The Paris Post-Intelligencer – Paris TN: Commercial fishing at Kentucky Lake best defense against Asian carp
October 11, 2011
By GLENN TANNER
P-I Staff Writer
One of the top sport and commercial fishing figures thinks the state’s best defense against Asian carp is sending them back to China — as food.
Bobby Wilson, chief of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency’s fisheries division, told a group of local outdoorsmen Tuesday night he hopes the state’s commercial fishermen will buy some valuable time in the war on Asian carp.
Wilson was one of the featured speakers at the TWRA Road Show Tuesday night at the Krider Performing Arts Center on Volunteer Drive.
Other guests included Don McKenzie of the National Bobwhite Quail Initiative and Randy Huskey, TWRA statewide hunting safety coordinator.
Wilson told an audience of about 150 that large-scale fishing is the only option available to bring the fish’s population to manageable levels until research on limiting their numbers is complete.
Two species of Asian carp — silver and bighead — are threatening Tennessee waters, including the waters of Kentucky Lake. Click Link Below for Full Story!
Mason is expert with crappie | The Leaf Chronicle
March 29, 2010
Kentucky Lake fishing guide has knowledge of hot spots
By Owen Schroeder • The Leaf-Chronicle
Garry Mason is one of the top fishing guides on Kentucky Lake and he has learned a lot about catching crappie in his nearly 25 years of guiding on the big lake.I teamed up with a long-time friend to fish with Mason in the Big Sandy area of the lake recently and we were not disappointed. Mason is intimately familiar with that area of Kentucky Lake and he had us on fish just minutes after we left the boat ramp at Buchanan’s Resort.We began fishing stake beds that Mason had placed in 5-7 feet of water along creek channel dropoffs near the shoreline with small jigs tipped with plastic grubs.Mason strictly casts jigs to catch his crappie and he uses a rather unusual technique for his fishing. First, he spools 6-pound test fluorescent chartreuse monofilament line onto light action open face spinning outfits.”Fluorescent chartreuse is attractive to crappie and I believe that crappie can see the line and creep up on it until they see the grub and grab it,” he said. “The color of the line brings the fish closer to the lure.”I don’t know if I truly believe that, but we were catching some awfully big crappie and it is hard to argue with that kind of success.When I say big crappie, I mean big crappie. We did not catch a single fish under 10 inches all day and only a few under 12 inches. Most were 13- to 15-inch crappie with several over 16-inches and weighing more than two pounds. A 2-pound crappie on light action spinning equipment is about all the fishing action that anyone could ask for.Add to that white bass, yellow bass, bluegill and shellcrackers, and you have an exciting day of fishing.Second, Mason casts for his crappie much like bass anglers cast for bass. “Fishing with minnows and vertically fishing jigs requires that you pretty much have to fish directly over the structure,” he said. “If we had fished over the stake beds today, we would have bumped some of them with the boat or trolling motor and spooked the fish.”We were casting red 1/16-ounce Charlie Brewer, double light wire, round ball jig heads tipped with 2-inch Charlie Brewer Slider Grubs. We started off in cloudy morning conditions with clear grubs finished with silver sparkle and clear grubs finished with blue/silver/black sparkle. Once the clouds cleared and the sun came out, we changed colors to hot pink grubs with clear tails and white grubs with chartreuse tails. The white grubs where the best producers of the day.”When I’m fishing for crappie, I use dark colored grubs on dark days and bright colored grubs on bright days,” Mason said. “I also like the Charlie Brewer double light wire jig heads. If you get hung up, you can usually snap them out or you can pull them off as the light wire hook straightens out.”There is truth in what Mason said as we only had one hang-up all day that we couldn’t get out. In about seven hours of fishing using Mason’s fishing techniques, we put 40 slab crappie in the boat that dressed out to six big plastic freezer bags of boneless crappie fillets. Crappie fishing doesn’t get much better than that and you can bet that I will soon have 6-pound test fluorescent chartreuse monofilament line on all my crappie fishing rigs.For further information, Gregg Mason can be reached at 731-593-0171, or by email at grmason@bellsouth.net.
via Mason is expert with crappie | theleafchronicle.com | The Leaf Chronicle.
Looking on the bright side
February 21, 2010
By Steve Miller Outdoor columnist
I am still waiting on circulation to return to my fingertips after spending a few days on the lake last weekend in frigid temperatures. As I wait to regain feeling, I also wait for warm weather to arrive.
By this time of year outdoors enthusiasts usually have a couple of adventures under their belts. Whether it is a hike, fishing trip or late-season hunt, February usually opens small windows of mild weather to break the spell of winter. This year, most outdoor-minded people are cursing the groundhog who saw its shadow and waiting for the ice, snow and wind to subside.
There is some good to come from the lingering arctic weather. Granted, this is not much consolation to those chomping at the bit to get outside, but the cold weather will improve future outdoor prospects.
Anglers should be the biggest beneficiaries of this long winter. As long as the water temperatures hover just above freezing, the shad population in the lakes will decrease. Shad die in water below 40 degrees and Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley will benefit from a massive shad die-off.
The immediate advantage of a shad kill is that anglers will encounter larger fish. Gamefish are gorging themselves on these dying shad and their girth will show come spring. In cold water, shad becomes almost completely paralyzed as they near death, and become prime targets for predators. Incapable of escaping, a large shad becomes a quick and easy meal for a predators.
Fewer shad should also result in a better spawn. The fry of this year’s spawn will have less competition as they feed on the same plankton as shad species.
There is an overlap between young threadfin, gizzards and young gamefish for the same plankton in shallow water during the spring and summer. Less shad should mean better population and growth rates of gamefish in future years.
All outdoorsmen will benefit from the harsh winters effect on insect populations. While the cold weather will not completely wipe out annoying insects, it may make outings more enjoyable.
Turkey hunters should see a reduction in ticks this spring. Hikers and campers will not be devoured by mosquitoes during summer evenings and early season bowhunters should be more comfortable in their tree stands come September.
All this time I spend inside allows me to reflect on the good that may come from this long winter. We may not appreciate it now, but come spring and summer we can all reap the benefits of these cold days. Until then I will wait – for the feeling to return to my extremities, the arrival of warmer weather and the opportunity to take advantage of the harsh winter.
Recent Comments