Neighborhood Fishing Lakes
Threading a wax worm onto a Popeye jig isn’t easy when your 3-year-old is watching so intently that his nose hovers a few inches from the bait. Likewise, having a toddler “help” when you’re trying to cast a bobber and jig to some nearby tree roots is a challenge.
I figured my son and I would practice fishing for half an hour that day. Keeping him focused and somewhat still for any longer would require magic worthy of Houdini.
Then the bobber dipped below the surface.
The tip of his 3-foot Pirates of the Caribbean fishing pole plunged toward the water as I set the hook. “We caught a fish! We caught a fish!” my son with the happy feet proclaimed.
Thirty minutes turned into an hour, until we ran out of bait. This turned into a magical day—thanks to a fishing program started in 2006 by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.
It’s called the Fishing in Neighbor-hoods program, or FINs for short. Its concept is simple: get more people fishing by heavily stocking local park lakes with fish.
The program, which started with five lakes, expanded to 29 locations this year. You’ll now find FINs lakes in Anderson, Boone, Campbell, Daviess, Franklin, Grant, Harlan, Jefferson, Jessamine, Kenton, Knox, Martin, McCracken, Montgomery, Nelson, Scott, and Warren counties.
If you want to know more about each lake, go online to www.fw.ky.gov and search under the keywords “fishing in neighborhoods.” This site includes all kinds of useful information, such as when each lake receives fish and how to get there. You can post photos of your catch online.
All lakes in the program receive stockings of 8- to 12-inch rainbow trout in the spring and fall. Several lakes receive two additional bonus stockings.
FINs lakes also receive at least two stockings of channel catfish that average more than 1 pound each. These stockings occur in April and September. Some lakes receive bonus catfish stockings in March and May.
If you’re looking for something fun for the whole family this summer, consider visiting your local FINs lake. You might discover some magic of your own.
INSIDER TIP
The daily limits include five rainbow trout, four catfish, 15 sunfish, and one largemouth bass more than 15 inches long. Because newly stocked fish are easier to catch than fish that have been in the lake for a time, local governments that own lakes in the FINs program have stricter limits on the number of fish that anglers can keep. These limits allow more people to catch more fish.
