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FLW Fishing Report - An Outdoorsman Gives Thanks

Scott Ellison
Scott Ellison

By Scott Ellison

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkms/local-wkms-995229.mp3

Murray, KY – Outdoorsman Scott Ellison shares gives thanks in the FLW Weekly Fishing Report.

Scott Ellison here, with the FLW Weekly Fishing Report.

Crappies are the hot ticket this week. Considering the wind and bad weather lately, it's surprising that anybody can get out, but the die-hards who are going are catching some good stringers. Eric Benson at Benson's Sporting Goods said that a customer came in Monday with a photo of a nice stringer that he caught Sunday. Eric said there were some one and a half to one and three-quarter-pound fish in the mix, and the guy caught them by casting crappie jigs to cover in about six to eight feet of water. It's the same thing in the midlake and upper lake areas, though from moors resort north they're catching some big bluegills mixed in with the crappies. Shad color has been the best producer up to now, but you can bet that with all the rain we've had, the water's going to get dirtier and chartreuse or hot pink will be the best colors to use. I haven't heard much about the bass fishing. A lot of our guys from the office have been going after bass, but the crappies have been convincing them that they're targeting the wrong fish, and they switch over. Elsewhere, saugers are starting to show up below the dams on the Ohio as well as in the Kentucky and Barkley Lake tailwaters and lock channels. Try cannonball jigs tipped with live minnows for them. Just about anybody that sells two to three-inch crappie minnows should be able to rig you up with the right jigs. Benson's sells them in all colors and weights, with stinger treble hooks.

I hope you have a good holiday season with your family, starting with thanksgiving. As a hunter and fisherman myself, i know that hunters and fishermen have a lot to be thankful for in particular. What a great country to be an outdoorsman in. Because we buy licenses and equipment to pursue game or catch fish, we provide millions of tax dollars to wildlife agencies for conservation. Without a doubt, the same range and quality of natural resources that we sometimes take for granted in this country are not to be found anywhere else in the world. And it's not just game species that benefit from the dollars that we supply. Nongame species use the same environment that deer, wild turkeys, bass and crappies use. We help protect habitat and make sure that there will always be wild places that everyone can enjoy, whether or not they hunt and fish. So, as a proud outdoorsman, I've got lots of extra reasons to be thankful this year, and not the least of which is knowing that I'm helping to save our outdoor heritage for the generations to come.

Thanks for our country, thanks for Kentucky Lake and all it has to offer, and thanks for the company of hunters and fishermen I share the outdoors with.

This is Scott Ellison, signing off for FLW until next week.

Scott Ellison is a lifelong fisherman and FLW College Fishing Promotions Manager.