This week on Kentucky Afield.
Open water fish are likely the toughest to catch, but some new technology is making it a bit easier and a lot more fun.
Next, we're on the water with conservation officers, but we're not checking fishing license or livewells.
Then spring squirrel season is now open, so we're hitting in the woods.
It's all next on Kentucky Afield.
Hello and welcome to Kentucky Afield.
I'm your host, Chad Miles.
Join us as we journey the commonwealth in search of outdoor adventure.
New technologies are becoming available to fishermen every single day.
And by using those technologies, you may come across some open water where you think there are no fish.
And you may be surprised We're out here on beautiful Rough River Lake.
This May morning, I'm here with good friend Billy Parish.
Billy you were down here a week or so ago.
You were actually fishing for a bass tournament using the Garmin panoptics.
And you located something not exactly largemouth bass, huh?
Well, me and a friend of mine were pre-fishing for a bass tournament.
And we saw some shad flipping on top of the water, so we thought maybe.
Maybe those are large mouth.
You know, they're kind of pushing the shad.
So I took the boat over there to it, and I could see him on my panoptics.
I took a little rattletrap out, you know, and came through and caught a striped hybrid stripe about 17, 18 inches long.
I tell you what, when you start catching those hybrids on a moving bait through the water like that, it's hard to leave them in.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
We forgot all about pre-fishing.
I tell you what, I absolutely love fishing for the white bass hybrid stripers, whatever they are.
So today we're fun fishing.
Show me how you're doing this.
I can't wait to get that first hybrid stretch in my line.
We're going to hopefully locate some bait balls, find some fish, and hopefully put them in the boat.
Well, let's let's go see if we can do it.
All right, let's go.
Either somebody is throwing something in over there by that dock in the water or I've seen two blowups.
Where at?
Right.
Right.
That way.
I've seen, too.
Just like way over there all the way to that bank.
I mean, because there is like two blowups right by that dock Start out this big rattletrap that could be stripes right here.
The direction is I know, based on that arrow right there, and it says they're about 30 feet in.
We see them right here.
So that should put us kind of out in that area right Look at that.
He's going after all.
He hit it.
I hit it again.
Yeah.
Okay, here we go.
Getting.
Yeah.
Yeah, he got a real good one.
That's a good one.
Here.
This is what you come to Rough River for right here.
Hybrid bass.
Now, when they stock these, they're really, really small.
And they look kind of like a white bass.
This is a hybrid between a striper and a white bass.
You'll see there's two teeth pads right here on the tongue.
And that's one of the ways you can tell the difference between this and a white bass.
Also, if you look how the lines come down and on a white bass, you'll have one distinct line on these.
You're going to have multiple look at the side.
You got one, two, three, at least four now on these fish, there is no size limit.
You're allowed 15, but only five of which can be over 15 inches long.
This one's almost 20 inches long.
Nice fish There's some right there chasing bait fish.
There he is, he got it.. Yeah he got it.
Now, that's a good one.
What do you think you got this time.
Oh, that's a good gosh.
Yeah.
Look, look, you got one, too.
I saw.
I saw a fish hit it on that graph.
Well, you could tell they were pretty good sized ones on the graph wow I got a tank right here, man.
Look it here.
This one here is probably five pounder.
What you got  One that big?
bigger than the last one.
That's a good fish here.
Here we go.
Need the net?
I got him.
Look at that.
What a nice, nice fish.
Hey, we doubled up right there with two.
Really, really, really good fish.
We saw them on the panoptics, right.
I could tell they were bigger than the other ones we've been seeing right out there.
You said you hit it, and I took two cranks to kind of get out your way.
Picked it up.
Wham!
He hit, man.
I just felt a tick.
And then I dropped it.
Was letting it sink, and boom, he nailed it.
That's.
That's so much fun.
I think we got a pretty good one here.
Here we go.
You get em'?
Look how that thing's got me bent over, and this isn't as big as the last couple we've caught but it's still.
Look at that, Rod.
That's why I like doing this on a spinning rod.
Yeah, so that's a pretty good one, though.
Yeah.
I'll tell you, the cool thing is, too, there's some of these fish are actually tagged here when I get this fish, and I'll show you where the tag would be.
And then.
Oh, yeah, I got a pretty good one over here, Chad.
They're such hard, hard fighting fish.
Yeah, I don't see either one of these are not tagged.
Where would it be?
It would be right there.
Yeah, it'd be a piece.
It runs in, and it would have a metal piece and it'd be a tag on it.
So they put that in there when they're real small.
Yeah.
And then they'll have it'll have a tag number for a fish number as well as a number that you called a reported it.
And then you need to take that information down, then release the fish and, you know, be very much appreciate it cause we're doing a study to talk about what the mortality rate is, how far they're moving.
It'll produce additional information that hopefully will make them easier to catch He just hit your bait.
Yeah, he did.
He did.
I'll say, I don't know why you're not real in that.
Like, Oh, my, yeah, I'm going to need a net.
That fish is probably over 20.
