plus fish.

Any ideas on anywhere near Louisville that give you, the opportunity to catch 18 inch smallmouth?

I was going to say, we've seen them in our surveys on Floyds Fork.

You know, there at the parklands when we've done our stream surveys.

I mean, there's not tons and tons of them, but I mean, I definitely think the potential, for that size fish is there.

What about Bershears Creek?

Is that happening in there?

I get reportsout of, I see reports out of Bershears Creek.

And, you know, typically, you know, a 15, 16 inch fish is kind of where they top out over there.

Okay.

Not to say you can't catch a bigger one, but, the average fish is on top up, probably around 16in over there.

Okay.

We do see some, 18 plus inch fish on Elkhorn Creek.

That's another, another really good smallmouth stream.

Green River.

I've, I've shocked up some, 5 to 6 pound class fish out of the green River below the lakes.

I've seen some.

That's a giant.

And it was the, It was memorable.

I haven't forgot about it.

So.

So, yeah, you kind of given some ideas where you can go catch some fish right in Louisville.

And then, you know, you look at Elkhorn Creek and Green River, you're looking at an hour and 20 hour and 30 minutes, depending on what part of Louisville.

So those are still managable.

But if you█re specifically looking for that bigger class fish.

I think that's where I'd spend my time.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So yeah, that, those are all areas of fish in there.

They all can be very productive for smallmouth bass.

Yeah.

One of my favorite fish to stream target during the summertime when it's hot.

And it's just no fun to be in a bass boat, wading creeks for smallmouth bass is a fantastic way to spend the day.

Next question.

How did the spawn go last year with all the flooding?

Man, this is a question that I'm sure that's on a lot of people's mind.

The flooding last year was historic flooding in a lot of areas.

What do we what do we find out about the spawn?

I mean, what have you seen?

I mean, I can speak for the lakes that I work on and, you know, most of our bass spawns were at average or a lot of our lakes for above average this year.

So, the flooding actually seemed to be very positive.

It put a lot of our, our lakes up into, into trees and bushes and more habitat.

And it seemed like the fish took, you know, advantage of that.

We've also saw the crappie have good spawns.

So I think overall it was it was a big benefit to our fishers.

It definitely didn't hurt them.

Okay.

I think the you know, the water got up and it stayed up.

So if that water is not going up and down during the spawn and staying fairly stable.

Oh yeah.

You know, that creates a lot of good spawning habitat for the fish.

Oh, there's a lot of a lot of the lakes.

The water got up to, you know, near record high and stayed there throughout the definitely the crappie spawn.

Yeah.

So you start thinking about, you know, like you said, with the normal swings that we get.

Yeah, eggs don't do real good when they get laid and they're dry.

Yeah.

Because the lake fell three feet but or six feet or whatever.

But this year the lakes kind of stayed high.

You know, the Corps likes to get them down quickly, but I think with Ohio River up as well, you know, there's only so much they can let loose because it's just going to back up and flood out other areas.

So they had to hold on to it, which actually was probably a blessing for the spawn.

I know that, a lot of the fish species that people really like to go after, some of their first fishing is white bass, and the white bass fishing was fairly non-existent on many of the areas.

The Dick's River, the salt River above Taylorsville Lake, Nolin River, there wasn't a whole lot of opportunity because, you know, you were standing in the treetops trying to trying to cast for them.

So Taylorsville, for example.

Now, they may have spawned up, you know, Glensboro, you know, miles and miles of above the lake, but, we had a really good white bass, spawn last year.

Okay.

We did our fall survey, so, they, they definitely found a place to to get a good spawn off and were successful with it.

Okay.

It should have been a lot of them getting spawning because they weren't being caught as much.

I was fixing to say they did not have any pressure because River road was underwater.

You know, all the access to them, there was no getting to them.

So.

Oh good.

Let's hope that that translates into some, some good fishing this year and years to come.

I think it will.

Next question.

This is a question regarding fishing license.

They want to know if they can fish from the Indiana Bank on the Ohio River with the Kentucky fishing license.

This has been a hot topic as well.

Give us an update on that and let this person know if they can do that.

So the reciprocal agreement has been renewed.

However, you said they're going to fish on the Indiana side like on the bank.

So the reciprocal agreement is just for the main stem.

