The Salato Center has a variety of native animals for the public to see, including a black bear, bobcats, elk, deer, bison, eagles, snakes and fish. The Center has numerous indoor exhibits and miles of hiking trails open to the public. Fishing is available at two lakes. While some programs may require a registration fee, general admission to the Salato Center is free.

For more information call 1-800-858-1549, ext. 4445. Learn more about upcoming events at the Salato Center on the Internet at fw.ky.gov. The Salato Center, operated by Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, is located at the department’s headquarters on U.S. 60 in Frankfort, 1.5 miles west of U.S. 127. Hours of operation are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays. The Center is closed Sundays, Mondays and state holidays.

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The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources manages, regulates, enforces and promotes responsible use of all fish and wildlife species, their habitats, public wildlife areas and waterways for the benefit of those resources and for public enjoyment. Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, an agency of the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet. For more information on the department, visit our web site at fw.ky.gov.

Media Contact
Kristy Stroud (800) 858-1549 ext. 4498

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I love to fish so much that I’ve nearly trashed our van on Interstate 75 because I was gazing at South Elkhorn Creek instead of watching the road. I store fishing gear in my car, I’ve raised night crawlers in my kitchen, and I’ve stayed up for 24 hours straight because fish were biting.

I tell you this only because I want you to know that I’m serious when I offer one important piece of advice about taking kids fishing:

Leave your own rod at home.

If you don’t, it will be impossible to follow the second rule of fishing with a kid:

You only have 10 minutes.

Let’s start with the first rule, the one most painful for many anglers. You know who you are. Since your kids were infants, you’ve dreamed of putting all those baby years behind you and heading out to the lake for hours of quality outdoor time. You’ve imagined teaching your young fry about wildlife, sharing a joke or two and engaging in the kind of in-depth conversation you’ve longed for since they were born.

Dream on.

The conversation, at least from my experience, is more likely to go something like this: “Is that a bee, can I step in that mud, I’d really like to go swimming, who put all of these rocks here, can I touch those things, ouch, those things are sharp, can I pee outside, are we going to McDonald’s, I bet there are huge eels in this creek, if not eels then some swordfish, do fish bite people?”

And then you’re 30 seconds into the trip.

In the real world, children have attention spans shorter than a back cast. So the key to a successful outing is making sure the action is focused on your kid. That means handing the rod over.

What will you do? Lots. Think of yourself as a mild-mannered coach. Or maybe even Andy Griffith. (I shoot for Andy Griffith, but usually wind up acting more like Barney Fife.) Warn them about the dangers of hooks. Show them how to cast without tangling. Fetch their line out of trees and assure them that although that’s not what they should be trying to catch, it’s OK that they did.

Most important of all, it is your job to focus on Rule No. 2: You only have 10 minutes.

Think about how your kids typically spend their days. Everything is broken into 10- to 15-minute segments. A few minutes at recess, a few at lunch, reading time, nap time. There’s no reason you should expect a fishing trip to be any different, so plan accordingly.

The best way to ensure happiness is to ensure a constantly moving bobber. That’s not as difficult as it sounds in Kentucky if you remember this: Don’t think big fish; think many fish.

Without a doubt, the best bet is a farm pond. If you don’t have a friend or relative who lives on a farm, ask around. You’ll be surprised how many people in Kentucky have friends with farms and don’t mind asking if your kids can fish there. If all else fails, ask for permission yourself. Many landowners don’t mind sharing their ponds as long as their livestock are in another field and the children are courteous.

If you don’t have access to farm ponds, don’t give up. There are still hundreds of places to fish in Kentucky. Virtually every state and city park has good bank fishing. And any stream in the state with at least knee-deep water is bound to be teeming with fish.

After all of your preparation and planning, it’s important to take one other step. Tell yourself, over and over again if need be, that you won’t get upset if your child loses interest quickly.

I always tell myself that, but on a day like the one I spent with my son, Emery, now 6, and daughter, Meg, 3, last August, I was slow to remember.

My wife, Lee, and I planned for the day; we packed lunch and water and sunscreen, as well as all the bait we needed, which included hot dogs, a favorite bait of farm-pond catfish.

A co-worker had gotten permission for us to fish in her neighbor’s farm pond, a small but perfect fishing hole in Clark County. When we got there, I practiced everything I preach. I encouraged the kids to play with the worms, showed them where I thought some of the fish might be, put a hot dog on a hook and helped them cast it out.

The bobber sank immediately. Emery started to reel the fish in, but the line broke.

