2004 FISHING CALENDAR The calendar is in PDF format. The Adobe Reader can be downloaded for free here.

By Norm Minch

Every angler has a favorite species and a favorite type of water to fish in. We might just be better at catching a particular kind of fish in a specific setting or just have easier access to a particular waterway that offers especially good opportunity for a given species. Could be we just learned how to fish going after panfish, bass or trout and that's become our "go to" when other things we try don't work or get frustrating.

The annual fishing calendar presented here is aimed at suggesting quality opportunities throughout the Commonwealth that will no doubt hit some of the species we primarily fish for, while throwing in several other trips to consider as alternatives for new experiences.

Kentucky anglers are fortunate to have a wide variety of choices, both in types of fish and types of water. All year long, somebody is out there catching fish somewhere and with this calendar, you can potentially place yourself in the same boat anytime you've got to scratch the itch to fish.

So take a good look at this smorgasbord and keep your rods handy and ready to go. Watch for the best weather and water conditions each month, and prepare yourself for a whole year of angling enjoyment. Try some of your old favorites and stand-bys for sure, but think about scheduling at least one outing you've not tried before. This guideline should give you some help.

Once you've selected a fishing period where the weather isn't threatening and water flow is normal, catching a lot of saugers can be a snap. The nature of these fish is to run upstream before the spawn and gang up in the rocky structure below locks and dams. Since they are a coldwater species, they tend to feed more actively, even during the winter months. They can be caught on both live and artificial baits or a combination of the two.

Saugers are a light-sensitive species, so fishing stained water or during low-light periods increases their aggressiveness. They will almost always be near the bottom. Yet once you locate the correct depth, that "band" of water will hold lots of fish regardless of whether you move around some in the tailwaters.

While saugers are present throughout the Ohio River, some of the best fishing occurs in the upper half, from the Louisville area up to Greenup. Be sure to clothe yourself appropriately so you can stay with it a while; get your spinning reels in shape and be prepared to lose a sinker or two during the day. Drift or vertical jigging should work well on light line and using a sensitive rod to better detect strikes will put more fish in the boat.

Largemouths respond to warming trends with longer feeding periods and often a gradual move out of deeper water. Most will continue to relate to structure, but after a prolonged period of reduced activity, they will expend some of their precious energy to get a meal or two if you get a lure close enough to where they are.

February is the time when using some larger, slow-moving lures may produce better. You've heard the saying about thinking like a bass to catch more bass. First, remember that big bass are more prone to work to get one good meal than swim around trying to catch a bunch of smaller meals when their metabolism is low. In late winter and early spring, the natural food sources aren't going to be freshly hatched fingerlings, either. Using lures that look like what the fish are used to seeing is a good bet. Working those lures slowly and methodically around cover, perhaps on a dropoff or along a creek channel, should put you in the running to catch a big bass looking for an easy meal to replenish its energy reserves.

Lake Malone has an ongoing reputation for some superb largemouths, which makes it a top choice for early-season bassin' for the dyed-in-the-wool largemouth fanatic toward the end of this month.

In Cave Run, that's going to be timbered coves around stumps and stickups, sometimes in very shallow water. Woe to the man who inadvertently hooks up with one of these ultralight rig destroyers while he's crappie fishing. It won't be pretty, but it won't last long, either. If you're going to try for muskies, go with the heavier equipment and use a leader in front of your lure.

Muskies are chasers. They often trail and take lures at the last second, so remain alert during the entire retrieve. Look for debris piles along the banks or the backs of coves that have fairly deep channels. Spring rains create shallow-water habitat in highland reservoirs, which are good ambush locations for muskies in search of food and warmer water as they enter their normal spawning period.

Another type of habitat to be on alert for is feeding flats along channel corridors, especially those with dotted, submerged woody cover. Open-water fishing can't be ruled out at this time of year, and some anglers elect to troll this kind of habitat for big muskies cruising through it.

Photo by Ron Sinfelt

Crappie fishing when the dogwoods and redbuds start blooming in the Blood River arm of Kentucky Lake and elsewhere can be absolutely dynamite when conditions are right. And the best thing about it is that any skill level can be successful. It's what many anglers wait for all year - the time when they can fish the bank around a brushpile, bush, stickup or fish attractor and find crappie willing to hit consistently.

Early morning and late afternoon are usually the best periods to take crappie. If the action is slow in one spot, you can usually find another hole where the opposite is true down the bank a ways. Generally, the biggest key to success is stable water levels and shoreline cover. Watch the weather and keep your eyes peeled for fallen trees, stickups, flooded brush, etc.