So once you get into the tributaries off of the river, that's now that goes on that state's licensing.

So if you were fishing on the Kentucky side, you would need a Kentucky license.

Indiana.

So that's all their statewide regulation.

So if you if you have a Kentucky license and you're fishing the main stem from the Indiana bank, if you're fishing the main River, you're fine as long as you don't go into a tributary.

Correct.

So.

Right.

Okay.

As long as you're on the main main River, that that reciprocal agreement is back in play again.

Yes sir.

All right.

There you go.

Hopefully, hopefully that answers your question.

Man, there's a lot of good fishing on the Ohio River.

When you start looking at the, I don█t know how many miles we have, there's a lot of good fishing on the Ohio River.

You worked the Ohio River much?

I used to work on the river just a little bit.

And, I saw some really some really nice catfish.

We saw a lot of the Maroney species, the the hybrids, the white bass.

the stripers.

We would see those, at the creek mouths kind of coming up here in the next month or so.

Oh, yeah.

You know, so, you know, in embayments, the crappie are really, really good.

It's probably one of the most overlooked crappie fisheries we have in the state is the Ohio River.

I had a person tell me they're going to take me out and catch a bunch crappie on the Ohio River.

And I was like, man, I need to go do this.

And he made me a believer.

And we went to some areas that I didn't know existed.

Yep.

And caught a bunch of crappie.

You get in the spring, some of them backwater areas.

And it is it'll blow your mind.

Yeah.

The numbers and size.

Yeah, yeah.

Oh yeah.

Great.

Great crappie fishing.

Next question.

I'm having trouble finding sauger in Kentucky Lake, mostly between Aurora and Paris.

Can you give any tips on suggestions on finding these elusive morsels?

They are very tasty to eat.

It's not.

I don't think the population in Kentucky Lake, you know, real, you know, it's not a big population.

I think finding them probably along the, the creek channels drop offs would be the best.

I mean, I think you'd probably do better below in the tail water, but, they're in there, but it's not, you know, you're going to search for them.

The tail water.

There are some areas in the tail water there, you know, that'd be the Tennessee River on the below the dam.

That area, and Cumberland too also has one, right?

Yeah.

So that area can be really good as far as fishing the lake.

But they're talking about Paris.

They're all the way down in Tennessee.

I mean, bridge pilings.

A lot of times if there's flow probably can be good, but okay, I think the, you know, the drop offs off into the main creek channel, probably are a good bet.

There's a lot of species that hang out along those throughout the year, different times of the year.

Sauger is such a cool fish, and it's a fish that can be caught this time of year right now where it's really, really cold and they are very, very good to eat.

It's a fish that, they kind of disappear in the summertime.

They're hard to hard to target and find them, aren█t they?

That was actually where my brain went with that question is that's kind of the thing is when they're, you know, December, January, February, March, you know, when they're starting to push up below the lock and dams and the gravel bars and creek mouths, they're a little bit easier to target and figure out what's going on.

And, and people do really good with them.

And then once they get through that spawning cycle and they move back out on the main river.

They just disappear don█t they?

I mean, everybody struggles with them.

So, I mean.

You're not alone if you're struggling.

You█re not.

I mean, I█d enjoy them when they pile up for their spawning runs and good luck the rest of the year.

Yeah, it is a challenge.

That's something that, changed a few years ago is we've changed the rules and regulations on sauger, saugeye and walleye.

It used to be we had a walleye length limit and Sauger had no length limit.

And then Sauger had, depending on where you were at.

We've kind of made some changes there haven█t we.

What's the rules and regulations on on those three species?

Oh yes sir.

So it's going to be six.

This is going to be your creel limit.

Read your rules and regulations if you're if you're going after walleye.

But, the good thing is, is that you don't have to differentiate between walleye, sauger and saugeye anymore.

They're all listed as 14in.

Right.

All right.

Next question.

Where in the bluegrass region is a good area to target white bass using a fly rod.

So around here, I mean, you got your traditional white bass runs is at, Dix River above Harrington Lake and Taylorsville Lake up in the salt River.

So, I mean, that's again white bass are not everywhere.

So that's that's where I would recommend, spending my time is in those, in those two areas.

Nolin█s really good.

I mean, it's still kind of the central part of the state.

