Spring Crappie

   Above, my first crappie of the season, nice fish, about 12 inches. Caught the fish on a 1/16 ounce round headed jig with a chartreuse curly tail. I rarely use a heavier jig when fishing for crappie, the lighter the jig, the slower the fall, the better the results. I also use light mono-filament line, 6 pound test, usually Stren. The fish are moving in, caught this fellow and five others of similar size in about ten foot of water off a point in Little Bear Bay. Water temperature is on a slow rise, about 51 degrees F, cold front this week might keep the warming rate slow. 

   Saw a few sailboats on Kentucky Lake today, anxious to join them. Have to varnish the rails on the Thistle, have her looking sharp on her first sail of the season. For those of you who may not be familiar with the Thistle Class sailboat, the boat has wooden rails, thwarts, gratings and other wooden elements, some hulls are wooden but the vast majority of hulls are of fiberglass construction. The wooden elements add a lot of beauty to the boat. There is a lot of maintenance required to keep her looking good but that is true of many of our loves.

Kentucky Lake: Spring of '09

    Spring is just a few days away, the lake has warmed up to about 55ºF, my sailing season will be here soon. The lake is still at Winter pool, shallow, but it will be on its annual rise by the end of this month, March. 

     As with all bodies of water, you should familiarize yourself with the lake and one of the best ways is to purchase a map of Kentucky Lake. These maps are available at almost every bait and tackle store in the lakes area. I have navigated this lake for over 25 years and I still tap the bottom once in a while, especially during low water periods, late Fall and early Spring. Last Fall, I was "cutting a corner" and jumped a shallow gravel bar, grinding a new edge on my glass- over-mahogany rudder and breaking a rudder fitting. I knew better, knew there was a gravel bar in the area but I figured the water depth was adequate, I guessed wrong. This happened in the area of "Old Birmingham", the submerged town of Birmingham, KY. 

    Land Between the lakes took a hard hit from our recent ice storm, lots of trees were toppled, lots of huge limbs broke from the trees, never seen such a mess. The Trace, the road that bisects LBL, was closed for quite a while because of fallen trees on the road. The bicycle paths were also blocked, closed to the public. Since the storm, bicycle enthusiasts have gathered with Wood n Wave together with the US Forest Service and have cleared the trails. Mountain biking has become one of the most popular activities in the LBL thanks in large part to the support and encouragement from Wood n Wave. Hundreds of miles of excellent trails of varying degrees of difficulty through some of the most beautiful country in the MidWest are available to biking enthusiasts, ride on!

Thistle Mid-Winter East at SPYC

The Thistle class Mid-Winter East races are underway in St. Petersburg, FL. Races are being held at the SPYC. Heard tell the winds have been strong, rather chilly temperatures, hot racing though! Check out the photos and current status of contestants posted by the St. Petersburg Yacht Club: http://tinyurl.com/aw7mgb  

A bit cold here on Kentucky Lake, lake temperature still too cold for my comfort and peace of mind, around 45ºF last I checked. Seeing the pictures of the Thistles racing in Florida arouses my sailing enthusiasm, makes me even more anxious for the warmer weather coming soon.

By the way, if you ever are curious about the Kentucky Lake water temperature, Murray State  posts the current temperature and keeps an excellent record of lake temperature over the past several years. Other parameters are recorded too, data such as pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, lake level and more, all of this information at your finger tips. Check out  MSU's Hancock Biological Station.