I knew he had lost a big fish. So for the next cast, I grabbed a rod with stronger line. We cast it out and again the bobber sank. This time, Emery was not going to lose the fish. He put his head down and cranked the reel as if it were a winch. He didn’t stop reeling until the fish, a big, ugly, 6-pound catfish, was sliding up onto the bank.

Emery screamed with delight until he actually saw the fish, which was more than half his size. He backed up to let Dad and the pond’s owner take the hook out. After we put the fish back in the water, Emery ran up and down the bank, strutting and proclaiming to anyone who could hear that he had caught a huge catfish.

My mind raced. “A 6-pound catfish,” I thought. “Emery’s going to love fishing.”

I was quickly putting more bait on the hook, hoping to get the line out again so we could catch another big fish, when Emery walked up beside me and tugged on my shirt. He was looking up the hill at a little boy playing with his toys.

“Daddy, can we go play now?” he asked.

My mouth gaped open, and then I realized: My 10 minutes were up.

As Emery and Meg ran up the hill to play with the little boy, I quickly packed up all of the little-used gear and bait. I looked at the pond and wondered about the fish we were leaving behind.

Then I caught up with my children so I could enjoy the next 10 minutes of fun.

—By Chris Poore, editor of www.kentuckyfishing.com. This story was first published in 2004 in the Lexington Herald-Leader

8 tips for fishing with your kids

Here are a few tips for fishing with kids, from the writer and from Lonnie Nelson, program manager for recruitment and development with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.

Have fun, be flexible and be patient.

After a few minutes of fishing, having fun to a kid might mean throwing rocks, looking for bugs or getting wet. Go with it. The main goal is to have your child associate fishing trips with fun.

Use live bait.

Your chances are always better with live bait. Hooking the squirmy, slimy critters can be half the fun. For tips on bait, see below.

Bring food, sunscreen, sunglasses and plenty of water or beverages.

A hungry, sunburned kid is not a happy kid.

Use simple fishing tackle, but not cheap tackle.

Every kid wants a Scooby-Doo fishing rod. Avoid the temptation. Most toy rods are too flimsy to actually catch a fish. Find a regular-size rod with medium action, and buy a push-button reel. Most bait shop owners will be happy to help you find the right rod.

Pick a sure-fire place to go.

Ask around. You’re not looking for big fish; you’re looking for constant action. You’re more likely to find constant action at a nearby city park than you are in big water like Kentucky Lake or Lake Cumberland.

Go to a fishing camp or seminar.

The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources assists groups such as the YMCA, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, and schools with more than 400 fishing programs every year. All summer long, there are likely to be fishing programs near you. Call 1-800-858-1549 for locations or information.

Bring a camera.

Good options are the waterproof disposable cameras you can buy at most groceries and drugstores.

Go early.

Any time is a good time to take your kids fishing, but you’ll have better luck if you go in the morning, when the sun’s low and the fish are less likely to be spooked.

Watch kids squirm with delight over live bait

To increase chances of success with kids, live bait is always best. And it’s more fun.

If you’re going to buy bait, make sure you take your children along with you. Let them get the worms out of the case or point out the minnows they want.

If you’re going to find the bait yourself, you’re in for even more fun. For worms, dig under rocks or in compost, or go outside at night with a flashlight after a heavy rain and snatch night crawlers out of the yard.

For more adventure, consider catching crawfish, and hellgrammites, the scary-looking larvae of the dobsonfly, which most fish consider a delicacy. For this, you’ll need to go to a bait shop and buy a seining net. (Read the state’s fishing and boating guide at www.kdfwr.state.ky.us/ to make sure you’re following state regulations.) Attach sticks or posts to each end of the seining net, hold it upright across the current, and then have your child go upstream and kick up as many rocks as possible.

Spread the net out to see what you’ve caught. The fun comes in watching your kid squeal trying to avoid the critters’ pincers.

To avoid the pincers, which can draw blood but are generally harmless, teach your child to grab them behind the head.

You also might consider raising your own bait. There are countless Web sites that offer tips.

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Berea's Terry Moberly decided at the last minute to enter the FLW Fantasy Fishing Game Contest. The decision won him $100,000.

To win FLW Fantasy Fishing, or any contest for that matter, you have to enter.  And entering at the last minute counts just as much as if you entered days, weeks or even months before.