So you're looking at the bluegrass region.

You're talking about Dix River and, and salt River.

Correct.

And I'll tell you what, you go down there when those fish are bite, you see people out there using the fly rod and catching them, that's for sure.

Well, that's the beauty of them is you can catch them in a wide variety of ways.

And so it's kind of like, pick your poison.

Well, you know what makes you happy?

Go do it.

And, we went down last year and, fished them two years ago with a fly rod, on Nolin.

And now we were in a boat with a fly rod and a little bit of range to get kind of make to make that cast behind you.

So we did it from a boat.

And my gosh, that's a different presentation that just triggered those fish.

I think it was because the we had a weighted line and the fly presentation was pretty slow.

Man.

That was a lot of fun.

And they talked about hard fighting fish, white bars, pound for pound are hard to beat aren█t they?

Yes.

You catch one on a fly rod.

You got your hands full.

That a lot of fun.

So I recommend giving that a try.

There you go.

Dix River and salt River above the lake, correct?

Yeah.

Next question.

Why don't you stock bass and bluegill in Fins Lakes?

Are we doing any stocking of bass and bluegill in FINs Lakes?

We did some hybrid bluegill stocking in years past, but really, almost any small lake, like a fins lake.

It's usually not a problem to find a bunch of bass and a bunch of bluegill in there, and they reproduce on their own.

So it's kind of a ways to, to stock them in there, unless we really saw a major issue.

But almost any small lake you fish, you're going to have a bunch of bass and bluegill in it.

Now the the going back to the, fishing forecast and that fins cheat sheet, it has bass, largemouth bass, bluegill and trout and catfish.

So if you have several fins lakes around, you may want to look and see which one.

Actually, we say has a good bass population or a good bluegill population.

Okay.

They naturally reproduce it, just not probably, you know, worth the money to stock them.

Yeah.

Becasue they're going to produce on their own.

You know, this this, this whole thing about stocking comes up all the time.

Stocking is a great tool, especially we're putting in some of these fish species that one are struggling or two don't reoccur naturally.

The hybrid species it last year we were having this conversation about stocking stripers.

And I know that stripers are fish that don't reproduce in the lake, but I was told that we get every single one of our stripers comes out of one female for the entire state of Kentucky.

So you start thinking about how much of a better tool if you get good fish habitat, that Is than actually stocking?

So we keep talking about habitat, habitat, habitat, habitats how you get more fish.

Right?

Right.

Yeah.

And another thing I was going to add to it is that, the gentleman that's over our Fins program, they actually do go out and do electro fishing surveys at their fins lakes.

So they're trying to get that information about the largemouth bass, the bluegill, to just ensure that through that natural reproduction that Jeff was talking about, that they are reproducing to sustain their populations.

So as long as they're doing it naturally, there's really no point for us to intervene.

But we do.

We do check on it.

So that's that's the reason we know that.

Very interesting.

Next question here is are the walleyes self reproducing on Nolin Lake?

I'd say for the most part, no.

I don't know if there's a little bit up way up in the river or something.

There could potentially be.

But yeah, but they're, they're not at the level to.

Yeah.

Maintain their population.

So if we didn't stock them they'd probably, you know, decline fairly rapidly I would guess.

We don't, we just don't see the reproduction in those reservoirs.

When's a good time of year to start trying to target those, those walleye on our, you know, Green River's got a good population of Walleye.

Nolin's got walleye.

What are some of the other lakes?

Cumberland.

Obviously, walleye.

Laurel█s got them.

Carr Creek.

Dale Hollow.

Yeah.

Dale Hollow for sure.

So when is a good time of year to kind of start targeting them?

And how would you fish for them?

You know, I was talking to one of our biologists, southwest, Eric Cummins, about green.

And he mentioned mid, mid-March or so around the dam and the island up off the dam and the flats there, and then using curly tails and, jerk baits and small cranks.

And then as you progress through the year and the early summer, you know, you're out on some of the flats and such, and then later in the summer, you know, bouncing like, the worm harnesses.

Yeah.

Along the creek channels.

It's amazing.

It's one of the species of fish that I get asked the most on.

Where and how can I go catch a walleye.

I think timbered coves, you know, if you can find stump beds on long, long points, it can be.

I know, Laurel.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Fishing swim bait.

