Not a fan of tax increases but I can assure you there are vast numbers of them on Barkley / KY. Whether you experience the jumpers or not can be a matter of circumstance. First off the bigheads aren't jumpers - it is only the silvers that go flying. Generally when you run near them is when they trigger and if you are up on plane they end up jumping behind the boat so chances are you won't even see them. Second I have noticed metal hulls make a big difference in triggering them. They don't jump near as much around my glass boat but when in the pontoon puttering about look out (combination metal hull and slow speed). I am grateful for the high rails on the pontoon as we have only had 2 clear but they do some times leave a flying mess when they bang off the rails. It sure gets your attention when leisurely putting along taking in the sights when a 20 pound missile careens off the rails a good 4 feet off the water. Another peculiarity I can't explain - I fish both lakes pretty equally and see big schools on both lakes but I have not seen a jumper on KY where as on Barkley it is pretty common. The only thing I can figure is I have noted most of the jumpers I encounter on Barkley are on deeper flats where they are up on the surface feeding- say 6 to 8 feet deep give or take. Fishing north KY I see big schools on the surface feeding but they tend to be over much deeper water so maybe they don't jump as much when over deeper water. Whatever the case they are there and in ever growing numbers. I was kind of hopeful the fish processing plants and commercial fisherman might make a dent...
kc