That’s what Terry Moberly, 45, a resident of Berea, Ky., a small town near Lexington, Ky., learned. Last Wednesday, Feb. 11, with less than four hours until the closing bell on FLW Fantasy Fishing picks for the first tournament, Moberly registered at fantasyfishing.com. Using Player’s Advantage, an online tool that provides “inside” information about FLW Tour bass pros, Moberly picked 10 bass pros from among a field of 157 that would be competing the very next morning in the first of six tournaments that make up the Walmart FLW Tour, professional bass fishing’s largest and most prestigious tournament circuit.

Moberly, an avid bass angler, was urged to enter FLW Fantasy Fishing by his
two sons, Tyler, a student at Eastern Kentucky University, located in nearby
Richmond, Ky., and his 19-year-old son, Brandon.   Both sons are avid bass
anglers, too, having competed in regional bass tournaments sponsored by FLW
Outdoors.

The rest they say is history.  Because today, Moberly is $100,000 richer,
proving once again that old adage, “you need to enter to win.”

“This is fantastic,” said the even-keel Moberly, a production worker at the
Tokico USA, a manufacturing plant in Berea that makes automobile shocks and
suspensions.  “I had never played any sort of fantasy sport before, but my
sons said to me, ‘Dad, you just gotta try this,’ and with the additional
resources Player’s Advantage offers, I was able to enhance my picks.”

Married for 24 years to his sweetheart, Debbie, Moberly says that fishing,
along with other outdoors activities such as camping and hunting run deep in
his family.  Born and raised in Richmond, Ky., Moberly frequently fishes
nearby lakes and reservoirs, including Cumberland Lake, from his Ranger bass
boat.  And while he’s fished a few tournaments himself, Moberly and his wife
especially enjoy watching their sons compete in fishing tournaments. Son
Tyler competes on a bass fishing team representing Eastern Kentucky
University in the National Guard FLW College Fishing Tournament Circuit, and
son Brandon has competed in the Walmart Bass Fishing League (BFL) Mountain
Division Tournament Circuit.

“With the economy as it is, the extra money will allow us to shore up our
finances and help us pay college tuition,” added Moberly.  “And maybe I’ll
treat myself to a new Ranger bass boat.”

Now Moberly is setting his sights on the $1 million grand prize that will be
awarded to the FLW Fantasy Fishing player who accumulates the most points
over six tournaments.  Moberly, like many FLW Fantasy Fishing players, will
continue to tap the powerful online tools of Player’s Advantage, available
for only $10 for the entire season, to help give them the edge they need to
enhance their fantasy team picks.

“I’m going to continue to rely on Player’s Advantage, a great resource for
only $10, to give me an even greater edge in the race for that $1 million
grand prize,” Moberly said.  “I’m off to a great start and I want to be in
the winner’s circle in Pittsburgh on Aug. 1 when FLW Fantasy Fishing
announces the $1 million grand prize.”

The Winning Combination

To win the first FLW Fantasy Fishing tournament, Moberly earned 12,744
points based on the performance of the pro bass anglers who fished the
Walmart FLW Tour’s first four-day tournament, the Chevy Open, on Lake
Guntersville, near Huntsville, Ala.  The first FLW Tour tournament was won
by TUM’s bass pro David Fritts, a resident of Lexington, N.C.  Starting in
sixth place on the last day of the tournament, Fritts’ crankbait assault
catapulted him into first place and the tournament’s $200,000 prize.

Moberly scored three exactas, earning him additional points on top of the
points he accumulated based on the fishing performance of each of his
individual fantasy team members.  He picked Fritts to finish in first place,
David Dudley, who finished in third, and Craig Dowling, who finished in 10th
place.  He also selected another angler, Scott Canterbury, who finished
within the top 10 (8th place).   Moberly’s bass pro picks, in the order he
thought they would finish, included:

1.  David Fritts
2.  Randall Tharp
3.  David Dudley
4.  Andy Morgan
5.  Greg Pugh
6.  Dan Morehead
7.  Jerry Green
8.  J.T. Kenney
9.  Scott Canterbury
10. Craig Dowling

“I’m not as familiar with all of the FLW bass pros as my sons are, but
because of the insight Player’s Advantage offers, I deliberately picked Dave
Fritts to win because I thought his style of fishing would work really well
on Lake Guntersville,” said Moberly.

Race On for $1 Million Grand Prize

Established by Irwin Jacobs, the creator of FLW Outdoors and the Forrest
Wood Cup, FLW Fantasy Fishing is rapidly growing in popularity. There is no
entry fee to enter, but for an added edge, participants can purchase
Player’s Advantage for only $10 to assist them in trying to win a $1 million
payday, plus six $100,000 payouts, one for each qualifying tournament.

