Cabin Fever Challunge set for Green River Lake (Kentucky)

By Phil Junker, Outdoors Columnist
Green River Lake again this year is hosting the annual Musky Cabin Fever Challunge, an event that attracts muskellunge anglers from across the country to fish the early-season tournament. In fact, Taylor County will host the event at least the next five years.

The 2006 tourney, sponsored by Muskies, Inc., is slated to start today and run through Saturday, and as of last week entries already had been received from musky anglers from Minnesota, Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, West Virginia as well as Kentucky. Registration was scheduled to begin yesterday.

The tournament will be fished each day from Emerald Isle Marina with evening meetings and the awards banquet slated for the Community Center.

Green River Lake has become famous for its muskies. There are 50-inch and larger fish in the lake, which has become famous among muskie anglers, especially those who want to get an early start on the season while many northern lakes are still frozen.

"The tournament is great for local motels and businesses," said Marilyn Clarke of the Taylor County Tourist Commission. "It brings people to the area in the spring when there isn't much else going on to fill the rooms.

"I feel we are very fortunate to have muskies in the lake," Clarke added. "The muskies are something that differentiates us from other big lakes like Dale Hollow, Cumberland and Kentucky Lake. There are big lakes, bigger than us, but we have muskie."

At last year's closing banquet, Muskies, Inc., announced its plans to work with Taylor County tourism to host the tournament at Green River Lake for the next five years.

NEW REGS - Changes in Kentucky fishing regulations took place March 1. All new regulations are listed in the front section of the 2006 Kentucky Sport Fishing and Boating Guide, available at most places where fishing licenses are sold.

The new regulations include a 20-fish daily creel limit and a 40-fish possession limit statewide on redear sunfish. The department established the limit on redear sunfish in response to requests by anglers to impose harvest restrictions. The redear sunfish, commonly referred to as a shellcracker, became a sport fish in Kentucky last year. This prevented its harvest by gigging, bow fishing, spear fishing or commercial fishing.

New regulations concerning white bass, yellow bass and hybrid striped bass are now in effect. White bass and hybrid striped bass - a cross between a white bass and a striped bass - possess similar coloration, markings and body shape. To help eliminate confusion over identification of these fish, the department has set an aggregate statewide limit of 15 on each species or any combination of white bass, yellow bass and hybrid striped bass. No more than five fish of the combined 15-fish daily limit may be longer than 15 inches.

The exception is on the Ohio River, where the 30-fish aggregate daily creel limit remains on white bass, yellow bass, striped bass and their hybrids. No more than four fish in the daily creel limit may be longer than 15 inches. The statewide 15" minimum, five-fish creel and possession limit on striped bass remains the same.

Anglers may now keep only one muskellunge a day statewide. Gigging and snagging are now banned on Cave Run Lake and its tributaries, from the main lake upstream to the first riffle.

A statewide, six-fish aggregate daily creel limit for walleye and sauger is now in place. Anglers may keep six walleye, six sauger or a combination of six fish of both species. This new regulation does not apply to the Ohio River.

New regulations concerning jug lines, limb lines and set lines also took effect March 1. Jug lines are now limited to 50 per boat along with a limit of 25 limb or set lines per angler. Limb lines, set lines and jug lines are prohibited on any state-owned or managed lake less than 500 acres in size and on Bullock Pen, Elmer Davis, Kincaid, Greenbo and Carter Caves lakes. The only exceptions are the water bodies on Ballard, Swan and Peal Wildlife Management Areas.

For more information on new fishing regulations, consult the 2006 Kentucky Sport Fishing and Boating Guide, available free of charge wherever licenses are sold. Maps of places to fish, fishing forecasts, boating and fishing access spots and other fishing-related information are available on the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Web site at fw.ky.gov.