Ross notes that during the past couple of years, anglers have been catching more fish that either fall into the upper end of the slot, which is 13 to 16 inches, or are above the slot. Bass tournaments also have reported very good success on Cave Run in recent years.

Ross stresses that anglers should not be shy about taking home a limit of fish that fall under the slot, noting that they would, in fact, be helping the fishery by doing so. "For a slot limit to be effective, some of those smaller fish need to be taken out," he said. "That reduces competition and allows more fish that make it into the protected slot to grow to larger sizes."

Although Cave Run is in the highlands region and is bounded by hills, it also offers a fair amount of good shallow habitat for bass. The best largemouth habitat and the highest largemouth densities are up the river arms, but the lower end of the lake seems to yield more big bass. In addition, the lower end of the lake offers both largemouths and smallmouths for anglers to go after.

Cave Run bass anglers spend a lot of time pitching jigs to downed trees, stumps and other woody cover in the upper half of the lake. In addition, large stands of milfoil that have developed in recent years hold a lot of bass. During May, fishermen primarily work the edges of the grass or fish over grass that hasn't grown all the way to the surface.

All largemouths between 13 to 16 inches must be released on Cave Run Lake. The minimum size for smallmouths is 16 inches. Access to Cave Run is excellent, with more than 20 boat ramps for 8,270 acres. The lake is bounded almost completely by the Daniel Boone National Forest.

Early indications suggest that the bass stockings have worked well on Dewey, which covers 1,100 acres in the far eastern part of the state. The KDFWR clips fins on stocked fish so that they can recognize them when they do shocking surveys. Since the stockings began in 1999, good percentages of stocked fish have been showing up in samples. The first of those fish are just now beginning to show up in the harvest.

Dewey earned an excellent rating for largemouth bass in the most recent fishing forecast. The report notes that size distribution is good, and that tournament anglers consistently weigh in good catches from this lake. Dewey's largemouths feed primarily on gizzard shad, which tend to stay small and provide good bass forage on this lake.

A very narrow lake that sets deep in the mountains, Dewey is also a very old lake. The negative side of the lake's age is that natural cover is very scarce. On the other hand, years of bank erosion have actually built up flats along the main creek channel, and those flats offer good spawning and feeding habitat for bass.

The KDFWR has added a lot of cover to Dewey Lake over the years, in the form of Christmas trees and brushpiles. Any cover that is on a point or near the mouth of a tributary is worth working during May. While most fish will be caught on spinnerbaits, plastic worms and other subsurface offerings, anglers should always keep a topwater lure handy and be ready to throw it anytime they see fish breaking or shad moving near the surface.

Half a dozen boat ramps provide good access to all parts of Dewey Lake. Jenny Wiley State Resort Park provides boating and banks access, cottages, lodge rooms, a campground and a marina. For information, call (606) 886-2711. A 15-inch minimum size applies to largemouths and smallmouths on Dewey Lake.

Kincaid earned an excellent rating for largemouth bass in the most recent fishing forecast, with the report noting that numbers of 15-inch-plus bass are great and that trophy potential is excellent.

"When we do sampling out there, we always see an amazing number of big fish," Ross said. "It's not necessarily a good destination for anglers who hope to catch a bunch of fish, but it is a good place to go with hopes of catching some good-quality largemouths.

Kincaid Lake, which is located in a rural part of Pendleton County, is highly fertile and supports a lot of baitfish, which is part of why the bass grow big. Also, most fishing pressure is from fairly serious bass fishermen and the release ethic seemingly is very high.

While local anglers all know that Kincaid Lake holds a lot of big bass, they also know that those bass can be very tough to catch. The fish tend to be finicky. Most fishing is around visible cover, whether in the form or laydowns, brush or vegetation, some of which should have grown to the surface and matted up by May.

Access to Kincaid Lake is through Kincaid Lake State Park, which offers bank and boating access, boat rentals and a campground. For information, call (859) 654-3531. Kincaid falls under statewide regulations, with a six-fish daily limit for all black bass and a 12-inch minimum size for largemouths and smallmouths.