Fantasy Fishing is sponsored by FLW Outdoors, which brings the world’s
richest bass fishing tournament, the Forrest Wood Cup, to Pittsburgh this
summer from July 30-Aug. 2. The Forrest Wood Cup is the final event in the
Walmart FLW Tour, and just like fantasy football and fantasy baseball, you
can follow the leading money winners on the FLW Tour all season long and win
America’s richest fantasy event when the Fantasy Fishing winners for 2009
are announced here in Pittsburgh on Aug. 1, 2009.  Highlights from each
Walmart FLW Tour are broadcast to more than 79 million households weekly on
the FLW Outdoors television program, which will premiere on April 5, 2009 on
VERSUS.  “FLW Outdoors,” hosted by Jason Harper, is also broadcast
internationally through agreements with World Fishing Network (WFN) and
Matchroom Sport to more than 500 million households in such countries as
Canada, Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary,
and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoor
sports television show in the world.

In addition to the $1 million grand prize, and the six $100,000 tournament
prizes, FLW Fantasy Fishing players are eligible to win prizes such as a
$54,000 Ranger boat, a brand new Chevy vehicle, a $25,000 gift card, or one
of more than 1,800 additional prizes. Fantasy Fishing also offers $3 million
and $5 million exacta bonus games by correctly ranking the top five
finishers in the Forrest Wood Cup or the top seven finishers in a
tournament.

FLW Fantasy Fishing players can increase their chances of winning the $1
million grand prize by entering all FLW Fantasy Fishing tournaments
throughout the season and accumulating a greater amount of points leading up
to the Forrest Wood Cup.  The next tournaments in the Walmart FLW Tour
professional bass circuit include:

Tournament 2: Table Rock Lake, Branson, Mo., March 12-15, 2009
Tournament 3: Lake Norman, Charlotte, N.C., April 23-26, 2009
Tournament 4: Beaver Lake, Rogers, Ark., May 14-17, 2009
Tournament 5: Kentucky/Barkley Lake, Benton, Ky., June 11-14, 2009
Tournament 6: Lake Champlain, Plattsburgh, N.Y., July 9-12, 2009
$1 Million Grand Prize Announcement: Forrest Wood Cup, Pittsburgh, Pa., Aug.
1, 2009

The Richest Fantasy Sports Game

In its first season, FLW Fantasy Fishing took the fantasy sports world by
surprise by offering the first $1 million guaranteed grand prize for a
fantasy sports game.  And with that announcement, FLW Fantasy Fishing soared
to the top of the fantasy sports world, gaining fans from 123 countries
attracted to the game’s $7.3 million in overall cash and prizes, the highest
payout of any fantasy sports game in the world.  Last year’s million dollar
winner was Michael Thompson, 34, of Minneapolis, a stay-at-home Dad.

This year, FLW Fantasy Fishing once again sets a new standard, offering a $1
million grand prize again along with 1,800 other prizes for a total of $10
million in overall cash and prizes, the highest payout of any fantasy sports
game in the world.

First Tournament: Second and Third Places

Finishing behind Terry Moberly in second place, with 12,389 points, was Nate
Rose, a resident of Addison, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, who won a $5,000
Walmart gift card. Rose is an avid angler and fantasy sports gamer, who
learned about FLW Fantasy Fishing from a fishing buddy.

“Our basement was flooded last fall during a nine-inch rainstorm,” said
Rose, “so this gift card will come in really handy in helping us re-decorate
our basement.”

Clarence “Junior” Hillyard, a resident of Winchester, Va., a suburb of
Washington D.C., came in third place, with 12,259 points, winning a $1,000
Walmart gift card.  Hillyard, a technician with Rubbermaid, and his wife are
the parents of a 15-day-old baby girl.

“This is great! I can’t tell you how useful that Walmart gift card will be
for our new baby,” said Hillyard, a self-proclaimed fishing geek.  “It’s
going to make buying all of those diapers and formula a lot easier.”

International Winners

FLW Fantasy Fishing players representing four countries outside the United
States earned prizes in the first FLW Fantasy Fishing tournament in 2009.
Winners represented Australia, Canada, Japan and Mexico.

The highest placing player was William Martin, a player from Wingham, New
South Wales, Australia, who came in 123rd place to win a $50 Walmart gift
card.

In the first year of FLW Fantasy Fishing, participants from 123 countries
played Fantasy Fishing with prizes awarded to players in the United Kingdom,
Australia, Japan, Indonesia, Poland, South Africa, Estonia and a number of
other countries.

