Kentucky fishing trips
Frustrated with trying to find new places to fish, David C. Baker channeled his energies into one of the handiest set of Web pages that anglers in Kentucky can find today.
Baker, a fisheries biologist for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, is helping to assemble blueprints for good small-water fishing in the state.
“Basically, I’m a stream fisherman myself,” he says. “I always found it aggravating trying to figure out where to go and what the stream level was like. I didn’t want to waste my time going out somewhere, then discovering the water was too high to fish.”
Baker and his fellow fisheries biologists and technicians assembled various chunks of information—some of which had previously only gathered dust in a government report—into a comprehensive look at several streams in the state. Click here and search the key words “stream fisheries” to see the results of this work.
Take central Kentucky’s Elkhorn Creek, for example. Go online and you’ll find a map showing you stream mileages and access points. You can even use the Google app to determine exactly where you are on the stream and how far it is to the take-out.
[pullquote cite=”David C. Baker, fisheries biologist” type=”right”]”I always found it aggravating trying to figure out where to go and what the stream level was like. I didn’t want to waste my time going out somewhere, then discovering the water was too high to fish.”[/pullquote]
A photo gallery shows what kind of fish you’ll see in the creek. Reports showing the main species of fish and their size distribution are available at the click of a link. Another link takes you to fishing tips for the water.
Go to the stream levels pages and you’ll not only find current water levels, but advice on recommended levels for fishing and boating. There are even photos of the access sites so you’ll know when you’ve reached the right place.
Currently, there are nine streams highlighted. “This is still a work in progress,” Baker says. “This is something we want to continue to build and grow in the future. Next we want to highlight some of the streams and rivers in eastern Kentucky.”
Fisheries Director Ron Brooks says there’s far more than just stream fishing information on the Web site. It’s worth the time to surf throughout the fisheries section to see all that it has to offer.
“We do everything for anglers but bait the hook and catch the fish,” he jokes.
What’s waiting in the wings? Fisheries biologist Don Bunnell is heading up a sonar project to reveal the actual bottom contours of Kentucky’s smaller state-owned lakes. Stay tuned.
Insider Tips
Numbers of bald eagles migrating into Kentucky peak in January.
Obie Williams
