Hello and welcome to Kentucky Afield.

I'm your host, Chad Miles.

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

This week we're going to meet up with biologists and see exactly what it takes for the state of Kentucky to have stripers.

Then we're headed down to Dale Hollow Lake to do a little nighttime fishing for smallmouth bass.

But first, we're headed out on the Cumberland River.

Throw a cast net and catch some bait and just go fishing.

Well, I'm out here this morning on the Cumberland River.

It's a super, super early start.

We're going to try to do a little striper fishing and, any striper fisherman knows that the morning starts early and it starts by getting bait.

So we're putting a light out here in the water, the hopes of throwing a cast net and catch some alewives.

Hopefully, we've got a bucket full of bait and ready to go as soon as daylight hits.

We are searching for some alewives, which is the bait choice for striped bass.

Water's a lot lower than what we normally have during this time of year, so we're trying to stay in that deeper range of water to try to find those alewives.

They tend to lack the deeper water.

So we'll just kind of drag a green line around, pick some bait up as we go, and hopefully we'll have enough to fish with today.

We got some fish chasing.

They're coming up to chase bait.

When we throw, it's important turn the light off.

It kind of stuns the shad just for a second.

That way they're not trying to get away from that net while that net's coming down and falling on them.

Somebody will need to be able to reach under there.

And before I throw, unclip one of those clips to turn the light off.

I'll do that.

So we're getting everything set and ready to go.

Allen's going to do the honors because he's got the most experience throwing a cast net.

We definitely have some bait in there.

We got just a few.

This is a lot colder water that feeds this waterway.

So maybe the bait will be up in there.

We'll see.

Bait looks like it's starting to come up a little bit.

Yeah.

Look at there.

That's an old school fish finder right there now.

Oh.

There's bait.

They're small.

They're threadfins.

That's why.

There are some alewives mixed in though.

We probably made about six, eight casts of the net now, and, we're getting close.

There we go.

There we go.

Pretty good.

Yeah.

Them will fish.

That's good.

You got 10 or 12 pieces on that one cast.

Maybe more.

Good ones.

Really good ones.

Well Allen did a great job.

Looks like I'm going to guess 80 pieces of bait, maybe 70 pieces of bait.

So we're getting ready to go rig up.

Now the fun part comes.

Start catching some fish.

We're going to go pick a buddy up and start fishing.

Come on in.

Just find you a spot.

We'll get up there and start fishing, and we'll scatter out.

So Allen, here the rules and regulations on size and creel limit is exactly the same on the lake.

Right?

Exactly the same.

So it's two fish per person.

A minimum of 22 inches.

The hybrid fall under that five fish per person, 15 inch.

Okay.

He swung at him.

Mine is running like crazy too look at that.

It went from behind the boat all the way up here.

There he is.

Smallmouth bass.

What do you know?

Smallmouth have to eat too.

You catch me those up here?

No, not at all.

First fish, smallmouth bass.

Oh.

We got a fish on back here.

Bass.

Got the black bass biting in here today.

You got one Allen?

Yeah.

There you go.

White bass.

I think it's a white bass.

You need a net?

No.

Now it's striper.

I'm going to flip him.

It's fiesty.

Oh.

Did it break?

Maybe we should have got the net.

Well, you're going to turn it loose anyway.

Catch and release.

Catch and release yep.

There you go.

In the net!

Man, you never even let that thing get all the way to the bottom.

It already got hit.

It was fast.

We got a measure right here.

Is he a little short?

Yeah.

I say we make a drastic move here.

School of fish under the boat, 16ft.

Oh, fish on?

He has got him a nice fish here.

We haven't seen it.

We're not sure what it is.

There is a fish.

Fish on, fish on.

Fish on blue pole.

Fish on!

Yeah, that's a good one.

You may have found something here.

You got a fish going right here.

Yeah he's on.

Reel on him.

Oh, yeah.

That's a good one.

Take your time.

That is a pig.

Yeah.

Someone needs to run a net on that.

That's a great fish right there.

Here it comes.

Yeah baby!