About FLW Outdoors

FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger
Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world and is
offering anglers the chance to win more than $33 million through 231
tournaments in 2009. FLW Outdoors also is taking fishing mainstream with FLW
Fantasy Fishing <http://www.fantasyfishing.com/
<http://www.fantasyfishing.com/> > , offering the largest awards possible in
the history of fantasy sports, $10 million in cash and prizes. Sign up for
Player’s Advantage for only $10 to get your edge and win. For more
information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com
<http://www.flwoutdoors.com/ <http://www.flwoutdoors.com/> > or call (270)
252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s
Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com <http://www.fantasyfishing.com/
<http://www.fantasyfishing.com/> >.

FLW(R) is a registered trademark of FLW Outdoors, Inc.   For a complete
list of rules and prizes for FLW Fantasy Fishing, visit
http://www.fantasyfishing.com <http://www.fantasyfishing.com/> .

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The banquet helps the Bluegrass Chapter tackle projects such as stocking streams in the Daniel Boone National Forest, keeping Rock Creek clean of trash and acid mine drainage and working with local schools to
implement Trout in the Classroom.

The banquet also helps fund speakers for the chapter’s monthly meetings.

This year’s banquet will be held at the Hillary J. Boone Center and will begin at 6:30 p.m. with drinks,
appetizers, “Bucket Raffles” and a preview of auction items along with a silent auction.
Dinner is at 7:30 followed by the live auction.

The price is $40.00 single or $75.00 couple. Call Gary Rose for information at 859-263-5889. Or email him at arosegrose@alltel.net.

The auction will include items of interest to anglers and non-anglers.  Auction sponsors include Orvis,
Lamson, Frog Pond, Equus Run Vineyards, among others.

Please contact any board member for tickets. In some cases, TU might be able to drop your
ticket off to you. Tickets will not be sold the night of the banquet but if you buy your ticket before
Feb. 16 you will be registered for the special Early Bird Raffle.  The Hillary J. Boone Center is
on the campus of the University of Kentucky at 510 Rose Street.  The Center’s phone number is
859.257.3288 and more info can be found online at www.uky.edu/boonecenter

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The author holds a fish caught in higher-than-usual water.

Standing shin-deep on a gravel bar that I had stood atop, bone dry, only a month earlier, I stared at the currents that whipped across the top of a normally placid pool. My hole was washed out. About that time my buddy popped through a gap in the thicket behind me and stepped out onto the gravel bar. “Mighty high today,” he said. “They should be concentrated.”
He pointed to an eddy no larger than my laptop on the far side of the river and asked whether I had hit it. I shook my head, so he snapped of a cast and placed his plug right against the bank. One crank of the rod handle, and a trout walloped my buddy’s offering. Impressed, I followed suit, and so did a trout that would turn out to be the twin of the one my friend was about to land.
The run that feeds that pool, normally a good spot to pick up a rainbow, was too swift to fish or to wade through, so we crawled back out of the creek to go upstream by land. The next few spots I would normally fish were washed out, but the next one we could get to produced another strike, although I missed the fish.
Winter fronts bring a seemingly endless series of rains and snows to Kentucky, and each causes streams to swell. From January through March, many streams run high, even between weather systems. Following specific fronts, they surge. High water brings both good and bad things to trout fisherman.
At the positive end of the spectrum, high water tends to concentrate trout, and it makes their locations very predictable. When streams push hard, shoreline cuts, midstream boulders and waterfalls create eddy pockets that act like magnets to trout. Large sections of stream that normally provide good habitat, meanwhile, become too swift for the fish.
High water also can make fish more aggressive becase greater depth, stronger currents and often-stained water cause the fish to feel less threatened. Finally, high water surges dislodge food items from the banks and from the bottom, putting trout on the lookout for easy meals.
The bad news is that many fish-holding eddies are easy to recognize but impossible to get a lure to or fish effectively because of current lanes that bound them. Also, winter trout, which already relate o the bottom for most of their food, hold extra tight to the stream bottom when the water pushes hard. Many of he best eddies are formed by sunken boulders or ledges and are not even visible from above the surface. Finally, high water makes many stream stretches unsafe or even impossible to wade. Steep-sided creeks become deep in a hurry, and rock walls or rhododendron often render the bank-fishing approach impossible.
Adjustments begin with up-sizing gear. Whether a fisherman prefers plugs, spinners or jigs, the lures should be able to find bottom, given a heavier water flow. Bigger lures also offer more visibility in water that is sometimes stained and give trout something to home in on.
For anglers who favor natural offerings, the main adjustment may be to simply add more weight to the line. Rod-and-reel combinations and line sizes used also may need to be heavier to contend with larger, heavier offerings and stronger currents.
Fly-fisherman should orient their approach toward the bottom when the water runs high during winter. Weighted nymphs are the norm, and extra lead may be needed. Big flies, like stonefly nymphs, offer good visibility while matching what the trout often dine on this time of year. After a major rain, when the water surges, a San Juan Worm with a split shot above it can reap big rewards. Because big flies and extra weight on the line make fly-casting more difficult, many fishermen who spend a lot of time on the water during winter own heavier outfits that they turn to when their favorite streams rise.
On the water, fishermen must learn to pick their spots and fish them thoroughly. Eddy pockets are obvious. Other areas worth working hard are long, deep runs with boulders along the bottom. Offerings of any kind must be presented right along the bottom and as slowly as possible to draw trout from their hiding places.
When it comes to safe wading on high water, adjustments begin with gear. A wading belt, always a good idea, becomes nearly essential during winter so that waders won’t fill up if an angler does slip. A waterproof wading jacket, worn instead of a vest, adds an extra measure of protection. In larger streams, a life vest is even worth wearing. These days, inflatable vests that don’t really even get in a fisherman’s way are available.
To avoid falling in the first place and make some crossings more manageable, a wading staff also helps dramatically. A staff becomes a third leg for an angler and can also be used to test the depth of a spot.
Maybe the most important adjustment that any angler must make when a stream runs high is in his mindset. Some spots simply cannot be waded safely or fished effectively. Winter streams, along with running swift, turn dangerously cold, and no trout hole is good enough to risk an icy dip in the drink.
—By Jeff Samsel

