KY lake night bite

I snuck out for a few hours Saturday evening / night on the big lake to try the night bite. Fishing was on the slow side and I only boated 12 but 6 of them would keep and the largest was close to 4#. I just can't seem to connect with the brown fish this summer after dark. I caught a nice one right at dark on surface but not a one after dark which has been the norm this summer. I wonder if their numbers are down or I am just not finding them like in the past. Spinners and tubes were my tools of choice.

Taking out at Fenton was interesting Saturday night. It was between 1 and 2 am as I came in and there were 3 "law enforcement" pickups pulled up at the ramp turn around and something was going down. I never did ask nor figure out what they were doing there but as I pulled up my truck to back the trailer down the ramp I saw something I have never seen in KY right beside my truck -- an armadilo. I paused for a few moments to take in this sight and then as I backed the trailer down the ramp my headlights lit him up and two of the rangers spied him and proceeded to chase him into the bushes. One pulled out his pistol as the other donned a flashlight and for a moment I thought that little guy was going to be toast but they didn't catch him. I have seen a lot of interesting things on the big lake after dark but that one was rather different. The bow fishing air boats lit up like very bright christmas trees rank up there too.

Anyone know what happened Saturday night at Fenton that brought the law out? Something tells me that they weren't there for the armadilo...

kc

the armadillos are on the way along with the hogs, kentucky should be infested with both in the next decade. man them farmers that screamed about the elk reintroduction will really be cryin when them hogs eat their corn and beans.

Was it KY Fish and Wildlife or was it Forestry Rangers? The Forestry guys set roadblocks on weekends there on the main road at Fenton, and also the canal bridge on the north end. They're checking for drunk driving and whatever else they can find. I'm guessing that they had just wrapped up for the evening.

As for the armadillo - cool! Have been hearing reports of sightings in west KY for about 6 or 7 years now. Sounds like they're getting more and more common. Kind of surprised though to hear of one in LBL. Think he came up from TN?

Some say numbers are down but I personally have caught more this year, I don't know if I've just refined how i fish for them or I'm just puttinh myself on better spots that hold them. Major bait for me has been a summer craw baby paca craw, not the "tiny" not the full size but the "baby". using a C-Rig and a stand up jig head (xcite hook 5/8th oz). And you can always increase your number of smallies with a zoom green pumpkin purple trick worm on a 3/16th oz spot remover, dip the tails in chartruese - DIP THE TAILS! makes a huge difference.

I think it was the Forestry guys but I am not completely sure. I didn't see the F&W emblem on the trucks and they were a lighter color rather than the darker green. They were kind of loose hanging around the trucks and chasing armadilos so that makes sense they may have just been winding down for the night.

I am sure the armadillos had to come from the south and west. I didn't think they could handle our winters but maybe so. I kind of like the idea of the armadilos moving in but I don't think I am up for the silver carp muscling in on our lakes...

kc

Its good to hear someone is touching them rather than the thought that their numbers are down. It sounds to me like you may be finding them more on the ledges but when I fish at night I am more up on the rocks and points so maybe with the hot summer and lack of current they aren't coming up good on those type of spots. I did catch several back in June and touched a couple of good ones but July to last weekend has been slim pickings. It's kind of ironic that I went out Saturday morning on Barkley and caught more smallies there in 3 hours than in the last 3 nights on KY. Talk about a role reversal! I have been using those baby pacas on my spinners this year at night and I think that has improved their effectiveness -- at least on the greenies. I take it that when you are talking about using trick worms you are fishing them as shaky heads? I may have to try that at night and change it up some...

kc

Only hit a school of smallies once this year on a ledge, that was around memorial day and I caught 5 in 5 casts and they were 2-1/2 to 3lbs each. The rest I've been catching is on Rocky points - but not just mainlake points, I went on a search this year to find irregularities and I found one in particular that holds a couple each time I hit it. The biggest off it has only been around 4-1/2 though but it regularly produces 2-1/2 to 3's at least once a week. Best times I've caught them is right at dusk then for about an hour after dark then they're gone. I lost one this spring that was 6+ on a main river ledge around the end of May on a jig.

And yes the trick worms are on shakey heads, 3/16th oz spot removers, I don't know what it is but that color has worked for 3 years and steadily produces (ZOOM grn pump/purple) I catch a smallie seems like each trip out - some may be small but still.... but I'm on the lake 3-4 times a week almost every week.

[QUOTE=kc;424158]I snuck out for a few hours Saturday evening / night on the big lake to try the night bite. Fishing was on the slow side and I only boated 12 but 6 of them would keep and the largest was close to 4#. I just can't seem to connect with the brown fish this summer after dark. I caught a nice one right at dark on surface but not a one after dark which has been the norm this summer. I wonder if their numbers are down or I am just not finding them like in the past. Spinners and tubes were my tools of choice.

Taking out at Fenton was interesting Saturday night. It was between 1 and 2 am as I came in and there were 3 "law enforcement" pickups pulled up at the ramp turn around and something was going down. I never did ask nor figure out what they were doing there but as I pulled up my truck to back the trailer down the ramp I saw something I have never seen in KY right beside my truck -- an armadilo. I paused for a few moments to take in this sight and then as I backed the trailer down the ramp my headlights lit him up and two of the rangers spied him and proceeded to chase him into the bushes. One pulled out his pistol as the other donned a flashlight and for a moment I thought that little guy was going to be toast but they didn't catch him. I have seen a lot of interesting things on the big lake after dark but that one was rather different. The bow fishing air boats lit up like very bright christmas trees rank up there too.

Anyone know what happened Saturday night at Fenton that brought the law out? Something tells me that they weren't there for the armadilo...

kc[/QUOTE]

I was camping at Hillman's ferry this past weekend and as i was leaving the guard house there i saw one (Armadilo) i stopped the truck and took a couple of pic of him, he just was too busy eating to worry about me