Flyfishing in Kentucky

Flyfishing in (Central) Kentucky

Trout Fishing (relative to my home in Danville)

Believe it or not, there is actually good flyfishing for trout in Kentucky. My favorite spot is Rock Creek (driving map) in McCreary County. Another good place is the Cumberland River tailwaters below Wolf Creek Dam. The nearest spot to Danville is the Dix River (tailwaters of Herrington Lake), but you will need a boat to get there (launch at High Bridge and come up the Kentucky River to the mouth of the Dix). Certain streams in the Red River Gorge (map) also contain trout.

Other stocked waters, with months of stocking, are listed in the publication "Kentucky Trout Waters," available from county courthouses, the Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources, or online at the following location: http://www.kyafield.com/troutclass.asp?lid=885&NavPath=C101C140

Wolf Creek Dam is a TVA power-generation facility. If you plan to wade fish, it is important to know the generation schedule. This is available online at: http://lakeinfo.tva.gov/. Or you can call 800-238-2264 for this information.

Other Species

Elkhorn Creek, north of Frankfort, is good for smallmouth bass. The Dix River at the headwaters of Herrington Lake has rock bass (redeye), sunfish, and smallmouth bass. White bass run up the river in the spring (around the time when redbud trees are in bloom). Beaver Lake, west of Lawrenceburg, is good for largemouth bass. I fish for bluegill and hybrid striped bass out of my kayak on Herrington Lake. Hybrid stripers hit readily on a chartreuse and white streamer fly and put up a good fight. Here is a photo of a 16" hybrid that I caught.

Fishing New Zealand's Tongariro River
Herrington Lake hybrid striped bass. Not Kentucky. Here I am fishing the Tongariro River in New Zealand.

Some Useful Links

Kentucky Trout Fishing: Andre Bergeron's web site

Kentucky Trout Fishing: from All About Fishing

Our State's National Forest Trout: from Kentucky Game & Fish

6 Prime Spring Trout Picks in Kentucky: from Kentucky Game & Fish

Bonus Brown Trout in Our State: from Kentucky Game & Fish

Keying in on Commonwealth Trophy Trout: from Kentucky Game & Fish

7 Best Bets for Kentucky Brown Trout: from Kentucky Game & Fish

Kentucky's Hot Tailwater Trouting: from Kentucky Game & Fish

Cumberland River fishing report: by Jim Dicken

Best Trout River in Kentucky: from Fishin.com

Kentucky Flyfisher Magazine: published by the Northern KY Flyfishers

Double D Outfitters :contains fishing reports on the Cumberland tailwaters

Rock Creek in the Big South Fork: article from "The Southerner"

Bluegrass Trout Unlimited

Northern Kentucky Fly Fishers Page

Kentucky Fly Fishing: totalflyfishing.com site

Federation of Fly Fishers Homepage

Flyfish@ Home Page: Flyfish@ is a listserv (email list) devoted to discussion of flyfishing. Instructions for subscribing to the list are found on the web page.

Fly Fish America Online: general discussion about flyfishing

FlyFish.com: general resource, has fishing reports from all over

Smallstreams.com: my favorite type of fishing

sefly.com: a site devoted to fly fishing in the southeast

Trout Unlimited Homepage

Fly Fisherman Magazine Online Flyshop: general discussion about flyfishing

Other Places to Flyfish for Trout

Western North Carolina: the region near Brevard has many good streams, with the Davidson and South Mills Rivers being among my favorite. The linked page is courtesy of Davidson River Outfitters.

Davidson River Area: in western NC, National Forest Service web site

Davidson River: from SE Fly site, by Harry Hall

More about Flyfishing in North Carolina: Joel Dunn's page, includes info on the Davidson and other rivers

Trout NC: Wayne Clodfelter's page

WNC Trout: Scott Cunningham's page about western North Carolina

Flyfishing in East Tennessee: Steve Kulpa's page

Hiwassee River: tailwater fishery near Cleveland, TN. Site by Don Denney

The Riverwatch On-Line: The Anglers of the Au Sable; this river in northern Lower Michigan is one of my favorite rivers.

Au Sable River: from the GORP pages

Manistee River: in the same part of Michigan, from the GORP pages

TroutBums: more about the Au Sable and Manistee Rivers in the Grayling, MI, area. Sponsored by The Fly Factory.

Trout Unlimited of West Virginia site

Outfitters in This Area

    Sporting Tradition
    410 W Vine St. (in the Civic Center Shops)
    Lexington, KY 40507
    PHONE: 859-255-8652 or (800) 303-3618

    Parallel 38
    3905 Chenoweth Lane
    Louisville, KY 40207
    PHONE: 502-895-3559

Custom Fly Rods

Performance Fly Rods by Dave Lewis: If you've ever considered having a custom flyrod built, you owe it to yourself to check out Dave Lewis's web page. He has wonderful craftsmanship at very reasonable prices. I own a 4-piece 8'6" five-weight that he built for me.

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