No Title 2854
Supplement to “Western Kentucky’s Water Wonderland”
Sight a big buck or land a whopper
Same time each year: western Kentucky’s annual events
Sight a big buck or land a whopper
Defined by the Mississippi River, Kentucky Lake, Lake Barkley, and 170,000-acre Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area, western Kentucky’s Purchase area draws droves of fishermen, hunters, nature photographers, and wildlife watchers.
Drop a line in these waters, and you’ll never run out of fish stories in Kentucky Lake’s year-round bass fishing heaven. Fish from shore, rent a boat on your own, or improve your odds by hiring a fishing guide.
“It can actually be cheaper to hire a guide,” explains Jim Doom, owner of Between the Rivers Guide Service, www.kybeaver1.com, (270) 703-7337, who grew up fishing these parts. “A guide knows the area and where the fish are likely to be. Some fish like calm lake waters while others thrive in the tailwaters below dams. All a client has to do is show up with a cooler.”
The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife, www.fw.ky.gov, (800) 858-1549, oversees 20-plus Wildlife Management Areas in western Kentucky. One of those, Ballard WMA, is known for its waterfowl and trophy bucks.
“Though hikers and wildlife observers constitute 70 percent of our users, hunters appreciate our white-tailed deer. The herd is sturdy stock that was used to seed eastern Kentucky areas that at one time had no deer,” says Mark Marracci, Fish and Wildlife spokesman.
Hire an expert hunting guide just five minutes from LBL. Whitetail Creek Outfitters,
www.whitetailcreekoutfitters.net, (270) 924-9639, in Cadiz furnishes lodging, meals, transportation to superb sites, and field dressing, plus a shooting range and 3-D archery range.
Another nature-filled western Kentucky spot is 9,000-plus-acre Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge, www.fws.gov/clarksriver, (270) 527-5770, the only National Wildlife Refuge entirely contained and administered within the state of Kentucky.
Same time each year: western Kentucky’s annual events
Every season brings fun events in western Kentucky. Here’s a sampling:
Adsmore Museum Christmas Candlelight Tours—Princeton, December, www.adsmore.org, (270) 365-3114
American Quilter’s Society Quilt Show—Paducah, April, www.americanquilter.com, (270) 898-7903
Eagle Watching—State Resort Parks Kenlake, (800) 325-0143, Kentucky Dam Village, (800) 325-0146, and Lake Barkley, (800) 325-1708, www.parks.ky.gov; and Land Between The Lakes, www.lbl.org, (800) 525-7077; January-February
400-Mile Yard Sale—Hwy. 68 (now a Scenic Byway) across Kentucky, May 31-June 3, www.400mile.com, (270) 782-8699
Grand Rivers Festival of Lights—Grand Rivers, November–January, www.grandrivers.org, (888) 493-0152
Jeep Jamboree—Land Between The Lakes, May 4-5, www.lbl.org, (530) 333-4777
LowerTown Art & Music Festival—May, Paducah, www.paducah.travel, (800) PADUCAH (723-8224)
Take Kids Fishing Day—Cadiz, June, www.gocadiz.com, (888) 446-6402
Trail of Tears Pow Wow—Hopkinsville, September, www.visithopkinsville.com, (800) 842-9959
Trigg County Country Ham Festival—Cadiz, October, www.gocadiz.com, (888) 446-6402
To read the Kentucky Living April 2012 feature that goes along with this supplement, go to Western Kentucky’s Water Wonderland .
