Frankfort, KY (May 25, 2004) - Shorts and tee shirts are now part of our leisure clothing ensemble. Salty sweat burns the eyes for the first time in the year when we exert ourselves. The bathroom mirror reflects a sunburned nose and neck the morning after mowing the yard.

Summer time weather is here, and veteran fishermen know that the first real summer like temperatures coincide with one of the best times of the year to fish. Kentucky offers a myriad of opportunities to fish year round, but the late spring and early summer time period brings fish up into the shallows where they are more receptive to our baits and lures.

In western Kentucky, the water temperature on Kentucky Lake usually rises to the low to mid-60s by late April. This begins the spawning period for largemouth bass. The desire to reproduce brings the bass into shallow water. The male bass come shallow first to begin fanning nests, followed by the larger females to deposit their eggs.

Just before they come in to spawn is a great time to target the large female bass on Kentucky Lake. While the male bass are in the back of bays and creeks making nests, the big females “stage” out in deeper water. Using a one-half to one-ounce carolina-rigged soft plastic lizard, finesse worm or tube bait is very effective on these fish.

Good staging areas for pre-spawn females are brushy or stumpy flats next to a creek channel, or on a long tapering point that falls off into deep water or an offshore gravel hump. Finding bass on this pattern may come a little earlier or later in the year depending on weather conditions and water level. You may also catch fish that have already spawned and moved back out into deep water by targeting these areas.

Kentucky Lake is laced with a multitude of offshore secondary creek channels. These channels are highways used by fish to travel from the safety of deep water to their feeding areas in shallow water. If all else fails, work these channels with a crankbait or a Carolina rig.

Some of the earliest fishing memories for many anglers are catching bluegills and redear sunfish (shellcrackers) with our father or grandfather. Early summer is an excellent time to target bluegill and shellcrackers and other sunfish in smaller, state- owned lakes in central and north central Kentucky.

Corinth, Elmer Davis, Boltz and Wilgreen Lakes all hold good populations of bluegill while Corinth Lake is a good producer of trophy redear sunfish. These lakes are small enough for a canoe, float tube or small johnboat.

Bluegill spawn in May and June when the water temperatures rise into the 70s. They become aggressive during spawning time and attack any live bait or artificial lure that drifts into their territory.

Bluegill and redear sunfish fishing is a perfect choice when introducing a young angler to fishing. A cane pole, a long 10 to 12-foot fiberglass rod popular for crappie fishing, or an ultralight spinning or spin cast rod are good choices for sunfish. Red worms, bits of nightcrawler or a cricket threaded onto a size 8 or 10 long shank aberdeen hook with a bobber and small split shot is a productive rig for bluegill.

Place the bobber about 18 inches above the hook and move it up or down the line until you find the right depth and bluegill begin to bite. Place a small split shot weight about 6 to 8 inches above the hook. Children love to watch a bobber disappear under the water and bobber watching holds their attention.

Another excellent bluegill method is to tip a 1/32 or 1/16-ounce white or chartruese hair jig with a wax worm and cast it to weed lines. Fly rods rigged with a small white, black or chartruese popper or a small sponge spider cast to tree tops, brush or weed lines is a sporting way to catch bluegill. Redear sunfish fall for these same presentations, but they also love small yellow curly-tailed grubs cast on a lead head jig.

Paintsville Lake is known for its walleye fishery, but May and June find Kentucky (spotted) bass actively biting. The lake holds a burgeoning population of Kentucky bass. Kentucky bass seem overlooked by bass anglers yet they bite willingly, fight hard and make excellent table fare.

Paintsville Lake is as clear as tap water most of the time, so lighter, non-flourescent lines and smaller lures are the key to catching Kentucky bass. The clear water promotes the growth of extensive weedbeds throughout the lake and the spotted bass hold along the edges of these weedbeds in early summer.

Target the weed edges with four-inch black finesse worms, pumpkin or watermelon seed-colored tube jigs, or three- to four-inch pearl curly-tailed grubs rigged on a 1/8-ounce lead head jig. Refrain from using large heavy lures for Kentucky bass on Paintsville Lake.

You want your offering to slowly tumble and fall through the water column, not fall to the bottom like a concrete block. You may even want to fish your soft plastics weightless over these weedbeds if the Kentucky bass prove finicky. Another excellent method is working 1/8-ounce lipless crankbaits in chrome with a blue back, fire tiger or crawfish colors over these weedbeds.