OutdoorsKentucky.Com
Award-winning journalist Art Lander Jr. posts news and information
about fishing, hunting, nature and self-sufficient rural living in Kentucky
Text and Photos 2010 Art Lander Jr.
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Spring 2010
What’s New
Record harvest for 2010 Spring Wild Turkey Season here
Kentucky’s 2010 Spring Wild Turkey Season Opens with a Bang here
Winter 2010
What’s New
Kentucky’s 2010-11 Deer Season Dates and Zones here
Steiner Merlin 8 X 32 binoculars are bright, light here
Lorpen Socks keep feet warm, dry and scent-free here
Coyotes a visible predator here
Elk season update here
Kentucky’s 2009-10 white-tailed deer season ends with higher than usual percentage of bucks in the harvest here
Deer harvests in Kentucky 2004-09 here
The era of the big buck in Kentucky here
Kentucky’s first bear hunt buried by snowstorm here
Fall 2009
What’s New
Shorter vanes, faster arrows here
Muzzy MX-3 broadhead here
Deer processing made easy here
Early Season Buck Disappearing Act here.
November 2009 deer harvest down 5 percent here.
A message from the publisher here.
Spring/Summer 2009
What’s New
Record harvest during spring wild turkey season despite poor hunting weather here.
Find out why there’s so much optimism about Kentucky’s Spring Wild Turkey Season here.
Vero Vellini gun slings -- comfortable enough for all-day hunts. You’ll never get tired when chasing that long-bearded gobbler here.
Ross bows are beautiful shooters here.
Road trip! Central Kentucky’s top smallmouth bass streams here.
The 2009-10 Deer Season dates, changes for late muzzleloader season, and zone status information here.
Is it time for a new bow string? Take a step up to a custom string. Check out Winner’s Choice here.
Updated March 13, 2010
By Art Lander Jr.
OutdoorsKentucky.Com
Bass Fishing Tackle and Techniques
There are lots of productive fishing lures and techniques for largemouth bass. Here are three productive seasonal tactics:
Spring
Tournament professional Kevin Van Dam refined the use of jerk baits and encourages anglers to give them a try, especially in the spring. "It’s a technique that bass haven’t seen at a lot of lakes (and rivers)."
"With jerk baits you can cover a lot of water and excite fish that aren’t necessarily in the mood to bite," said Van Dam, whose spirited approach to fishing shallow-running and suspending crankbaits has helped him win over $300,000 in prize money on the Bassmasters Tournament Trail in his first five seasons.
The Bomber Long A and Smithwick Rattlin’ Rogue have been his money lures.
Van Dam fishes the floating models about 75 percent of the time. Suspending lures are used in cold water or after fronts have passed, when bass are sluggish.
The lures aren’t fished deeper than eight feet.
Jerk baits mimic dying or injured baitfish, moving targets for opportunistic feeders. ‘‘Bass are always going to eat the shad that’s different in the school, the one that’s wounded or doesn’t swim like the others.’’
Clear water is the key.
‘‘It’s a sight-activated presentation. More than with any other lure, you can draw bass from a long way off.’’
He casts beyond the structure and jerks the rod tip down real hard to get the lure to the working depth.
The retrieve is a series of erratic jerks of the rod tip, followed by pauses that make the line go slack.
This makes the crankbait dart, float up and tremble.
The slower the retrieve, the longer the pause between jerks.
"The lure actually backs up (when you pause). Any bass that’s following can’t resist that kind of action. They strike at it out of instinct."
Since the bass usually takes the lure when the line is slack, Van Dam said "you don’t know a fish is on until you jerk again, and set the hook."
Color or size of the jerk bait isn’t as important as its visibility to the bass. "On sunny days I fish chrome or gold, on cloudy days, chartreuse or pearl."
Jerk baits are effective whenever fish relate to shallow structure — logs, rocks and submerged vegetation.
In the spring, jerk baits can be fished pre-spawn, all the way through post-spawn (into June).
Position the boat so that casts are parallel to the bank.
"Keep the lure over the fish, in the strike zone, for as long as possible. You don’t want the lure at the same level or below the fish."
"The idea is to make the bass come up to take the lure instead of taking the lure down to the bass."
