Surfin' for Fish in Kentucky

July 7, 2004

When it comes to fishing in Kentucky, there's no better friend to have than Kentucky's Department of Fish and Wildlife, and there's no better place to start than their Website. Last year, Techlines told you that the F & W Website had become the most popular location to snag your fishing license. Now you can go there to catch the fish too. Well, almost.

Fish and Wildlife's new Kentucky Waterbodies Website allows visitors to:

• Search for Kentucky waterbodies by city or county
• Search for lakes or streams
• Search for access type, such as large boat, small boat, carry down only or bank access
• Search for a specific species of fish

Once you select the lake or stream you want to visit, the site gives you detailed information about the fishing area, including maps, facility and ramp details, species found there, an updated fishing forecast if available, and even if there is a fishing tournament coming up so you won't be surprised by a crowded ramp.

According to David Bruce from Kentucky's Department of Fish and Wildlife, "We wanted to give the users of our site a tool to access information involving the fishing and boating opportunities in the state. This site is really the first step in a larger effort to produce an "experience" type site. We envision adding wildlife management areas and wildlife watching areas in the future. Our goal is to eventually have the site be top of mind for anyone visiting an area of Kentucky and wanting to know where to fish."

Lets say you have a craving for Redear Sunfish for dinner. You can go to the site, find out which lakes stock them, where they are biting and where to put your boat in. To save you some time, Redear Sunfish can be found at:

Barren River Lake
Beaver Lake
Boltz Lake
Briggs Lake
Bullock Pen Lake
Carpenter Lake
Corinth Lake
Elmer Davis Lake
Fagan Branch Lake
Kentucky Lake
Kentucky Lake tailwater
Lake Malone
Lake Reba
Marion County Lake
McNeely Lake
Pan Bowl Lake
Pennyrile Lake
Shanty Hollow Lake

Or course, this new tool is just one of many on-line resources available from Kentucky's Department of Fish and Wildlife. Before you go outdoors, go on-line by visiting them at http://fw.ky.gov/.

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