On March 29-30, Crappie USA held its Lake Cumberland Super Event at Somerset, Ky. The field of 98 anglers from 14 states competed for cash and prizes, and a chance to advance to the Cabela’s Crappie USA Classic on Kentucky Lake at Paris, Tenn.

Teams were held to a seven fish per-day weigh-in and allowed a total of 14 fish for the entire event.

In the Semi-Pro Division, taking first place was the team of Thomas Hankins of Indianapolis and Ron Bilbrey of Anderson, Ind., with a two-day total weight of 20.95 pounds, earning $2,500.

The team earned an extra $120 for second-biggest crappie of the event, which weighed 2.21 pounds.

Thomas and Ron caught their fish spider-rigging 3-5 feet of water in Caney Creek using glow/chartreuse jigs. The team caught more than 20 fish throughout the event.

Second place went to Wayne E. Darnell of Kingsport and Ricky J Kenner of Kodak, Tenn., weighing in 20.58 pounds for $1,500. Wayne and Ricky were trolling slowly at a speed of 0.8 mph, using planner boards to keep from spooking fish in 8 feet of water.

The team caught 15 fish during the two days of the tournament using blue/chartreuse 1/32-ounce jigs.

In third place for $1,000 was the Somerset, Ky., team of Gary Anger and Perry Hood with a weight of 16.68 pounds. Gary and Perry were fishing North Fork, where they had trolling motor failure and had to tie up to a bush. They tight-lined live bait in 3 feet of water to catch more than 40 fish during the two-day event.

Roy T. Capes Jr. of Cordele and Robert Harris of Warner Robbins, Ga., took home $700 with fourth place and a two-day total of 14.93 pounds.

Roy and Robert were long-line trolling at 0.9 mph in Caney Creek over 20 feet of water, finding fish suspended in 8-10 feet of water.

The team used chartreuse-colored jigs and caught 9 fish over the two-day tournament, including the big fish of 2.49 pounds, which netted the team an additional $420. The team also earned $250 for taking the Ranger Cup award in the Semi-Pro Division.

First place in the Amateur Division was the Monticello, Ky., team of Travis and Randy Neal, weighing in 14.9 pounds and earning $1,500. Travis and Randy were vertical jigging in 3-5 feet of water using chartreuse and Ice Shad jigs in Otter Creek, in a water temperature of 48 degrees both days, but the water color-changed shutting down the bite. The team caught 17 fish for the two days.

Second place and $900 went to the Murray, Ky., team of Doyle and Sonny Milby with a weight of 14.28 pounds. Doyle and Sonny were spider-rigging in the bay next to the weigh-in site, using Southern Pro lime and chartreuse and orange/chartreuse jigs tipped with Stubby Steve’s.

The team credited Humminbird fish locator for finding 80 fish in two days. “I love Lake Cumberland,” said Doyle.

Taking third place and $600 was the London, Ky., team of Robert Shears III and Robert Shears Jr., weighing in 14.07. The Shears team was fishing Fisher Creek in 16-18 feet of water, spider-rigging chartreuse combos to catch 80 suspended fish in two days.

Fishery studies at Sullivan Lake

An angler creel survey will be conducted by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) at Sullivan Lake starting the week of April 8, kicking off a series of 2013 studies on the fishery.

During the creel survey, DNR fisheries representatives will count and interview anglers at Sullivan Lake, and count and measure their harvested fish through October.

The creel survey will monitor what fish the anglers are targeting, how many they are catching and how many fishing trips are completed during the year. An electro-fishing survey for largemouth bass will be conducted in April to study the bass population. Data collected will be used to determine bass mortality, growth and overall fish condition in the lake. A general fish community survey will be conducted in May. All fish will be collected using electro-fishing, gill nets and trap nets. In October, an electro-fishing survey for stocked hybrid walleye (saugeye) will be conducted.

The targeted samplings for bass and hybrid walleye will give biologists an assessment of the fish community and help determine how the individual species relate to each other in Sullivan Lake.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Jack Spaulding may contact him by email at jackspaulding@hughes.net or by writing to him in care of this publication.