By JOEL WILSON
Glasgow Daily Times
GLASGOW — Was in the vicinity of some pretty good crappie fishermen Tuesday morning at Bill and Todd Logsdon's place and the consensus seemed to be the same. “There’s not bitin’.”
With lake levels just about a foot over winter pool and continuing to drop, fishing has been tough over the past few days.
The “oldtimers” had planned a crappie trip Tuesday but cancelled because of the lake conditions and the temperatures, hopefully to reschedule later in the week.
However, with the water back down close to winter pool, many crappie fishermen are using the opportunity to put out crappie beds, or as some prefer to say, “hides.”
There has been some activity, particularly by a few trying to troll for crappie using the spider rigging method. I’m told some small ones are being caught. Spider rigging over cover is a difficult proposition at best and when you hang up one line, it can mean a real mess when you have several poles out.
Conditions on the Cumberland River continue to be challenging as the Corps is letting a lot of water out of the lake.
Saw an announcement for the 11th annual Jacksonian Days Tournament coming up on Barren Saturday, April 17, out of the State Park Ramp. Entry fee is $30 with a three fish limit and 15 places guaranteed, including a $500 first place cash prize.
The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources has partnered with Warren County Parks and Recreation to provide new fishing opportunities at Three Springs Lake.
The 29-acre lake is now enrolled in the Fishing in Neighborhoods (FINs) program. The FINs program began in 2006 with five lakes, but this year expanded to include 30 lakes statewide. The goal of the program is to provide quality fishing near cities of all sizes throughout the state.
These lakes are ideal for a quick getaway to relax and catch a mess of fish or to take the family on a fishing outing without traveling far from home.
The lake will receive four high-density stockings of channel catfish and three rainbow trout stockings from January through November of each year. The first stocking of 1,600 channel catfish is scheduled for the second week of March.
The stocked channel catfish will be 13-16 inches long and average 1 pound each. The next stocking of 1,000 rainbow trout will occur during the second week of March. Rainbow trout will average 8-12 inches long.
Additionally, the FINs lakes contain sunfish and bass populations which will be managed and stocked as necessary. Check the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife website for the exact stocking dates, license requirements, directions to the lake and fishing events. The site also has a place for you to submit pictures of your catch. Just go to fw.ky.gov on the Internet and type in the keyword, “FINs.”
Daily limits for each angler fishing a FINs lake includes five rainbow trout, four catfish, one largemouth bass over 15 inches and 15 bluegill or other sunfish. A statewide fishing license is required for anglers who are 16 and older.
Licensed anglers who want to keep their trout must have an additional trout permit.
The trout permit is included in the $5 senior license for those anglers age 65 and older.
Don’t forget: March 1 marks the start of the new year for fishing licenses.
Lastly this week, the staff at Kentucky Afield Outdoors often receive questions about common fishing terms used in a column or in a photo caption.
Questions asked include, “What is a point?” in regards to a column about fall reservoir fishing. “What is a flat?” stemming from a piece about spring fishing.
It is easy for experienced anglers to forget that common fishing terms such as “point,” “flat” and “channel drop” have as much meaning for a novice angler as Latin does for the average person. Hunters and anglers take a certain pride in using terminology that only they know, but this practice can be a barrier to those just starting out.
With fishing season upon us, it is a good time to review terms that seem simple to an experienced angler, but confusing to a beginner.
In a reservoir, a “point” is a location where the bottom is shallower than the surrounding area. These are usually triangular spots on the bottom formed by sediment carried by creeks or the current. They may extend a short distance or hundreds of yards into a lake. Points are usually good places to find fish. Points form at the intersection of a cove or tributary creek with the main lake, or along a major creek arm of the lake.
Large creek valleys that become the main part of the lake once the area is flooded are referred to as “creek arms.”
Points that form at the confluence of a creek arm with the major part of the reservoir are known as “main lake points.” The points in major creek arms made from the convergence with smaller tributaries are known as “secondary points.” Those with nearby creek or river channels submerged when the lake was created are called “channel points.” Channel points are also good places to fish, because fish can feed in the shallow area but still have a quick escape route to deeper water to hide.
On a river, the sharp angle of land formed by a tributary meeting the main stem of the stream is also point. Predators, such as bass, walleye, stripers trout, catfish and muskies, use points to hunt for baitfish.
“Points are travel corridors for predator fish,” said Jeff Ross, assistant director of fisheries for KDFWR. “They make a sharp transition from shallow to deeper water and predator fish can just move up or down in the water column to feed. The top of a point gets deeper like an underwater bar that sinks as it goes out. You can always find a depth on the top of the point where fish are holding.”
The term “flat” also confuses beginning anglers. “A flat,” Ross explained, “is an extended shallow water section of the bank - or an area beside a creek or river channel - with a much gentler slope on the bottom than the rest of the lake.”
A flat beside a submerged creek or old river channel in a reservoir is the inundated flood plain of the stream. Flats are especially important in spring.
“The deeper parts of a flat serve as staging areas for predator fish when they first move up out of deep water in early spring,” Ross said. “In spring time, bass and other predator fish spawn on flats, especially if there is pea-sized gravel on the bottom.”
Flats with some fish-hiding cover on them such as stumps, sunken logs, weed beds, rock piles or brush – those changes in the bottom that anglers also call “structure” – make productive springtime fishing areas.
“Anytime you have habitat on a flat, that is good because it stands out,” Ross said. “Fish instinctually go there. Stumps, weeds and pea gravel beds are a good draw for fish.”
The fishing term “drop” is another confusing phrase for beginners. A drop is an area of the lake where the depth dramatically changes from shallow to deep. It is a shortening of the term “drop-off.” The lip of a submerged creek or river channel is called a “channel drop.”
Drops make excellent fishing spots from early summer through late fall. “Fish instinctively associate with structure and sharp changes in contour area structure,” Ross said. “The fish move along those drops. It is built into them to associate with these areas.”
A “hump” is another productive fishing area from late spring through late fall. A hump is simply a submerged hilltop surrounded by deeper water. Humps attract fish because of their isolation from other structures.
The nature of a hump makes them hard for anglers to effectively fish, so they don’t receive the fishing pressure of a main lake point or a stump-laden flat. Anglers struggle to locate humps in main lake areas as well.
Don’t let arcane terms interfere with understanding the pursuit of fish. Mastering the lingo brings you into the realm of anglers and starts you on the road to being hooked. It is hard to give up fishing once you’ve caught a few trophies.