I tell you what, there's not many under 15 today, is there?
You snagged him in the back.
This fish did not bite my lure I literally just accidentally snagged this fish.
So nice fish.
Glad to have it.
It's got to go back.
Well Billy, Seriously.
It doesn't get much more fun than that.
I've had a blast.
Unless you can go find smaller fish.
We got to be done for the day.
It's 11:00.
We're.
We're limited out.
It didn't take long did it?
But, you know, here's the thing.
When you got five each fish this size, if you're going to keep some put some fish in the frigerator, it doesn't get any better than this right here.
And why be greedy if we catch any more today, even if they are under?
When I know that in a year or two the fish can be this quality.
There's really no reason for us at this point in time to want to keep a smaller fish.
Right?
I agree.
I say we try to catch a couple more, turn them loose.
We'll take these back and get them.
Get them ready.
I know what I'm having for dinner.
That was good.
Hey, thank you so much for for bringing me out here and showing me how you use this panoptics to catch open water fish and you can keep your bait right on top of fish on the open water and come out and catch fish like this, it doesn't get any better It's a lot of fun isn't it?
On spinning tackle?
What are you talking about, yeah.
Good job, man.
Before we get out on the water today, we want to take a minute and show you how to tie and improve clench knot it's a very basic knot and one of the easiest ones I know to tie.
So we're use this white rope and that to act as your fishing line.
And then we've got this enlarged hook here just so you can see exactly what we're doing.
So the end of the line that you work with is called the tag end your take tag end into the eye of the hook and pull it up.
Give yourself plenty of room to work with or you can always cut off what's left.
So you're going to wrap this around five times and then you're going to take your tag end and go through the loop right at the top of the eye.
And when you do that, you're going to create another loop right here where my thumbs at.
And you're going to take your tag end go back through that and then just cinch it all down together if you do it right, you can see these loops here that kind of stack up on top of each other.
All you got to do now is just clip off your tag end and you're ready to go fishing.
That's how you tie it an improved clench knot.
Like I said, it's very simple and it works on any kind of presentation you want as you just saw, these new advancements in sonar can be great to help fishermen locate fish.
But the Department of Fish and Wildlife are also using these same technologies to locate other things.
And in this situation, it happened to be a car we're out here at Cedar Creek like today, and Lincoln County.
This is a department owned lake we got a call that there was a car in the water.
We're using new equipment to ultimately get the car out of the water.
There's a marker behind me of a buoy that we've marked that has the GPS coordinates of where the car has been located.
The equipment we're using today is a tow fish sonar, which allows us to GPS plot everything and take pictures as we're going through the water and cover a bigger area there it is.
This program we use allows us to plot everything and allows us to ping for the to take a picture of each thing.
So right here we've got a picture of the edge of the boat ramp with GPS coordinates.
And then you can see is these little red dots or each image that I just took of the car.
Everything in the water puts off a shadow.
So we're able to look from different angles to see, yeah, that is confirming that it's a car or a body or a stump or whatever.
And it allows us to be able to get all these points and it gives us a GPS coordinate of it to where we can go and type it in our phone and then drop a marker on it.
And it's going to get us in a real close area of that object to whether we are to deploy the ROV or we have to send divers down in this case.
Today, we're going to send a set of divers down we're getting ready to deploy the ROV.
It's an underwater drone that has multiple propellers on it and a claw on it.
It's going to be ran off a generator.
It has a big monitor on it, along with a computer that you use for the sonar equipment.
There's a process to go through.
You got to run your cord to the ROV.
There's a lot of little bitty things you've got to check before you can put it in the water and make sure everything works we're going to try to get a picture of the car up close and maybe try to get a license plate off of it.
If we're lucky enough and the water is clear enough I'm on the rope there's the car, there it is.
Once Taylor County gets set up, they're going to follow that bouy marker down.
We've got it attached to magnets.
At the end of it.
They're going to be able to follow that line down to the car.
It's going to help us utilize not wasting so much time they're going to hook up some straps and then take a cable out there from the tow truck.
And that way they can hook up to it and get the car out this is just a easier way for us not to waste as much time with having divers constantly searching in the water.
This equipment that we're using is allowing us to get that time factor down and not have the divers in the water as long on those hot summer days.
This new equipment that we're training on and getting out in the field is going to be able to help us be able to recover cars or other objects in the lake in a timely manner.
If we have that worst case scenario of a drowning it'll allow us to go out there and recover that individual for their loved ones quicker by using this equipment to hopefully narrow down the areas that they are and go down and recover that individual, or either get the car out in a timely manner once we know it's there and locate it I've been out doing a ton of fishing this spring, but now there's a hunting season that just opened up and that is squirrel season.
So let's hit the woods well, I'm glad to be in Hart County today.
Darryl, you and I are getting ready to go hunting with your dog.
How did you and I get in contact?
We had a call in show one night, and I just grabbed a phone call and said, How would you like to do a squirrel hunt?
Yeah, well, it just so happened when you called.