Good sunglasses are a must when fishing jerk baits since the angler can often see bass as they approach to strike. And since the best fishing is in clear water, casts must be long to prevent spooking fish with the boat.
Hooks on the baits should be kept sharp because many strikes are very light. "They’ll slap at it, not even bite it but you’ll catch them."
Van Dam suggests fishing a 5 1/2 or 6-foot graphite rod of medium action, with a fast taper (light tip action). Spinning and casting reels are spooled in line from 6 to 10-pound test, depending on lure size. The lighter the line, the deeper the bait will dive.
Spring/Early Summer
Another bass lure that's very productive in Kentucky, early in the year, is the spinnerbait.
Ken Cook, who won the BASS Masters Classic XXI in 1991, proved that the spinnerbait is one of the most versatile lures in bass fishing.
A spinnerbait really doesn’t look like anything in nature, so why is it effective?
"The flashing blade catches the fish’s attention, and its vibration bombards the senses. That’s why the spinnerbait is a hot lure in stained water. Fish can easily home in on it."
The pulsating skirt makes the lure look like a swimming baitfish. Bass hit the skirt out of hunger or anger. Cook used an unorthodox retrieve to entice strikes from finicky bass.
"I like fishing it with what I call a doodling retrieve," Cook said. "I shake the rod tip as I retrieve it slowly. That makes the blade flutter and the skirt fluff and gives it a very erratic action. That’s what it took to get these bass to bite."
The retrieve made the lure dart left and right like a wounded, frightened baitfish looking for a place to hide.
A popular spinnerbait technique in early spring in Kentucky is slow-rolling, where the lure is retrieved very slowly, just fast enough to keep the blade moving, as the lure is guided over logs and down channel drop-offs.
This presentation works well when bass are holding on the edges of creek channels, prior to moving into shallows.
Summer
A technique that's hard to beat when bass are deep is Carolina-rigging plastic lizards.
This technique became popular when Phenix City, Ala., angler and lure manufacturer Jack Chancellor won BASS Masters Classic XV on the Arkansas River.
Chancellor didn’t fish with lizards, but he popularized the Carolina rig, which is the most widely used technique for fishing with lizards.
Carolina-rigging lizards and other plastic baits not only enable anglers to cover deep water a lot faster than with crankbaits, but more thoroughly.
Rigging a plastic bait Carolina-style requires a slip sinker, a red plastic or glass bead, and a small barrel swivel (preferably black). Egg sinkers are sometimes used because they don’t get hung up as much as bullet-shaped sinkers.
Tie a soft plastic bait to a leader and tie the other end of the leader to the barrel swivel. Thread the line from your fishing rod through the slip sinker and the plastic bead, and then tie it to the other end of the barrel swivel.
The bead prevents the heavy sinker from pinching and cutting the line at the knot (where it’s attached to the barrel swivel).
The rig is used most often to fish drop-offs. The heavier lead gives the angler a better feel for the bottom contour.
The rig is effective because the unweighted lizard floats and drifts just off the bottom, where bass are likely to be suspended. It is an especially effective presentation in submerged vegetation.
The lure stays in the strike zone longer, and the bass doesn’t have to swim up far to take the bait. Fish the rig as slow as possible for a much more natural presentation than a weighted bait.
Posted June 15, 2010
By Art Lander Jr.
OutdoorsKentucky.Com
Nesting Bald Eagles in Kentucky Steadily Increasing
Populations of nesting bald eagles have been steadily increasing across Kentucky the past two decades, since a nesting pair produced young in 1987 at Ballard WMA.
“We have documented more eagles nesting in the state than ever before,” said Kate Heyden, an avian biologist with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “And we expect to see more in the future. Nests are popping up like daisies.”
The number of nesting pairs of bald eagles in Kentucky has more than tripled in the past ten years. “In 2000, we had 23 and this year we’ve documented 80,” said Heyden.