I probably shouldn't say that because there are people that do really well doing that and don█t want me to say that.

But I may say, oh yeah, fishing swim baits on the long, shallow points and such.

Yeah.

So that's a fun, fun, species of fish to, to target.

And, you know, it doesn't get much better for table fare, does it?

I was going to say.

they're good to eat.

That's why, that's why we want to catch them.

They're really, really good.

But walleyes are probably not reproducing at a at a noticeable level on Nolin Those are all put and take fish, right?

Next question.

Is it safe to eat fish caught from the Ohio River.

So I always tell people, you know, when they ask the consumption questions is that refer to our guide.

I mean, in a in a general sense it's broken into two different user groups, the general population.

There's a sensitive group and it it tells recommendations of how many meals a week, how many meals a month, that, you should you should eat.

And then it also goes into, specific water bodies if there's something that's more restrictive than the statewide.

Okay.

So I would always refer people to go take a look at that, see where they're fishing, and see specifically what group they they fall into and follow that advisory.

That's in our guide.

If you're dealing with eating a couple of meals a month or even a year, would you eat fish out of Ohio River?

I think it was just a couple.

As long as you're following, you know what's recommended I think.

I've eaten fish out of the Ohio River.

I eat a lot of fish.

And I mean, I mean, I follow, you know, I follow in the general population and, you know, I can I can eat, you know, a meal, you know, a meal a month.

Yeah.

Oh.

So, yeah.

Eating them out of there's probably not a big concern as long as you're going by the rules.

Right.

And that's the thing is just just double check.

But, because again, everybody falls into different classifications, you know, based on, so just does double check.

Yeah.

All right.

Next question.

This is a question for you.

This person has a pedal kayak and they're going to upgrade to an electric assist unit this spring.

They're an older kayak angler, and they think it'll help them get around access more water.

Will they need to register the kayak once it gets an electric motor.

So it's going to go from pedal to electric.

Yes.

So now that you have that electric background, you will need to register that vessel.

Anytime you have a motor or any like a trolling motor, any assistance other than manpower would require registration.

So that person is going to need to, take that kayak and get a some form of registration on it and then get it, titled and then put the numbers on it.

They need to go to their, their county clerk, the clerk's office, and he's probably gonna refer them to me, depending on whatever area you're in to do for a game warden to come out and do a boat inspection, it just verifies.

And that's going to be really quick on a kayak because there's not, you know, you know, identification numbers, stuff like that.

So but and then submit it back to your county clerk.

So that's how you get registered.

So what, you, once you go through that, at what point in time?

I mean, a kayak, you need to have, you know, your life jackets and and all of your gear, throwable devices, whatever.

At what point in time does it become okay, you need a fire extinguisher and the whole nine yards electric motor.

Does that mean you got to have.

So any time when it comes to fire extinguishers, any time you have any sort of combustible, liquids on board.

So a gasoline engine, that's when that would come in to factor.

Okay, okay.

There you go.

Next question is what is the best central Kentucky lake for big bluegill fishing?

You know, this question gets us in the most trouble because the anglers that know what they are tell us to quit telling people, well, that's all the fishing forecast.

It's on the fishing forecast.

So I mean the information's out there.

So I will answer the question.

Okay.

So so for our area, if somebody was going to go out and try to target big bluegill, I would recommend, try Elmer Davis, Corinth, and Bolts Lake this this year.

McNeely Lake in Louisville's really good too.

So those would probably be my top four picks for this area.

All right.

You know, I always say the walleyes the question.

I█m going to get in trouble this spring when people fishing.

Well sorry.

Everybody wants to know where that where they're at.

The question I get the most is where do I catch walleye?

In the second question, you know what that is?

What's that?

Red ear.

Where do I catch red ear sunfish.

That's what.

That's the two fish that everybody wants to go out and target.

And both of them can be a little tricky.

But, so I will give you a hint.

The list of lakes I just gave you for big bluegill also have big red ear.

All right.

So big bluegill and red ear.

You do have to fish for them different okay.

So yeah.

So they do occupy different habitats.

Typically I tell people when you're in your boat casting towards the bank, trying to catch bluegill, turn around and cast the other way.

You'll catch red here.

Okay.

Because they like to hang out kind of on those silted in areas in the middle of coves.

