Kentucky Lake is a summer outdoor destination with fun for the whole family.
Submitted photo
Kentucky Lake in the summer is an outdoor destination where you can just about do it all. The 160,300-acre body of water is the largest reservoir by surface area east of the Mississippi River. This offer anglers plenty of water to fish, boaters plenty of water to ski and bowfishers plenty of water to shoot. There many more outdoor activities, like camping, hiking and golf. It’s a tough place to be bored.
Kentucky Lake is joined with Lake Barkley. Together, they share The Land Between the Lakes. This large swath of public land is an outstanding wildlife viewing area. This is also a popular public land hunting destination. Barkley itself has 58,000 acres of surface water. Together, the two lakes offer over 200,000 acres of water. That’s a lot of water to fish, boat, paddle, bowfish and pleasure boat on.
Fishing is a huge draw to the region. On Kentucky Lake, crappie are king. Crappie aren’t just plentiful, they’re also large. Anglers will find both black crappie and white crappie, and fishing for these excellent table fare favorites is a year-round ordeal. Largemouth bass are popular with anglers, too. The number of professional bass tournaments fished on Kentucky Lake is a nationally recognized largemouth bass fishery.
Smallmouth bass inhabit both Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley, but Kentucky is known to have a greater population. It simply comes down to habitat, and Kentucky Lake has more deep water with a rock bottom and pea gravel flats than Barkley. That’s not to say you can’t get into smallies on Barkley, it’s just more common on Kentucky.
Showing up at a reservoir this size without having some idea of where to fish is intimidating. Understanding how to catch fish on Kentucky Lake comes down to timing. You need to know how fish are reacting to current conditions, including weather patterns, water temperature and water clarity. Hiring one of the many local guides for a day will teach you the patterns you need to replicate for the rest of your time there.
The Land Between the Lakes (LBL) is a peninsula between Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley. It’s 170,000 acres of forests and open lands. The LBL has 300 miles of undeveloped shoreline, 200 miles of paved roads, 500 miles of trails and is teeming with wildlife. It is open to hunting, but some special regulations apply.
Kentucky Dam Village State Resort Park is a nice place to stay. The facility has everything you could want in a resort. There are cabins, which actually are more like the size of small homes. They are surprisingly affordable, too. The motel rooms are nice, the campgrounds are meticulously maintained, the marina is first class, the golf course is great, and the food in the restaurant is excellent. Best of all, the Kentucky Dam Village is right on the water and easy to access off the interstate.
Kentucky Lake is a wonderful summer destination. The water is beautiful and the surrounding landscape is full of outdoor opportunity. One more important tip is to recommend you eat at Patti’s 1880’s Settlement. This restaurant is voted the No. 1 tourism restaurant in Kentucky for good reason. I had the best pork chop of my life there.
See you down the trail…
Brandon Butler writes an outdoors column for The Republic. Send comments to [email protected]. For more Driftwood Outdoors, check out the podcast on www.driftwoodoutdoors.com or anywhere podcasts are streamed.
