Parasites found on Lake Cumberland striped bass; fish still safe to eat

lake-cumberland-striped-bass-parasites

Fisheries biologists at Lake Cumberland found a parasitic copepod is the cause of unusual sores on the tongue and mouth of striped bass in the lake.

“When we sampled the lake’s striped bass fishery in mid-December, every fish we handled was infested,” said John Williams, southeastern district fishery biologist for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.

Arctic Winds Bring Float And Fly Time

Images from float and fly fishing trip on Lake Cumberland Feb. 3, 2005.

The late Charlie Nuckols owned a tackle shop and lure company in east Tennessee, near South Holston Lake. Winter crappie anglers who fished small marabou jigs deep under bobbers complained to him about big smallmouth breaking off their rigs all of the time.

This got Nuckols thinking. He, along with his brother Eddie, began experimenting with suspending small jigs, eventually settling

USFWS Approves IL DNR Waterfowl Seasons

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) this week approved for publication in the Federal Register new rules allowing states to add a fourth duck hunting zone or to use three zones with split hunting seasons for the regular duck hunting season. This decision allows the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) to proceed with its proposal for adding a fourth waterfowl hunting zone in the state.

Patoka Lake Cited Best for Wildlife Viewing

Patoka Lake is the latest DNR property singled out by USA Today as being the “best” in a national overview of state-by-state outdoor recreation destinations.

In Monday’s edition, the newspaper published a list of best places for wildlife viewing in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. In June, USA Today cited Trail 9 at Indiana Dunes State Park as one of the 51 greatest hikes in the United States.

Kentucky Afield Outdoors: Blue Water Trails

Tygarts Creek looking downstream of the KY 182 bridge at Carter Caves State Resort Park. This bridge serves as both the take-out for a 12.5 mile float from Olive Hill through the upper part of Tygarts Creek Gorge and the put-in for the 9.5 mile float downstream through the lower part of the gorge to Iron Hill, Kentucky. The splendor of Tygarts Creek Gorge rivals anything found in Kentucky. The creek holds good populations of muskellunge along with spotted and smallmouth bass. Carter Caves State Resort Park offers accommodations and plenty of hiking and cave exploring day trips to complement the floating.

Moving water throughout the millennia left an indelible mark on Carter County, Kentucky. Water flowing through the ground melted the porous limestone bedrock prior to the creation of the Ohio River, creating a series of labyrinthine caves. The most scenic and unique of these are now contained within the boundaries of Carter Caves State Resort Park.