Absent from Kentucky for more than three decades, the bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) was declared an endangered species in 1967. The widespread use of the pesticide DDT resulted in lower survival in adult eagles and weakened the shells of their eggs, effectively crippling reproduction. But after DDT was banned in 1972, a slow comeback of eagle populations began. Hacking efforts (the release of young eagles into the wild) also helped to boost population growth. Bald eagle hacking occurred at Land Between the Lakes on the Kentucky-Tennessee border from 1980-1988. During this time 44 young eagles were released. By 2007, when the bald eagle was de-listed (taken off the Endangered Species list), its population had grown to over 10,000 nesting pairs in the lower 48 states.
Aerial surveys, conducted by helicopter, are now making it easier to find eagle nests, and count young. “Eagles typically nest close to water where there’s a good supply of fish,” said Heyden. “They make their nests in tall, old trees or snags. They usually don’t like to be out in the open or too close to people.”
Fall might seem like a good time to observe eagles because that’s when young leave the nest, and begin to explore their new surroundings, but Heyden said winter is actually the best season for eagle watching in Kentucky. “When the lakes and rivers freeze over up north, eagles need to find open water to fish. Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley are probably our top eagle viewing areas in the state. Large numbers of eagles (sometimes more than 100) have been counted using these lakes in recent winters.”
Visibility through the timber is also much improved during the winter months. “There are no leaves on the trees, so eagles stand out like ornaments on a Christmas tree,” said Heyden.
During the winter, the number of eagles in Kentucky can swell to several hundred, when birds migrate down from the Great Lakes region. “From band recoveries, we found that many of these eagles are coming from Wisconsin and Michigan,” said Heyden. “We coordinate an annual survey each January to monitor wintering eagles. The number of birds we count each winter depends on the severity of the weather up north.”
The eagles that nest in Kentucky do not usually migrate. Thus, after eagles establish a territory, they seldom leave it for very long throughout their lives. Resident adult eagles are typically paired up, and already working on their nest by late fall/early winter.
Pairs mate for life, but will find a new mate if their partner dies. “In the wild, eagles have a 15 to 25-year life span,” said Heyden.
Females lay their eggs at the end of January through February. Eagle eggs hatch anytime from mid-March to mid-April. Eaglets start out white and downy, but leave the nest with dark feathers and a dark bill. Young usually fledge, or leave the nest in May or June. “Parents continue to feed and protect their young even after they have fledged, said Heyden. Young eagles usually “disperse” or get out on their own by August or September.
“You could see an immature bald eagle just about anywhere,” said Heyden. “It takes an eagle five years to mature. They do not defend territories until they are adults and until they reach maturity, they tend to wander.”
Bald eagles are 10 to 14 pounds with wingspans of 6 to 8 feet. Males are smaller than females.
“Immature eagles are the same size as adults,” said Heyden. “If you’re seeing a smaller bird, it’s probably some type of hawk.”
Immature eagles are all brown or brown and white mottled. Adult birds have the distinctive white head and tail. A native species, the bald eagle is a year-round resident of Kentucky.
Nests have been found along the Mississippi, Ohio, Cumberland, Tennessee, Green, Kentucky, and Rolling Fork rivers. “Although we have lost some habitat to development and deforestation, we’ve also gained some habitat through the creation of reservoirs throughout the state,” said Heyden. “We have found eagle nests on several major reservoirs including– Barkley, Kentucky, Cave Run, Laurel River, Yatesville and Taylorsville.” Most of the eagle nests in Kentucky are in the western portion of the state, but in recent years, more nests have been found in the eastern portions of the state- scattered along large rivers and reservoirs.
Heyden said often times eagles will reuse their nests from year to year, but occasionally they will move their nest sites. “It sometimes takes younger pairs a few years to settle into a territory and successfully raise young.”
Posted June 15, 2010
By Art Lander Jr.
OutdoorsKentucky.Com
QDMA Convention July 9-11 in Louisville
Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA), a non-profit wildlife conservation organization dedicated to ensuring a high-quality and sustainable future for white-tailed deer and deer hunting, will hold its 10th annual convention in Louisville, Kentucky, July 9-11, 2010.
“We have a long standing relationship with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources,” said Randy Bowden, QDMA’s marketing director. “ The agency embraces quality deer management principles.”
It’s the second consecutive year QDMA’s convention will be at the Kentucky International Convention Center, in downtown Louisville. Daily sessions, open to QDMA members, start at 9:00 a.m. Speaker topics include: starting a quality deer management program, food plot management, seasonal deer behavior, and how to attract and hold mature bucks on small tracts of land.
