Stoner Creek ... again!

I promised to take my daughter, Cassie, fishing today so we headed to Stoner Creek in Paris again.

Looking to find somewhere without a steep descent for her we tried to see about fishing behind Garrard Park but the waters were way too shallow. So we upped sticks and moved to our now usual spot near Peacock Road.

No sooner had she cast in she had notched a catch, a nice sized bluegill. Being only 8 years old she was more than happy with that. Just six minutes later and she had claimed a second catch. Before I knew it I was 5-0 down to my 8 year old daughter who was loving the tranquility of our spot as well as the fact she was catching pretty regularly.

She did hit a cold spot while I came back to 5-3, all of mine just small bluegills but she kept working away.

We switched our spot to the pool created by a nearby dam/weir and struggled there at first but then Cassie went on a roll again pulling in five in a row, including three small largemouth bass, her first ever for that species.

Her ten fish proved to be the most any of us have caught in one session and she's very proud of that fact. Overall we had a great day with some quality time and some nice fish considering we were float fishing on a creek that is lacking some water in places.

We used our new keepnet to hold the fish in while we fished then transferred them to our small cooler while we took a photo. Then we released them back into the creek as we always follow the catch-and-release procedure.

Rough Saturday at Jacobson Park

So, Saturday I was having a really bad day on a personal level and tried to chill out by visiting our local Jacobson Park for an hour or four! Not a great decision!

First my usual spot was taken so I had to look for somewhere else. Picked a spot between two trees where I had seen a few guys trying their luck over the last couple of weeks. I set up and settled down to try to "learn" the spot. No sooner had I cast in then a Mexican family of about a million descended on the area on the other side of one of my trees. Screaming kids, paddle boats, everything! Ack!

I kept glancing over to my old spot but the elderly couple looked camped out there so I basically just put my head down and kept my growing frustrations to myself.

About an hour later and the old guy and his wife had vacated my spot so I hurredly packed up my gear and moved to my usual place. At last, peace and quiet and I kinda know what I'm doing here. Not so fast, buddy!

Two kids were "fishing" about 30 feet to my left with their Mum. Once their bait ran out so did their patience. Fortunately this only lasted about 20 minutes before they left. I pulled in a bluegill and thought the day may be getting better. Next thing I know a canoodling couple had walked up and their accompanying dog was essentially swimming in my waters. I pulled up the rod and just sat for a while.

They eventually left and I got back to my "relaxation". Hold on, now there's two dogs swimming next to my peg. This time I said something to the young couple (a different couple) and sat and steamed. My day was going from bad to worse.

I pulled in another little bluegill and tried a few buzzbait and crankbait techniques. Next thing I hear is a small motor, look up and see two guys trolling along in a bass boat. I thought you couldn't use them on the lake. I shout to the guys that motors aren't allowed and one yells back that they aren't using the motor. Oh really? How do you explain the boat going from the ramp near the marina to a spot over near the opposite bank in under two minutes with no oars then?

Safe to say I'd had enough of people for the day. Packed up with a massive catch of two bluegill for the day and a major headache! Note to self: NEVER fish at Jacobson Park on a nice Saturday again!

Jacobson Park, Lexington

Today I spent about three hours at Jacobson Park in Lexington, Kentucky, a usual haunt of ours. I hit our usual spot under a tree that will normally yield anywhere from three to ten fish in a session, our best being eighteen across three anglers.

Today was a wash though as I failed to pull anything. I'm not even sure that the "bites" I was experiencing were legitimate bites as there was a small turtle circling the area and he kept taking a fancy to my float.

I have read that the feeding patterns of fish change the day after a front comes through the area and we had a small front push through yesterday evening. Maybe that accounts for how slow today was. Didn't stop the blue heron from picking up a small bluegill just about ten feet from where I was stationed though!

I tried the float fishing method mainly with cut nightcrawlers on a two foot line under a 7" Thill balsawood float with a large shot weight. Basically, this is my favourite rig and works many more times than it doesn't, today being only the second trip in which I returned home empty handed.

While the day was slow I thought I'd try some different spinning methods out, not expecting to catch with any of these. First up was a black and red buzzbait which I thought was supposed to churn up the surface water but that didn't occur. Maybe the weight is wrong for that to happen, I'll have to check on that.

Next up was my red, yellow and green Road Runner. I like this rig as it never seems to get hung up on the bottom of the lake. That said I haven't caught anything with it in the two weeks I've owned it.

Last but not least I tried out a 5" golden floater surface plug. This was the first time I had tried this out and really liked the way it mimics a dying fish. I feel I got the hang of this one pretty quick but I'm now interested to see if there are smaller versions available.

If it looks to be a slow day I am more than willing to spend time trying things out. There was plenty action further toward the centre of the lake, including a very nice and very golden carp that leapt about 25 feet in front of me and just slightly to my left. The day will come when I will be chasing and catching this type and size of fish but, for today, nothing! Ah, well ... back to the drawing board.

Welcome

Hi there. Welcome to our humble little blog entitled Angling Spot.

This is where my son and myself will be posting how our fishing trips are going and what we are learning with our new found hobby.

A bit of background: Scott is a nine year old living in Central Kentucky. Back in July our family was invited to spend a weekend with friends at their cabin on Lake Cumberland, close to Nancy in southern Pulaski County. We went boating on the Saturday morning, which was great fun, but it was the experience of going fishing for the first time with our friend Walt that, for Scott, that has had a lasting effect as we have since started going out on our own and landing a few fish each on most days.

We are still pretty new to the sport and we always use the catch-and-release procedure. To date we have caught mostly bluegill and sunfish with a few small channel catfish and largemouth bass mixed in.

So far we have fished in four different counties, namely Pulaski; Fayette; Franklin and Bourbon but we are looking to take in a few others while expanding our experiences.

Last time out we fished Stoner Creek, just off Peacock Road in Paris, Kentucky. Our three hour stint yielded ten catches including bluegill, sunfish and some small largemouth bass along with a fish that we cannot determine yet. I'm thinking it may be a young trout but I really have no idea. It's pictured above, just in case anyone out there can cast some light on the matter.