Okay, so out a little and off the back, off the bank, you know, get something down there on the bottom.

Just keep it above the thermocline.

Above the thermocline.

Hey, that's an important thing to know when you're fishing all these rivers.

That ties into the walleye fishing, I mean, it ties into whatever you're fishing for.

Everything.

So if you if you if you fish below that, your, your day's probably not going to go real well.

All right, next question.

We talked about habitat.

Where's the best place to get up to date location information on habitat, fishable habitat?

And, where would you recommend that?

So, I mean, the good thing is, is that as soon as we put stuff out, we're updating it on our website through the lakes with fish attractors that's also tied in through our Fish Boat Kentucky app.

So as soon as we get them out, I mean it.

It's probably not the next day, but you know, within a week or so that information is live and out there.

As soon as we update it, it's there.

So we try to get that information out there because we know people really, really want it because, we know they're doing really good around those sites.

It was kind of kind of neat.

We got a project going on at Bolts right now, and, the angler saw the material sitting out there ready to be put out.

And, they were driving by with the windows down fist bumping us coming down through the parking lot.

So, so how do you guys choose your location?

Do you get angler input on some of your locations on where to put out the habitat?

So yeah, I definitely have anglers that, you know, definitely, you know, give us, some advice on areas that they think it'd be very productive.

The other things that we have to look for is that we're putting them in a place that they're not going to just sink into the silt.

Yeah.

That way, you know, if we're going to put that effort into it, we want to make sure we get the biggest bang for that.

Oh, yeah.

So yeah, it's a combination of for our district right now, we just kind of rotate our lakes and we're kind of at a point now that we're actually just refurbishing sites, not adding a lot of new stuff just because we've been at this for so many years now.

Okay.

So anglers like it because the number one question I get is, do I have to update my wave points again?

And I'm like, no, we're actually just adding on to the piles.

You already got more to.

Just which one do you go to first change.

Because this one's brand new fresh habitat.

You are going to want to hit it first.

The nice thing is, is we do we do add what year it was, you know, refurbished or put out because that is a question we get.

Is there like, you know, people are like, I want to fish something that's, you know, 2 or 3 years old versus something that's maybe ten years old, just because there's more material still there.

I'll tell you what, if you if you're going to a new body of water and you want to have some places to fish, go on that, go on the website or go get the app and download that and at least have those in your back pocket, because if you the day's not going as well as you'd like, that's a really good, at least plan to have as a back back door back second opportunity plan to go hit some of those spots that, you know, the fish are potentially going to be there because the habitat has been there for a couple of years.

I've salvaged a lot of fishing trips off of habitat sites.

Oh yeah.

All right.

What is the best way to actually catch a walleye?

We talked a little bit about that.

Yeah.

I mean, it probably depends on if you're in the river, you know, below the, the lock and dams or in a reservoir.

But yeah, we talked about, you know, different baits and you may need to progress.

The walleye are very finicky as far as temperature goes.

So a lot of times you need to get where the water's cooler, you know, which they prefer, but not below the thermocline where there's no oxygen.

So I know like in Cumberland during the summer it may be 20, you know, they may hold to a very narrow band and you need to just kind of fish at that depth, whether you're, you know, if you're bottom bouncing a worm harness, just, you know, a lot of the depth finders and trolling motors now can keep you.

Oh yeah.

Trolling right along that depth.

And walleye are very temperature sensitive, they're also pretty light sensitive for most fish the probably the one of the most light sensitive fish that I fish for.

And I mean all the the walleye sauger, it seems like those days that you're out there fishing where you can't hardly see the sun and it's overcast tend to be more productive.

You catch more fish.

Walleye, when they come up shallower, tend to do better at night.

I mean, they just tend to be more light sensitive in my, in my, experience of catching them.

And that's one of the things with the saugeye I always tell people is, you know, you're targeting those mudflats because, you know, they're out chasing schools of shad around.

Yeah.

And typically, if you can find the white bass, you're in the right area.

Yeah.

Oh yeah.

Fish and just fish on to the white bass because typically the saugeye are hanging out with them.

And I've heard people say that about, you know, doing the worm harnesses bottom bouncers.

And you know, if you're starting to pick up some bigger than average bluegill, you're probably in that that band, you're in that right area.

