One other key factor in deciding where to release trout is whether or not anglers can get to the waters, according to Axon. There are some streams cold enough, but private landowners aren't agreeable to public access. This is one reason why so many trout streams lie in the Daniel Boone National Forest. And some, like a portion of Otter Creek on Ft. Knox military land, and a stream or two on Ft. Campbell, get trout. People can get to these streams and benefit from the stockings.

Most streams are of such a nature that stockings are designed to provide an immediate harvest opportunity. They're called put-and-take fisheries where trout are released at 8 or 9 inches long usually, and stockings are posted on the agency's Web site. The streams are open under general statewide regulations, which is eight fish per day for rainbows with no size limit.

That's also true with many of the smaller lakes and tailwaters the KDFWR stocks. Trout are released into the waterway while the water remains cold enough, but habitat and food available may be limited. Expecting many, if any, fish to live, grow and later be caught the next year just isn't realistic.

Some creeks, though, do have what it takes for trout to do well year 'round. These are often selected for different management, either where a size limit, delayed harvest approach or artificial lure restriction is used to protect them longer.

It's an attempt to provide fishermen with some spots where they can encounter holdover fish, and have a higher quality experience and better chance of taking fish of greater sizes. One way to recognize which streams are the put-grow-take waters is to look for those with special regulations, creeks getting larger numbers of rainbows, and those receiving brown trout in addition to rainbows.

Dave Dreves is a research biologist with the KDFWR. He has recently spent extensive time studying the Cumberland River trout fishery. Known everywhere as the Commonwealth's premier and trophy trout river, the Cumberland is a larger body of water and example of a put, grow-and-take management scheme.

"In our smaller streams, we have a similar type philosophy on about a dozen creeks where we use delayed- harvest periods between Oct. 1 and March 31 each year, which allows some of what we stock to remain," Dreves said.

There are two or three management techniques, depending on the waterway and the fishing pressure, that biologists use for put, grow-and-take.

"Hatchery-raised trout are pretty susceptible to being caught quickly right after they are let go," Dreves said.

"So we set a period on some of the higher quality waterways when anglers have to return fish they catch so we can develop some better quality fishing than what the immediate harvest of a large part of the stocking permits," Dreves said.

"In some cases, we have a minimum size limit and a reduced creel to stretch out the opportunity a little longer.

"It just all depends on what is best suited for the stream, tailwater or lake being managed. Sometimes we use a combination of restrictions to further protect the fishery from overharvest and try to create a better balance of multiple sizes," Dreves noted.

Within this array of management for Kentucky trout, let's take a look at a few of the opportunities available for fast trout action this spring. We'll cover a few of the better put-and-take fisheries, put, grow-and-take spots, and note a couple of places for both rainbow and brown trout fishing in the same waters, and some out-of-the-way brook trout fishing.