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Seasonal Catch and Release Trout Streams:
Bark Camp Creek – Whitley County
Beaver Creek – Wayne County
Big Bone Creek – Boone County
Cane Creek – Laurel County
Casey Creek – Trigg County
Clear Creek – Bell County
East Fork, Indian Creek – Menifee County
Elk Spring Creek – Wayne County
Left Fork, Beaver Creek – Floyd County
Middle Fork, Red River – Powell, Wolfe counties
Otter Creek – Meade County (Otter Creek Park is temporarily closed to public access)
Rock Creek – McCreary County
Swift Camp Creek – Wolfe County (season closes May 31)

Author Lee McClellan is an award-winning associate editor for Kentucky Afield magazine, the official publication of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. He is a life-long hunter and angler, with a passion for smallmouth bass fishing.

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Stephen Wrinn hooks into a trout during his first trip on the Cumberland River tailwater.

First published in the Kentucky Fishing Journal August 2002. This essay has also been published in Of Woods and Waters, an anthology by Ron Ellis of stories about the outdoors in Kentucky.

By Stephen Wrinn

Among the many myths that outsiders have come to believe about Kentucky is that it has no outstanding trout fishing. Despite 13,000 miles of rivers and streams, and more navigable waterways than any other state except Alaska, it is still widely believed that only bass, catfish, panfish, and the occasional musky lurk in the Commonwealth’s depths. Until very recently, I too shared this fiction.

This is the story of my enlightenment, and of the knowledge I gained after one trip to the Cumberland River. I now believe that Kentucky is home to a river that ranks as one of the best trout fisheries on the continent, period. Not just in the South, or in the midwest, or west of the Appalachians, or east of the Mississippi. Period. Below the Wolf Creek Dam, the Cumberland is a river that, in both natural beauty and trout population, rivals any I’ve encountered. And I’ve encountered more than my fair share.

In my briefcase, tucked behind a thick file of paperwork labeled “To Do,” I carry a cheap plastic photo album of some of my most memorable fishing trips. I’ve learned that it comes in handy to keep these photos nearby, especially after one of those long, hard, frustrating days at work. You know, the kind of day we try to forget when we’re fishing.

Looking at the album, I’ll see some of the gorgeous brown trout I caught in Scotland, the huge steelheads I landed in New York, and the many rainbows from my home sate of Connecticut. There are the beautiful little native brookies from New Hampshire, the smallmouth bass in Maine, the Northern Pike in Vermont, and, of course, the six-pound golden trout I caught in Pennsylvania as my envious father-in-law looked on, which is now mounted on the wall of my office.