Nice job guys.

Oh gosh.

Fish on.

Got another?

Fish on.

Yeah.

There we go.

It was bam bam bam.

Three rods really really quick.

The action got fast and furious.

Large mouth.

Not exactly what we're after.

There's never a bad day down here on the Cumberland River.

It's absolutely stunningly beautiful.

And glad we came.

We just didn't get the numbers we were expecting.

But we still had a good day.

Oh, it was a great day.

Thank you for having us down.

It was an absolute blast and we'll be back for sure.

Sounds good.

As you can see, catching striped bass is a lot of fun.

But providing that opportunity takes a lot of work.

I'm here today with Scott Barrett.

Scott, How you doing?

Doing good.

We█re here today to talk about stripers, yeah stripers.

That's been an interesting topic here in the state of Kentucky And I█ll tell you what they go in several bodies of water, obviously Lake Cumberland being the one that gets a good majority of our stripers.

Tell me the process of what you guys do and how do you take a striper?

Because it's such a unique fish in the wild.

You guys are doing this at a fish hatchery, but that's a fish that's been some of it█s time in saltwater, right?

Right.

we have them in one eye acre ponds.

we will start those bonds draining at least 24 hours in advance.

And we'll creek the pond down slowly.

So it gives all the fish time to kind of come down towards the deeper end.

And our ponds are they start out shallow and they end up, they, they have a gradual slope down into this catch basin we'll crack them open, drain them down and once we get them all down in the kettle there, that point we can get in with the with the seine and seine those out.

And we have a lot of help down there.

We have some big tubs like garbage cans you can imagine, we flip of the seine into those cans and then we have employees carry them up the steps.

We have the smaller tanks on our pickup trucks and they will pour them into there.

We have O2 rolling on those tanks and some good clean water.

when we get down we'll take those up the hatchery and into our main building.

There in the tank room and we got a big pipe that you, you hook up to the smaller tank that lets us shoot them off into these tanks.

We have eight individual concrete runs in the hatchery so we can shoot them off the truck into those runs.

And at that point we can begin to process them, we█ll do sample counts on each individual size and get an idea of how many per pound for each size class that we can weigh them and put them onto larger hauling trucks to go out, you know, either that afternoon or the next day.

A lot of the time.

It's an amazing process.

when I hear you walking through all the time, effort and energy of feeding and draining and grading, it's like having a big garden.

But you know, your output is is fish live fish, same principle.

It's farming, but we're raising fish, you know, We've been talking about stripers, striped bass, and priority one is always Lake Cumberland.

That's an area you've been working for how many years now?

17 years.

17 years.

So how many years have we been stocking Lake Cumberland now?

We've been stocking doing the experimental stockings all the way back into the fifties and sixties.

what makes Lake Cumberland like priority one such a perfect destination for stripers?

So striped bass need a cool oxygenated water and Lake Cumberland being as deep it as it is, has a lot of cold water available.

And so we've got this two layer fishery where we've got our warm water species like black bass and crappie and bluegill in the center.

But then we also have a really cold oxygenated water below that that we can have a good walleye fishery, a great striped bass fishery.

And so that's what makes Cumberland is so awesome is we do have both of those features.

So when you guys go to stock them how do you decide what part of the lake do you have to be near deep water.

I mean, do they do really well the first couple of years not being in certain areas, or do you spread them out from dam to headwaters, we actually spread them out.

We have ten different locations that we stock around Lake Cumberland.

We don't like to put all of our eggs in one basket, so we stock about 50,000 at the ten different locations.

Okay, so we█re doing 500,000 fish total in Lake Cumberland each year now.

Okay, So three year old fish, that first one and 500,000 you're talking about, these fish are legal, right?

At this point, Yes.

So any fish like the fish we stock in 2023, they're going to be legal size going into the end of 2025.

Okay.

They're very fast growers in Lake Cumberland, it doesn't take them long to reach 22 inch size limit.

I really appreciate all your hard, hard work and efforts.

We like doing it.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

The bass spawn is now over and the water temperatures have warmed.

