Crappie is best bet at Barren

By JOEL WILSON
For the Daily Times

GLASGOW August 14, 2008 06:00 pm

— With dove and squirrel seasons just around the corner — both excellent experiences to introduce young people to hunting — we offer one last reminder this week that a hunter safety course begins tonight at the Park City Lions clubhouse.
A three hour class will be from 6 to 9 p.m. tonight and Friday night and a four hour review, exam and qualification shoot will be from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday.
The course is open to everyone but all three sessions must be attended to get your hunter education card. Weapons and ammo will be furnished.
For information, you can call Ed Rigdon at (270) 773-3800 or Kirby Harper at (270) 749-9111.
I’ve known Ed for many years and he knows his stuff. He has a wealth of experience and will be an excellent instructor.
Remember that hunter education is required for all hunters born on or after Jan. 1, 1975, except kids under 12 and hunters who are license exempt.
However, a one-time temporary hunter education exemption permit is available for $5 online, which allows hunting for one year from the date of purchase without a hunter education card while accompanied by a legal adult hunter. Log on to fw.ky.gov on the Internet to find a hunter education course near you, or to purchase an exemption permit.
On to the fishing report this week even though it will be brief. Todd Logsdon passes along this information:
Believe it or not, crappie seems to be the best producer at Barren this week. We’ve heard of some 20- and 30-fish strings and they are more shallow than you would think during daylight hours, around six feet. They are deeper at night under the lights, 12 to 14 feet.
Our report on bass is sketchy but we’ve heard that topwater action has picked up, particularly during the early morning hours. And they’re still catching some at night.
We haven’t heard anything on the hybrids this week but catfish are still being caught jugging. We also heard of some big flatheads being taken on large shiners at night.
The bluegill bite is still pretty good along the bluff walls and they seem to be congregating pretty heavily around the docks.
We ran into Willard Parnell, one of the world’s best muskie fishermen, yesterday at Bill and Todd’s. He hadn’t been but some of his young relatives had caught nine muskie Sunday at Green River Lake.
Last week, we talked about the upcoming dove season. This week, we will pass along a little information on squirrel season from Hayley Lynch, staff writer for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Squirrel hunters can hit the woods Saturday for opening day of Kentucky’s fall squirrel season.
“It’s a great time to take kids,” said Karen Alexy, Wildlife Division director for KDFWR, and an avid squirrel hunter. “Kids haven’t hunted all summer, and parents really want to get out there too.”
Early season hunters can find squirrels by finding their food. Hunters should scout for nut-producing trees, where they can hear squirrels cutting or barking and watch for moving branches as the bushytails move.
Small game biologist Ben Robinson said his field observations indicate this will be a good year for several tree species.
“It’s going to be a great crop of hickories, beech and white oak,” he said. “Red oak probably won’t be very abundant, because they were so good last year. It’s pretty common for them to skip a year.”
Kentucky’s 2008-09 fall squirrel season runs Aug. 16-Nov. 7 and Nov. 10-Feb. 28. Hunters are allowed six squirrels per day, with a possession limit of 12 squirrels. Pick up a copy of the 2008-09 Kentucky Hunting and Trapping Guide, available wherever licenses are sold, for complete squirrel hunting regulations.