The convention also includes a sport show, July 10-11, which is open to the public. Hours for the Whitetail Expo are: Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sunday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission is $10 per person per day, or $15 for a two-day pass. Children under 12 years of age are free.
Special guests include: Bill Winke, bow hunting expert and publisher of MidwestWhitetail.Com, and Tiffany and Lee Lakosky, co-hosts of The Crush TV series. “The Family Fun Zone will have lots of interactive booths for adults and children,” said Bowden.
Kentucky is an ideal location for the convention, Bowden said, because it’s “at the heart of whitetail country, with good deer herds in several states with a 250-mile radius.”
Founded in 1988 in South Carolina by Joe Hamilton, QDMA has about 45,000 members today, organized into 180 branches (charter groups).
For the last 12 years QDMA headquarters has been located in a suburb of Athens, Georgia. ”Annual membership dues are $30 a year and includes a subscription to our bi-monthly magazine, Quality Whitetails, “ said Bowden.
For more information call QDMA at (800) 209-3337, or visit their website at www.qdma.com.
Posted June 18, 2010
By Art Lander Jr.
OutdoorsKentucky.Com
Kentucky’s Wood Duck and Teal Season
Remains Popular with Waterfowlers
Every third Wednesday in September, Kentucky waterfowl hunters flock to the state’s wetlands and waterways for opening day of early wood duck and teal season.
The five-day season, which will be held this year on September 15-19, has become especially popular in Central and Eastern Kentucky, where hunters are more likely to encounter wood ducks than teal.
“Based on the sheer number of broods observed, it appears to be a good year for wood duck reproduction,” said Rocky Pritchert, migratory bird biologist for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.
The season’s popularity has withstood the test of time. “On the most recent hunter survey 60 percent of our waterfowl hunters said they participated in the early season,” said Pritchert. “That’s about 13,000 to 15,000 hunters.”
The wood duck (Aix sponsa) is a medium-sized duck, weighing about 1 ½ pounds, with adults measuring about 17 to 20 inches long. Broad, relatively short wings enable the “woodie” to made acrobatic twists and turns while flying through timber.
Wood ducks are cavity nesters, raising their young in trees along creeks, rivers and wetlands. The average clutch size is 10 to 15 eggs.
In the summer both sexes of wood ducks are in eclipse plumage, a drab grayish-brown coloration, but the adult male’s winter plumage is a magnificent blend of green, rust, yellow, black, and tan, accented with white.
While the number of wood ducks taken during Kentucky’s early season has varied through the years, during the past decade, the harvest has averaged about 15,000 birds, Pritchert said.
The early season has a four-bird daily bag limit, but no more than two birds may be wood ducks.
While it’s a statewide season for both wood ducks and teal, the prospects of bagging teal are slim for many hunters. This is because teal are predominately found in the western one-third of Kentucky, as they migrate through the state, from their breeding grounds in Canada, to their wintering grounds in the southern US, Mexico, and Central America.
So for most hunters it’s a season for locally produced wood ducks. “We’re not shooting birds produced in other states,” said Pritchert. “Ninety-six percent of the bands recovered from wood ducks taken during our early season, were from wood ducks banded here.”
An annual brood survey, conducted on Kentucky rivers and streams each summer by the department’s wildlife division personnel, is used to monitor wood duck population trends.
Pritchert said one major justification for the early season was that Kentucky raised a lot of wood ducks, but hunters were able to harvest relatively few of them.
During the 2008 early season, for example, hunters took 27,500 wood ducks, but during the regular duck season, which opened in late November, the wood duck harvest dropped to just 9,000. “By the start of the regular duck season most of the woods ducks raised here are gone (having migrated southward),” said Pritchert. “The overall wood duck harvest is considerably higher in several other Mississippi Flyway states.”
Today, only Kentucky, Tennessee and Florida have an early wood duck and teal season.
“It was considered experimental when it began in 1981, but in 2002 the US Fish and Wildlife Service granted operational status to (accepted) the season in its present form,” said Pritchert. “This means as long as wood duck numbers remain stable, the season can continue.”