Edward Burger.

OCTOBER
Crappie
Kentucky Lake
Kentucky Lake’s above-average crappie population gets back on bank cover and the shallower drops this month.

That can make for a great fall afternoon of fishing for big slabs.

Fishing around vegetation in embayments often yields a lot of good fish, regardless of whether you’re on the dam end of the lake or near the Tennessee border. Brushpiles and manmade stakebeds also hold fish that as water temperatures start to cool, return to a somewhat spring-like pattern.

The fall feed can mean pretty fast action as crappie try to add on a little extra weight for the upcoming winter.

With the average crappie caught on this reservoir checking in at 10 inches, the quality of what’s available surpasses that of most other lakes in the Commonwealth, making it a top choice to consider.

NOVEMBER
Stripers
Barkley Tailwater
When the Corps is generating water discharge through Barkley Dam in mid-fall, anglers can score on some very nice striped bass in the tailwaters. Big stripers await wounded baitfish that come through the generators, or are drawn to the current.

Cooler water temperatures tend to activate striped bass. The best fishing is usually within 1,000 yards of the dam. But don’t ignore what you might observe outside that immediate tailwater area.

Expect to lose a few sinkers or jigheads, and have plenty of bait on hand.

For best success on these hard-fighting eating machines, focus on fishing in the flow of the released water, rather than the slack-water sides.

DECEMBER
Channel Catfish
Yatesville Lake
It doesn’t sound exactly right, but at the onset of winter, biologists routinely have good-to-excellent catches of channel catfish reported from Yatesville Lake.

In fact, a number of lakes in the Eastern Region of Kentucky report the same type of good catfishing.

Catfish are often thought of as a late-spring, early-summer fishing opportunity during their May/June spawn. But they are quite active at other times as well.

On Yatesville, the recommendation is to fish in the upper part of the lake, in shallow-water areas off points and creek channels. Catfish in a variety of sizes are present and numerous. Biologists would call this an “underutilized resource.”

It’s up to you to change that label and give the whiskerfish a try during this nontraditional fishing time.

Kentucky anglers have a host of fishing experiences available to them. Granted, those opportunities are more limited in the winter.

For some reason, the bigger fish, regardless of the species, seem to show up during the cold-weather period. Maybe they need more meals than the smaller fish do to make it through the leaner times.

At any rate, any of these suggestions will put you where the potential for success has been proven and observed by both fishermen and fishery managers.

They also give you some ideas of the variety of fishing that Kentucky offers -- and hopefully, will spur you to expand your horizons on the water in 2008.

If you decide to try some new things this year, you’ll need to familiarize yourself and your fishing partners with the regulations you’ll be fishing under.

As always, remember that each year, the new fishing laws take effect on March 1.

The 2008 Kentucky Sport Fishing and Boating Guide is now available at license outlets and online at fw.ky.gov, as well as from the state fish and wildlife department by calling 1-800-858-1549 weekdays between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Find more about Kentucky fishing and hunting at KentuckyGameandFish.com