New limit on catfish at Taylorsville

[restornator]

No, kentucky fishing really is not that good. Not compared to a state like Alabama. What is the difference? Alabama has a lot of lakes and rivers. The average size of an AL impoundment is probable the size of Lake Cumberland. In KY, Taylorsville is about average. In Alabama, you are always within 1 hour of world class fishing. Fishing is so much bigger in AL but because there is so much more water, world class fisheries are easily sustainable. Ky just doesn't have much to offer unless we start aggressively funding these resources....

[Fishin is life]

Isn't the growing season for fish also a little longer in Alabama....That's why a trophy largemouth a lot of places up north is 3 or 4lbs....Growing season, water quality, and foriage have just as much to do with good fishin as does a tight control on how many fish a person takes out of the lake

[adam7456]

Of course the more southern and warmer states have better fishing than Kentucky. The warmer weather and longer season makes the fish grow faster and bigger.

For example with smallmouth one study showed that in Norris Lake, Tennessee an age-6 smallmouth measures 18 inches (about 4 pounds); in Lake Opeongo, Ontario, a smallmouth of the same age measures only 12.2 inches (about 1 pound). That is a huge difference in growth in a short period of time and has absolutely nothing to do with the number of fish eaten.

According to A Fishing Guide to Kentucky's Major Lakes large mouth bass average 15.3 inches long by 5 years of age. According to this link http://www.outdooralabama.com/fishin...sblack/age.cfm Alabama bass reach that size by age 4 or 20% faster. Growth ceases at temperatures below 50 degrees F. How many month are Kentucky's lakes below that temperature compared to Alabama or Florida lakes? Lake Okeechobee is considered a world-class bass lake, it also a water temperature that doesn't drop below 75 degrees.

Kentucky does not have the year round growing season necessary to produce world class fishing. Given the seasons that we have Kentucky does a pretty good job. There was an FLW tournament on Kentucky/Barkley Lake in May 2010. The top first day catch was 5 fish 24.11 ounces, almost every fish was a 5 pound fish. Day two was 5 fish 22.9 ounces. When people can consistantly catch that many large fish how can anyone say the fishery is poor?

[stripernut]

with gas being $3.70 a gallon and cumberland being across the road from the house.....kentucky fishing is good enough for me

[adam7456]

Ky just doesn't have much to offer unless we start aggressively funding these resources....

You mean aggressive funding, constant improvements, very tight creel limits with very high size limit...like Cedar Creek Lake? I remember years ago when they expecting a ton of fish over 20 inches to start being caught and then it didn't happen. You still don't hear many stories of world class fishing on the lake even though it was designed to be that from the start. The fish simply aren't growing as fast as they had hoped.

[restornator]

You mean aggressive funding, constant improvements, very tight creel limits with very high size limit...like Cedar Creek Lake? I remember years ago when they expecting a ton of fish over 20 inches to start being caught and then it didn't happen. You still don't hear many stories of world class fishing on the lake even though it was designed to be that from the start. The fish simply aren't growing as fast as they had hoped.

size limits do not protect your trophy-class potential fish, it only encourages people to keep the larger ones. In small lake management, 25lb/acre bass less than 14 inches are harvested each year. It creates populations with many 2lbers and good numbers of 4+lbers with an 8lber possible with time. Many of the Ky lakes have really high numbers of 11-12 inch bass. IMO the 15 inch size limit is counterproductive. Funding research projects on Ky resevoirs is what i am talking about. The MO for fisheries management isn't working in our state.

[restornator]

another supplemental stocking strategy could include triploid largemouth bass, which do not spend energy on reproduction

[bnt5]

yes my earlier post was in jest, I have about a dozen pool noodle jugs in the garage that I use occassionally when I am wanting some fillets for the table. This being said there is no fishery that is invulnerable to overfishing, an example of this would be the ocean. If everyone started pulling each fish from the gene pool for food we would never be able to keep up with demand and it would become a put-n-take fishery. Kentucky is in the middle of the road as far as growing seasons go, some years are better than others, which provides little room for error for determining creel/size limits . I don't think you can use the studies on bass and the resulting regs for the catfish population, for starters it is rare to see a bassfisherman take a trophy bass from the lake and eat it, whereas there usually is no qualms about catching catfish for tablefare as a matter of fact I would venture to say 75-80% of catfishing is just for that very purpose (just a guess). There just isn't the interest or the money allotted for catfish as there is for the more "popular" species, not whining about it just stating a fact. It would be nice to some size and creel guidelines put into place for the whole of KY including the OH R., nothing super restrictive just something that prohibits the decimation of a fish population. my $.01.

[aceoky]

WOW, some "think" Ky has poor fishing, glad those who have caught record or near record fish here didn't know that, smallmouth, walleye, musky, and stripers come to mind right off the bat, the large crappie in Ky and Barkley lakes , and claim "poor fishing" ..........LOL

Kentucky is not number one on some species, but there are MANY states who would love to have the variety and quantity, quality of fish we have, I am certain most members here know this to be true.

Fish were made to eat, that is why God made them out of meat (and SO tasty) if you wish to practice C&R that is your right, just as it's others rights not to do so...... IF everyone did the same exact things, that is where the issues would arise... to each his/her own I say!

[Tim_T]

No, kentucky fishing really is not that good. Not compared to a state like Alabama. What is the difference? Alabama has a lot of lakes and rivers. The average size of an AL impoundment is probable the size of Lake Cumberland. In KY, Taylorsville is about average. In Alabama, you are always within 1 hour of world class fishing. Fishing is so much bigger in AL but because there is so much more water, world class fisheries are easily sustainable. Ky just doesn't have much to offer unless we start aggressively funding these resources....

Horrible comparison, no matter how much money you spend some places are going to be better than others based on a variety of factors.

As for improvements in fishing, lets look at what KDFWR has done in the first three months of this year: Added brook trout and triploid rainbows to the Cumberland tailwater, began a program that pays landowners to allow public access on many waters, removal of invasive curly-leaf pondweed that is causing problems for anglers and residents around Beaver Lake, is addressing boat motor restrictions at Lake Beshear, and added new lakes to the FIN's program. These are just the things I can think of off the top of my head.