Making nighttime fishing not only more comfortable for the angler, but potentially more productive.

Well, if I seem a little more excited and a little more giddy tonight, it's because I'm on one of my absolute all time favorite lakes fishing with one of my lifelong fishing partners, Jorod Swift.

How you doing?

Great.

Wonderful.

Dale Hallow what's this lake mean to you?

I've been fishing a long time since I was nine or ten years old.

And a lot of memories and just a wonderful fishery and get down here with you and chase some brownies around.

I█m pretty stocked.

Oh, yeah.

It's going to be.

It's going to be a fun night.

you know what?

The plan is to be here until daylight, maybe even get on the top water bite.

If everything lays down, We're going to try to get our line Stretch.

Let's go make it happen.

Find some brownies.

Let's do it.

That wasn't a good hook set, but he█s on there.

oh he come off right there, literally right there.

Here we go.

That's two bites.

Yeah.

I found that little bit of grass.

He hit it pretty good.

Yeah.

Oh, that's a quick release.

You're already going with the nighttime color in the daylight, so.

Hey, it's working.

Right?

There you go.

They█re playing tricks on us Chad.

I ain't set the hook hard enough Playing tricks on us.

Oh, come back.

Oh, he got him that time.

If I had to set the hook any harder, I'd throw my back out.

Largemouth.

Well shake that thing off.

What do you know?

Now I know the first one I have was a smallmouth.

We saw yours.

It was a small mouth.

Now we finally get one to the boat, and it's a large mouth.

Hey, I'll take it.

There we go guys!

Well, you know what I love catching the largemouth bass, but I believe that's two bites in a row have been the wrong color.

We're being invested by the green, the green fish.

Enough of that.

Oh, Got him?

well.

You got another green one.

Well, this is becoming a problem.

We usually come down here for the other color bass.

But they're all fun to catch aren't they?

They are.

Oh, Got him?

small mouth Sure is.

There you go.

The old Blue Bug.

Actually I Switched up to a little Rattling Jig.. Blue chatter bait.

Is that what you got?

Yeah.

There you go.

First was our first smallie in the boat?

The first one in the boat.

There you go.

Nice job, buddy.

Thank you.

That█s what we came down here for.

Oh, is it google eye magic?

It is.

By George.

Old google eyed John come to visit.

Wow.

Tell you what, He just kept all those that were that tells you to at least have a fish sandwich.

Google eye John.

Uh oh.

It█s the old google eye magic.

Told you.

That right there is then reason you come to Dale Hollow.

you come to Dale Hollow for the old google eye fest.

That█s a eater there.

Yeah, he█s a little one.

Oh, wow.

Look at that giant.

Break out the circle hook.

I'll tell you what this lake█s got a bunch of these in here, and they like that grass, too.

They'll get in there and they'll hit a little jig like that coming across the top.

Get you excited Here we go.

He ain't big, but I got him.

we didn't know what was hitting this.

We just knew we were getting bites.

It is a small mouth.

There you go.

He hit it as soon as it hit the water.

And that's what they're coming out of.

Yeah.

Yep.

Right out, right out of that grass.

That's.

I mean, that's the grass you want right there with that in there.

That's exactly where they're at right there.

And Oh my gosh.

Yeah, yeah.

That boat enjoys our spot, dude, he is that that pontoon right there is in four feet of water Welp, I think we can move now we probably are done fishing was good right there until this guy decided to go in four feet of water between us and the bank.

Well, you know, takes all types, huh?

It does.

Here█s a good fish.

Maybe I'm crazy.

I don't know.

Oh my goodness!

I think that fish is, That must be a large mouth.

Yeah that is a large mouth.

Like, am I sleep or am I?

What are going to grab this for me chad?

Yep.

That█s a wake up call.

Look at that.

That's a good look on that little.

That little hair jig, a little jig that notoriously you had it hooked really good.

Notorious for small mouth fishing.

But you know what?

If it looks like a shad, large mouth eat it too.

That's a good one.

You know, this fish came in like a log or a stick.