You can expect to catch slabs that average 10 inches and many fish above that mark. When the spawn is in full swing and water temperatures are stable in the low 60s, crappie can be caught from the same place day after day until the weather conditions change. If you find a good spawning spot, even when several fish are taken out, more will move in before long to use the best habitat they can find to nest. The more of these kinds of places you can locate, the better your success rate will be.

Get them while they last!

Bluegills are active all day, but more fish will usually be caught in shaded shoreline areas around some type of cover, rock ledge or other shoreline structure out to about 5 feet deep. Bigger fish tend to remain in slightly deeper water sometimes, but will readily take live bait or a small jig or spinnerbait danced in front of them or around their nest site.

Select water with a little color if possible, and try not to approach the spot you plan to fish too closely or loudly. If you do spook the fish, give them a few minutes to move back into where they were and continue fishing. Many 'gills taken from Yatesville will be in the 6- to 8-inch range, with a few larger specimens mixed in.

It shouldn't take long to come up with a mess or two, but just remember to take plenty of bait. Bluegills are master bait-stealers. Rigging with smaller hooks will help you catch more fish and using lighter weight floats allows quicker bite detection to help avoid fish swallowing the hook.

Low-light periods are good to fish, as is after the sun goes down on those increasingly warming summer days. Fishing with cut bait off points close to deeper water access or along creek channels that gradually drop and stair-step down should work well.

Channel catfish are often more active in murky water and sometimes gravitate to the backs of coves and bays after a hard rain looking for food getting washed in. Areas that are riprapped also provide catfish a haven; so don't forget to plunk a few casts of something undesirable to the whiskerfish found along those banks, too.

Most fish will be taken up closer to where the water comes through the dams. Flowing water attracts these two species and provides sources of food. Anglers have to be careful in any tailwater, but any fishery biologist will tell you that tailwaters hold more pounds of fish per acre than any other kind of water.

Various fishing methods are productive for hybrids and stripers, and these species are well known for their fight, which is further magnified in the current. Heavier equipment and higher capacity reels with easily adjustable drag settings may be an advantage in this environment.

Information on access points to these waters is available from the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife by calling (800) 858-1549 weekdays. You should also be able to locate some deeper pools that hold some good fish downstream from the dams.

Buckhorn Lake's population is reportedly in good shape for an eastern Kentucky reservoir, and anglers can connect with crappie regularly on the mud flats along the main-river channel. These flats create feeding areas for crappie that use the channel as a loafing place and give them nearby deep-water access to retreat in the heat of the day.

Early and late are the best times to catch papermouths around any cover you can find, as they feed on smaller baitfish and aquatic organisms while the sun is low. Working along the edge of the channel where significant depth changes occur can also be productive prior to the fall drawdown.

The portion of this stream in the Franklin, Woodford and Scott county area is superb for smallies throughout the fall period. Small float boats, canoes, belly boats and wading will get you smack in the middle of some of the best stream bronzeback action of the year while the water is usually still tolerable and fishable.

You can choose to bring your own bait, get some out of the creek itself, or use artificials to take on high-intensity struggles with fish up to 18 inches in some portions. Look for pools below riffles and shoreline cover or other obstacles like overhangs and root wads, which give smallies a place to hide and wait for food fish, insects and other things to eat to come by.

They will feed hard for the next few weeks until water temperatures drop into the 50s and things drastically slow down. Taylorsville bass are good, chunky, healthy fish that use timber as their primary cover. The backs of coves will hold some fish, as will stickups and stumpbeds close to or on points. Anglers should find fish in the 15- to 18-inch range more often this fall than the last couple of years, as the trend toward better quality is on the upswing in this lake.

Besides the incredible fall scenery, anglers will find fish returning to the banks and points for a pre-winter rush on shad and other forage still hanging out around points and rocky banks.

Waters will likely be clear and calm in November, great for fishing around outcroppings, inlets, blowdowns and other visible cover on sloping banks and longer, medium- depth points extending into the lake. Look for overcast days to increase smallmouth activity, and prepare to use both live and artificial baits based on what mood the fish are in that day.

Striped bass are very mobile, but almost always seem associated with deeper water. They cruise for baitfish in creeks along channel corridors, but have no qualms about coming to the surface to knock off an unsuspecting shad or alewife piddling around on top.

If you can hack it, nighttime fishing is very productive, especially for the larger fish. Throwing a large surface lure to a steep point can be deadly in the dark. Fish found deeper by electronics will still take live bait drifted above them. Stripers also move in schools many times, so when a strike comes along, you've likely found either a school, or the type of habitat other fish can be found using in other similar portions of the lake.