We were looking for someone that had a good squirrel dog, and I was like, wait a minute, you got a good squirrel dog and Hart County, let's make this work.
So here we are.
Six months later, Willie is ready to go.
We're ready to go, and hopefully we'll get some squirrels today.
That's what the plan is.
All right.
Well, I think we'll turn him loose and see what happens.
Yeah, he's treed.
Let's go take a look and see what he's got I'd say he's in that nest.
Yeah, I'd say you're probably right.
I've had him go in nests.
Had him go in holes.
That's good thing about squirrel hunting.
You never have to worry about taking them all, even with the dog.
haha no let's see he's right around that way.
We got another place.
We'll go, too.
All right, There he is.
He moved right around the edge there.
You got a shot out there?
Yeah.
There you go.
That's perfect.
Nice little gray squirrel.
Perfect for the pot to go with Biscuits and gravy.
And I'll tell you what, if seeing a dog that excited didn't get you excited about squirrel hunting, it gets me excited.
Just watching him jump from spot to spot, looking up.
He's so, so excited.
He loves it.
I have come in work and he'd be barking, and I look out there and there will be a fox squirrel looking over the eve of the barn at him and he's worn him out too.
They get your rifle, go get our rifle willie I got another patch of woods That's bigger than this one.
Over by the house they's always Squirrel there.
OK, I'll take yours we moved just a mile or two down the road.
See how long it takes him here.
There went a squirrel up a tree right there right now.
How far away?
That biggest tree in the middle of there.
I can see his tail is always at the very, very top.
Darrell, You got a good shot at him?
Or do you want me to shoot at him, I can just see a little piece of him way up in the top.
He moved on me here he comes.
Isn't his tree above us now?
Here we go.
Stop right here.
Here you go.
And Dog just grabbed him.
I tell you what, that squirrel was way up there, and we got about a 15 mile an hour breeze.
I had a rough time hitting that squirrel, but we got him and he's on the ground.
The dog's got him right now.
Let's go up here.
Man.
He was way up there.
And on top of that joker on this windy day, it wasn't the first shot.
Took a shot or two, but we got him down.
How many do you need to make your biscuits and gravy?
Two or 3.
1 on hard times.
More gravy and biscuits.
Yeah.
Yeah, well, here's 2.
Hopefully we'll get there.
There's part of one.
Looks like it's been there a while.
And a little eight pointer.
squirrel really eat heavy on it.
That's a funny looking cow.
What I found must have been a doe fella.
That would have been a world record well Maybe a moose yeah.
That was a good one.
we got one more little hole over here.
Maybe we can get one treed in a minute.
All right, get one honey over here, huh?
I'm hoping like me.
Come on, buddy.
Come on.
right here above you, you see?
Yeah, right here in this tree.
Here's another one right there.
Two of em.
all right.
I got him right up here.
Darryl, going.
Take a shot if you get one shooting now I got that one now that was coming down.
Now about down about eight feet.
There's another one you see that one?
All right.
Hold on nice shot.
Your little honey hole.
You told me there was a little ball over here that may hold a squirrel, look.
He sure thinks there's another one.
Looky there at the very, very top of this tree.
Here, we got another squirrel.
I remember that dog is sitting right on it.
Let's walk up here and see if we can't get in range and get a shot of this one.
Another one on the ground.
I'll tell you what.
Your little honey hole just keeps producing squirrels.
We're loading up the two that we got here, getting ready to leave.
The dog would not stop barking up here on this hillside.
We were trying to tell him.
dead dead, he's looking at us going.
No, he's not.
There's another one.
Darrell it's been an absolute blast.
I appreciate you letting us come out here and hunting with you and Willie.
It's been a lot of fun.
Yes, sir.
Now let's check in and see who else has been out having fun in this week's Ones That Didn't Get Away.
Here we have 11 year old Jayden who caught a nice largemouth bass in Washington County.
Nice Job.
Here we have 5 year old Morgan who took her very first deer, a nice 11 point buck that was taken on the family farm.
10 year old Wade Hall caught this rare golden bass, which is a bass that is missing some of its pigmentation causing this color.
This fish was caught in Boone County Kentucky.
Nice Job.
Check out this beautiful fresh water drum that was caught by Riley who is 8 years old fishing in Obanin Creek.
Nice Job.
Hey, just a reminder, spring squirrel season stays in here in the state of Kentucky until June.
The 17th.
Don't miss this opportunity.
To hit the woods and remember hunting and fishing on private property is a privilege.
Always ask permission and thank the landowner until next week.
I'm your host Chad Miles, and I hope to see you in the woods or on the water.
Hello.
I'm Chad Miles Did you know that when you buy a fishing license, it does more than provide summertime fun?
That's nice.
It produces millions of fish that are stocked in our waterways.
It constructs new opportunities for boat ramps and public access.
It provides new sustainable habitats for our native fish.
It creates quality fishing opportunities close to home.
Good job.
It helps protect our home waters.
And it makes for a better, more beautiful bluegrass.
For all that live here, including you and me, The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.
It's more than just a fishing license.