Quote Originally Posted by engineer View Post
I have been fishing the licking river since I was a young boy and I have never had such bad luck fishing as I do now.And every body I know that fishes it says the same thing.Before a person could go and catch several 12to 16 inch smallmouths and 10 or 12 nice redeyes in a several hour wading trip and now I struggle to catch a single bass.Can anybody tell me whats going on???? I fish the licking from ruddles mill to cyhnthiana.
I have not made it down there this year but I was there last year and had borderline luck with only a few smallies but saw my greatest fear there-river otters. I used to fish another creek outside of Louisville and ALWAYS caught good numbers of bass until 3 years ago when I went and ran into a family of otters and fished for 4 hours with not one hit at all.

That stretch that you fish was my favorite as I had caught plenty of smallies in the range you listed, some days 50+. IF the otters have moved in, it doesn't stand a chance.