You didn't even know for sure if you had a fish.

very nice.

There you go There we go.

two in a row.

Another largy?

I don█t know.

There you go.

Cool deal.

You know what that was back to back cast.

We have been kind of struggling the last a little bit, and we moved more shallow, which might be why we're catching large mouth.

But the fact is, we're not finding small mouth, out in the grass mats on the main lake.

So we came in and low and behold back to back cast cut to pretty good large mouth.

Hey, tonight, beggars can't be choosers.

We█ll take it, we█ll take it.

Hey, thank you Got him that time.

large mouth, stinking large mouth.

What do you know?

Catching to many large mouth today.

This is a spot I thought maybe, just maybe, would get in here, catch a smallie.

Oh, did you get bit?

You know, not a bad fish, though.

large mouth, small mouth eat the same thing.

Apparently, the blue blue trigger crawl.

Stretch your string.

There you go.

Not bad.

Oh, got him?

There you go still not the size we█re looking for, but it█s the It's the action we're looking for.

You know, we kept saying last night, you know, if we can make it till morning, there's a chance we may get a top water bite.

It█s that time of year.

There you go.

What do we got here.

One of those.

That might be the smallest small mouth I've ever caught on top water.

But you know what?

They're all fun when you see them blow up on a lure like that.

A lot of fun.

There you go.

Quick release.

lot of bait here.

Got him.

could be that fish that just jumped.

Nice.

Big old Brownie we█ll take it.

Big Brownie.

There█s a double.

You got him?

Yeah.

Another big one out here.

There you go.

Little double action right here.

Morning time and mine█s poorer.

But, uh, long.

But it looks like he's on the decline.

Looks like they need a meal, huh?

But they were hungry.

Yeah, but you know what, though?

That's why you stay till daylight had a little bit of a lull last night all of sudden it's pick back up and the old brown fish are biting again.

Hey, look at that bait pod right there in front of us.

Get ready.

Here we go.

large mouth.

Look at that little bitty bitty hooks I got that thing on.

There you go.

Now, that's a healthy fish.

Those smallies is were a little thin, they got a little size to him.

Little pretty thick across the back.

That's pretty good fish.

uh oh, uh oh Brownie.

Big old brownie.

I think I got it.

Look at that.

What a pretty fish.

I'll tell you what.

This helps scratch my itch a little bit.

I█ll probably have to come down one more time and night.

Fish.

Maybe go to Cumberland and try to do the same thing.

But you know what?

November will be here before you know it.

Hopefully I have a deer or two in the freezer and get down here and really target some big, big, fat brown fish.

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 this nice hybrid bass that was caught by Mike McBride on Harrington Lake.

Nice job.

Here we have Grayson Kelly that headed out to the FINs Lake at Kentucky Horse Park and caught this nice catfish.

Congratulations.

Check out the smile on Noah Staggs.

He's got a nice largemouth bass that he caught at Dewey Lake.

Now, here's a fish we don't see very often.

Lucy Gordon went fishing and caught this Bowfin in Ohio County.

Nice fish.

Sidney Lasher headed out on the Cumberland River in Livingston County and caught this nice Kentucky spotted bass.

Nice job.

Joey Sanders headed out in the green River on pool six with a fly rod and landed this muskie.

Nice job.

Here we have Hannah Jacobson, who headed out to Lake Barkley fishing with her grandfather and caught this red ear sunfish.

Congratulations.

Here we have Kayla Smith with a nice hybrid bass and she caught at Taylorsville Lake.

She said this was her first ever hybrid bass.

So much fun.

Nice job.

Madison Armor went out jug fishing on green River and caught this beautiful catfish.

Congratulations.

To all you dads out there.

We'd like to wish you a happy Father's Day.

Hopefully you're finding time this weekend to get outdoors with the family.

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

Always ask permission and 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 that Kentucky is home to the largest eld herd in the eastern U.S., with an elk zone twice the size of Yellowstone National Park.

Look how big it is.

I mean, this is just amazing.

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

Just ask Kristine.

Hey, 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 has 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