The Mountain Eagle
WHITESBURG WEATHER

Gabby’s Fishing Fever

Fishing small waters brings big results


Every year, lots of big bass are caught on large lakes all over the country. This state and the neighboring state of Tennessee offer some great fishing for bass on large lakes including Lake Cumberland and Barkley Lake and in Cherokee, Norris, and Douglas lakes in Tennessee. Dale Hollow Lake lies in both states.

While all of these lakes offer big-water bass fishing at its best, some bass anglers, myself included, love to just get off the main path and fish some smaller, quieter and more out of the way waters for bass. Many bass fishermen say big waters bring big bass and this is true to a point. But look at the fishing record books for Kentucky and nationwide and you will see that a lot of the record-size fish came from ponds and very small lakes.

The biggest bluegill I ever caught came from an old farm pond in Kentucky you could just about cast all the way across. I was in Georgia a while back fishing a pond only a few acres big and caught a monster bluegill close to two pounds. It measured over 10 inches long. You will remember things like that all your life. I have caught countless bass out of this same pond in the three- to five-pound range.

It seems huge bluegill come from smaller waters than big lakes in our area. Several local anglers including myself have seen the giant largemouth bass in Fishpond Lake at Payne Gap. Several huge bass have been caught here over the past few years. I believe a state recordsize bass swims in these waters today.

If you get a chance to fish a pond or stream soon you should really give it a try. The reward could be huge.

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