There are a lot of pictures and even more memories. When some unfortunate soul with a casual interest in fishing mentions the topic, I reach for the album and narrate the stories of the many gigantic striped bass I’ve caught off the Rhode Island coast, the countless bluefish in Massachusetts, the flounder in Delaware, the incredible false albacores off the outer banks of North Carolina. I’ve stalked trout in some of the nation’s finest rivers, and, outside of New England. I’ve caught them in Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Colorado, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington state. Before my son, Eli, was born 18 months ago, I had caught trout in 18 consecutive months.

Stephen Wrinn and Cumberland River guide Brandon Wade look through some flies for the best choice of the day. The choice, usually? A sow bug, a favorite for Cumberland trout.

While I consider trout my favorite quarry, I’m not one to discriminate against a good tug at the end of my line. Freshwater, saltwater, spinning rods, fly rods, lures, live bait — I’ll do whatever it takes (I wish I was exaggerating) to catch fish, wherever, whenever, however. Have I mentioned the redfish I netted in South Carolina, the tarpon in Florida, or the bonefish in Mexico? Occasionally, on business trips, I’ve been so desperate for a fight that I’ve fished the Hudson River from the shores of Manhattan, and I even caught shad and catfish in the Potomac River in the heart of our nation’s capital. The bumper sticker “Fish tremble when they hear my name” has always held a special resonance for me.

I believe, with the same conviction, that Fox Mulder pursues the “truth,” that the fish are out there, and my philosophy is that any species of fish I haven’t yet caught is one I’d like to feel tugging at the end of my line. I don’t even eat fish and will release any that my wife doesn’t care to consume. At last count, I had caught fish in 22 states and 4 countries — and man, those red snappers in St. Lucia fought like tigers!

Kentucky was definitely not on the list of places where I’d caught fish. In fact, the Commonwealth never even ranked as a fishing destination for me.

When word arrived that I was a finalist for a job in Lexington, I did what any devoted fisherman would do. I immediately went online, accessed Google, and typed, “fishing…Kentucky.” It came as no surprise that the majority of hits discussed the Bluegrass State’s many lakes, and the bass and panfish opportunities they offered. I wasn’t disappointed by what I learned, because some of my best fishing memories come from the four years I lived a few hours north of the Bluegrass. I enjoyed some tremendous farm pond and lake fishing in central Ohio, and, trout or no trot, slamming a hungry largemouth bass on a surface lure is always a great thrill. Within two weeks of moving to Kentucky, I went bass fishing early one morning in a pretty Sadieville farm pond. It was a positively gorgeous setting, and I caught some nice bass, but I assumed that my trout fishing days were over. To my delight, I was approached to write this article, and my education in Kentucky trout fishing was about to begin.

My guide, Brandon Wade, met me at my apartment at 4:30 a.m. sharp. Even without the benefit of caffeine, he was clearly as excited as I was to get on the water and catch some fish. We briefly discussed the large amount of trout we would undoubtedly slam that day. I always evaluate guides not only by their skill, knowledge, and safety, but also by their enthusiasm for their profession. I knew instantly that Brandon shared my passion for fishing in equal measure.

Our photographer for the trip, Drew Sturgill, arrived. He looked groggy but was alert and already outfitted with a mug of coffee. We made our introductions and drove approximately 85 miles south to Russell County. As the sun rose over the hills, I imagine Civil War soldiers encamped on the mist-shrouded fields. The countryside was as inspiring and lovely as any I had encountered, but my mind was focused on catching that first Kentucky trout.

To whip myself up into an even greater frenzy, I blasted an energetic live version of “Cumberland Blues” by the Grateful Dead, though I was confident that I would be far from blue when the day was over. After a quick McDonald’s breakfast in Russell Springs, we drove through the historic ghost town of Creelsboro (I thought the name of the town was a good harbinger) and dropped our boat in the water approximately six miles below Wolf Creek Dam. Brandon, Drew, and I I would spend the day on a 15-foot drift boat constructed by Brandon himself, and simply put, the boat is a work of art.

I had no excuses. The conditions were ideal for fishing. There was no wind, and it was warm and sunny with occasional cloud cover. My guide grew up fishing on the banks of the Cumberland and knew the river intimately. I also had Brandon’s assurance that a 70-fish day wasn’t out of the question. Even before setting foot on the boat, I observed several trout rising to a caddis hatch and watched longingly as a nearby angler landed a sizable rainbow. At 50 degrees, where it remains nearly year round, the temperature was definitely in the trout zone. Most importantly, the height of the river, which is controlled by the dam, was at an optimal level. Brandon tied on a prince nymph trailed by a caddis pupa, and we set off.