Just stick with that.

What I tell you the walleye might be a little different, but the sauger in the saugeye for most of the year, if you're not fishing within a foot of the bottom, you're probably they they tend to be close to the bottom, don█t they?

Right.

Yeah.

I tell people all time, the main thing with the saugeye is you got to keep bottom contact.

Yeah.

If you're not bouncing off the bottom periodically, you're probably not where you need to be.

Yeah.

Be on the bottom.

There you go.

All right.

Well, we're winding this down.

What's everyone on the panel most looking forward to fishing for over the next few months?

What's your favorite species?

You know, and this next March, April, May time frame?

When you grab that rod and head out what are you doing?

I prefer bass, but, I mean, I'd love to.

Right now I don't have a I have a bass buggie so I yeah, fish in smaller water bodies but okay, I'm planning on getting a bigger boat and I'll immediately be crappie fishing for sure.

Okay.

You you're making plans for this year and years down the road.

Oh yes.

What are you looking forward to fishing for first?

I typically March is, looking for that biggest bass of the year.

Okay.

You know, they're they're at their heaviest weight for the year.

So March I put a lot of emphasis on catching trying to catch that big bass.

There you go.

That's a good time of year.

Really kind of starting any warm days in the farm ponds I'm already getting bass reports on people calling in.

So I mean, the bass on these warm days is little warm stretches.

They're they're already biting.

Oh yeah.

Yeah.

I heard from what real quick I heard from Adam Martin out west and he said the bass fishing is excellent out in the big lakes now.

Right now.

Oh, yeah.

That doesn█t surprise me.

Some of the best fishing can be done this time of year when they're kind of starting to stage get getting on the points to the bays that they're going to spawn in.

A lot of times they kind of pile in those.

It's stayed warmer out there than it been around here.

Yeah, okay.

I went out there for a planning meeting and it was 60 degrees and I think it was still 30 here.

So.

Yeah.

What about you?

You looking forward to a trip out on the water?

Oh, yeah.

Well, I have an eight year old.

A six year old.

So.

Bluegill.

Okay.

My son likes to catch bass.

He hasn't got very many, but he likes to catch it.

So I say, let's do.

The bluegill fishing trip.

That's a great way to take a kid out and get them into fishing.

And so you got your hands full.

That's a lot of fun.

Seeing their excitement in catching fish is, I don't take a pole because the whole time I'm baiting.

Getting, you know, hooks out of limb's.

Oh, yeah.

That's fun.

That's what taking the kids fishing is all about, that's for sure.

Well, hey, hopefully we█ve answered all your questions.

If you have a question, you can always go to our fishing guide and get that, get that answer.

If you still can't get the answer to your question, you can always try our info center at 1-800-858-1549.

So make sure you reach out and get that question answered through there.

So well, I'll tell you what.

Today has, been it's been educational been a lot of fun.

Got to play a little trivia, by the way.

You won the trivia challenge.

By surprise.

So nice job.

Where's the gift card to?

Well, a couple of, couple of other items here, just to remind you, for the next two weeks, Kentucky Afield will be will be preempted.

So we'll be off air for the annual fundraising drive at KET.

So make sure you join us on March 21st for an all new show.

Secondly, our hunting and fishing license expire on February 28th.

So make sure that you check that and get that taken care of before you head out after the February the 28th.

Another thing here, we're at the Salato wildlife education center.

If you want to bring a kid out and check out the Salato Center, or come enjoy all the animals and wildlife we have here, you can start doing that on March the 10th.

Salato Center will be opening up.

March the 10th.

Conservation camps are now open for registration.

So if you have a fourth through sixth grader that wants to attend one of our conservation camps this year, we have three across the state.

Now's the time to start signing up and then plan on turkey hunting.

There are some hunters education courses that are being offered right now, so if you need to get that hunter's education card, now's the time to get signed up to do that.

So hey, thank you guys for coming out.

Two of you, this was your first live call in show.

You did great.

It flies by doesn't it?

It does.

Yeah.

Well, I'm looking forward to getting out on the water.

Hopefully you're making plans to do the same.

And remember, hunting and fishing on private property is a privilege.

Always ask permission and thank the landowner.

Until next time, I'm your host, Chad Miles.

Can't wait to see you in the woods or on the water.