![KyFishWildlife]()
Courtesy of Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources
The wild striped bass in a ginger and red wine sauce at a restaurant in New York City runs $135 before gratuity. At a Japanese restaurant in the same city, a dinner of sushi costs nearly $600 per person.
These are some of the highest rated and expensive restaurants in the country, but we in Kentucky have a world class fish dish that is likely as delicious as those from a highbrow restaurant that is practically free by comparison.
It costs some time along with a few dozen small minnows or a bag of 2-inch chartreuse curly-tailed grubs. This outlay yields a plate of delicious fried crappie filets to go with homemade potato salad, baked beans and cole slaw, one of the best meals found anywhere at any price.
You also don’t have to own an expensive boat to catch crappie in Kentucky right now, either. Many of our smaller waters across the state offer highly productive crappie fishing for those with a canoe, johnboat, kayak, float tube or anglers who fish from the bank.
Central and northern Kentucky anglers have four excellent small lakes to catch numbers of crappie this spring. Ninety-two acre Boltz Lake and 134-acre Bullock Pen Lake, both in Grant County, as well as 183-acre Kincaid Lake in Pendleton County and 158-acre Beaver Lake in Anderson County all offer fast action for crappie right now.
“These lakes offer really good fishing for numbers of both white and black crappie,” said Jeff Crosby, central fisheries district biologist for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “There is a really good population of 7- to 9-inch crappie in Boltz along with bigger ones. Bullock Pen’s crappie population is about the same as in Boltz. Kincaid has a lot of mid-range crappie as well with some bigger ones mixed in. It has a pretty decent crappie population.”
Crosby said anglers can help all three of these lakes by eating some of the crappie in them, freeing up food for the remaining crappie to grow larger.
Local anglers report catching nice 9- to 11-inch crappie from Beaver Lake on lime green with metal flake 2-inch curly-tailed grubs rigged on 1/16-ounce leadheads. Fish weed edges and woody cover on this lake for a mixture of white and black crappie.
Cedar Creek Lake is known for producing some robust largemouth bass, but the crappie population in the lake gets better with each year since the removal of the 9-inch minimum size limit in 2008.
“The crappie are growing pretty well in Cedar Creek,” said John Williams, southeastern fisheries district biologist for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. “We saw a guy the other day that caught 20 black crappie, with most of them about 13 inches or so.”
This angler caught them on pink crappie jigs, but live minnows fished under bobbers from 6 to 8 feet deep are fooling many nice crappie in the lake. Black crappie prefer clear water and the areas of the lake with less stain in the water make the best fishing spots at this time.
The fisheries division stocked 21,000 rainbow trout in Cedar Creek Lake earlier this year, providing an excellent bonus fishing opportunity. Anglers fishing the bank access areas on the lake should catch some trout by tossing white in-line spinners.
Shanty Hollow Lake contains 185 acres of water in Warren County and holds an excellent population of white crappie from 12 to 14 inches long. Kentucky Fish and Wildlife placed brush, brush reefs and Christmas Trees in Shanty Hollow near the boat ramp on KY 1592 (Shanty Hollow Road).
Anglers probing these structures with live minnows, chartreuse and red tube jigs or 1/16-ounce chartreuse marabou Road Runners will score fish. You may find the GPS coordinates of these fish holding structures on the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife website at fw.ky.gov. Click on the “Fish” tab, then “Where to Fish.”
Eastern Kentucky anglers should hit 710-acre Carr Creek Lake in Knott County for both white and black crappie. The white crappie in Carr Creek can reach 16 inches, while the black crappie mainly run from 9 to 12 inches long. The lake has a 9-inch minimum size limit on crappie.
Fisheries personnel placed a mixture of pallet stacks and Christmas trees for habitat in Carr Creek and hinge cut trees along the shoreline. Anglers should probe these areas with live minnows, 2-inch chartreuse curly-tailed grubs or blue and white tube jigs rigged on 1/16-ounce leadheads for crappie.
Just like on Shanty Hollow, the GPS coordinates of these fish holding structures are on the fw.ky.gov website under the “Where to Fish” tab.
Crappie time is now on these smaller waters. All you need is some time along with a few lures or minnows to catch the makings of a world class meal. You will also need a valid Kentucky fishing license, as the new license started March 1.
Ohio County High School teachers Grace Patton and Randy Brown helped with the World Languages region meet on March 28 at Hartford Christian Church.[/caption]
SUBMITTED BY: Jana Shultz
During the Regional World Language Showcase on March 28, 2014, Ohio County High School students demonstrated their language skills in three areas: Interpersonal, Interpretive and Presentational communication. Their real-world tasks included having conversations, listening to native speakers, reading advertisements/articles and writing to a scholarship committee. When asked how the regional competition benefited one student, he responded that it helped, “to better my understanding of the Spanish language.”
In recent years French and Spanish teachers, Chelsea Atherton, Grace Patton and Jana Shultz have taken their students to Western Kentucky University to compete in the region; however, this year Grace Patton, French teacher, decided to plan the event locally at the Hartford Christian Church when WKU decided not to host this year.
[caption id="attachment_18742" align="alignright" width="300"]
Students attending the World Languages regional showcase writing.[/caption]
According to Patton, “I chose to host the World Language Showcase so that our students could receive recognition for the progress they have made this year in their language class. Students see that they can perform successfully for people who are not their teachers. The certification they receive as a result can be used as part of their college entrance requirements to schools like the University of Kentucky and WKU. The students are excited and impressed that they can do so much already.”
Students performed well demonstrating from Novice High to Intermediate High proficiencies in French and Spanish. Students had to demonstrate Novice High on two of their three tests.
[caption id="attachment_18741" align="alignright" width="292"]
Hartford Christian Church hosted the World Languages Showcase on March 28[/caption]
The result — 274 students qualified to go to the Kentucky World Language Association’s State Showcase on April 26 in Lexington. They will meet other students throughout the state of Kentucky who study Chinese, Japanese, Latin, Russian, German, French and Spanish. One student mentioned in a post survey that she liked the State Showcase, “because I went last year and it was a truly amazing experience.” Another student wants “to see what it's like and to meet more people and to learn about other languages.”
In the past only small numbers were allowed to compete at WKU. This year Greg Decker, OCHS principal, supported all students competing in this event. Students receive a skill-level certificate that they can use when entering their universities or applying for a job.
Pastor Mikey Sweeney, Randy Brown, Judy Bevil and numerous parent volunteers provided assistance in this successful event.
One student commented about the experience, “I enjoyed the Language Showcase, it wasn't as stressful or difficult as I thought it would be and I believe I would do good at the State Showcase. I would at least give it my all.”