The night before our trip, I had read Tailwater Trout in the South by Jimmy Jacobs, which described the many state-record trout caught in the Cumblerland. At first, the river wasn’t at all what I had envisioned, and it certainly didn’t resemble most of the blue-ribbon trout rivers I’d fished in the past. The section where we entered was slow and wide, more of a pond than a river, with dead logs and other structure. The current was almost imperceptible. I remember thinking that it might yield more smallmouth than trout. Of course, it was at precisely that moment that I missed my first hit. Before an hour had passed, the river’s complexion had changed to resemble a textbook trout stream complete with riffles, rapids, and deep pools. By the end of the day, I concluded that the Cumberland is diverse enough to satisfy the tastes of any trout angler.

A word of caution to those anglers unaccustomed, as I was, to drift boats. Although they offer fly fishermen distinct advantages over wading, such as covering more water with less casting, fishing from a drift boat nonetheless requires adaptation. One must overcome the instinct to continually cast, false cast, and cast again as if working a specific, well-defined section of a stream. Remember, it’s not called a cast boat. In addition to my unfamiliarity with the drift boat (I know what you’re thinking and you’re right, it is a lame excuse) it took me a while to understand that Cumberland trout took our nymphs with extreme delicacy (yes, that’s even more lame). The slightest twitch of the yarn strike-indicator signaled a hungry trout, and I’m ashamed to say how many I missed before I finally hooked up.

After nearly a dozen misses, I began to worry that Brandon would classify me as a Yankee mutant who couldn’t catch a fish in an aquarium. At one point I suggested that we throw Drew overboard because the presence of a photographer was definitely messing with my mojo. I should mention here that patience is another of my favorite characteristics in a guide. Every time I missed a strike, sometimes with unintended comical choreography, Brandon would just smile, tell a funny joke, and put me on top of more fish. His confidence in Cumberland’s potential was reassuring.

Though we enjoyed perfect weather conditions, I was surprised by the dearth of fishermen on either boats or the banks. During our nearly 10 hours on the water, we saw just a dozen other boats and even fewer anglers on the shore — an average crowd on this section of the river, according to Brandon. In my defense, others we talked to complained of it being a slow day. I was just beginning to smell a skunk, when I watched a large trout dart from the shadows under a tree to inhale my beadhead copper john. This time I managed to set the hook, and believe me, it was a particularly satisfying fight. After a few minutes of solid resistance and some acrobatics, Brandon netted a 17-inch brown trout. It was one of the loveliest brown trout I had ever observed, its coloration spectacular, resemling a bar of gold. I wondered if it had been introduced to the river as a fingerling, as are thousands of other browns annually. I posed for a photograph, gave the fish a kiss, thanked him for his company, and returned him to Cumblerland. Th extreme beauty and serenity of the river was almost distracting (this is my last excuse, I swear), and it was worth the trip just to see the numerous birds, trees, limestone cliffs, caves, and arches. We shared a lot of laughs and stories in our pursuit of trout that day, not to mention a gourmet lunch on a secluded bank. As it often does, our perseverance paid off. Shortly after landing the brown, I hooked into a spunky rainbow at the tail end of a long pool. These areas where the current begins to accelerate before entering a shallow riffle section had been most productive for us and the other anglers I had watched. My fly was a sow bug, which are abundant in the Cumberland and a fovorite food source for trout. This 15-inch rainbow fought with the determination of a much larger fish and made five impressive runs. I posed with him and released him. As we approached our take-out point, I began fishing with streamers and managed to land another rainbow. Though it was not my fortune to catch one that day, I could easily understand why the Cumberland has produced so many of Kentucky’s trout records. It’s just that good.

….

Exhausted, jubilant, and satisfied, I spent the evening at the Cumberland Lodge in Russell Springs reveling in the trout I had aught and the new friends I had made. To those fishermen who, like me, particularly enjoy a cold beer or seven after a hard day of fishing, be warned that Russell County is dry. But as the friendly manager at the inn said, “If Abe Lincoln didn’t need it, why should you?” I slept extremely well that night knowing that Lexington is in such close proximity to a world class trout fishery. Although the house we just purchased is in desperate need of a new roof, I’m thinking a canoe would be a much wiser investment at this point. Stay tuned for my wife’s reaction. But come hell or high water, or both, I’m going to have me a 70-fish day on the majestic Cumberland.

Stephen M. Wrinn arrived in the Commonwealth in April 2002 and is director of the University Press of Kentucky. You can read this essay and many others in Of Woods and Waters, an anthology of stories about the outdoors in Kentucky.

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