Fishing in Kentucky: Top Spots for Angling in the Bluegrass State

Fishing in Kentucky is a big sport, and the state offers a wide variety of species to fish. The state also has numerous lakes, rivers, reservoirs, streams, ponds, and more to choose from, so it isn’t always easy to decide the best places to cast your line and launch your boat.

Here is a look at five of the best spots for fishing in Kentucky.

1. Kentucky Lake
Arguably, the go-to spot for fishing in Kentucky has to be the Kentucky Lake. This is located on the Tennessee River and is a mainstream reservoir. The dam holds back 160,000 acres of water, which makes it the largest reservoir in the Tennessee Valley. The lake allows boating and fishing year-round and also allows hunting of migratory birds. This is also one of the top spots in Kentucky for fishing tournaments.

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2. Lake Barkley
Lake Barkley offers just about everything someone fishing in Kentucky could want. There are bluegill, sauger, catfish, white bass, largemouth bass, and crappie stocked in this lake. Lake Barkley is 58,000 acres of reservoir that impounds from the Cumberland River. Lake Barkley also connects to the Kentucky Lake through its dam.

3. Barren River
The Barren River is 135 miles long and flows through Western Kentucky. It is a tributary of the Green River and is stocked with smallmouth bass, crappie, and is the best spot for hybrid striped bass in the state. There are also great camping facilities, a dump station, playground for the kids, and a lodge with a huge dining room.

4. Dale Hollow
Dale Hollow is a famous lake, if for no other reason than that six of the top 10 world record smallmouth bass catches have come from this lake. Tennessee and Kentucky share this lake, a reservoir that was formed by a dam on the Obey River. It is also one of the four main flood reservoirs of the Cumberland River. Other fish stocked in this lake include largemouth bass, trout, gar, catfish, muskellunge, walleye, and crappie.

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5. Cedar Creek Lake
Cedar Creek Lake is the second largest controlled lake in Kentucky, behind only Kale Malone. For those fishing in Kentucky, this lake doesn’t offer as much in the way of tournaments, but has a great stock of fish over its 784 acres of impounded state-run water. Fish here include bluegill, black crappie, channel catfish, redear sunfish, and largemouth bass.

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