Rock Creek is a beautiful, scenic waterway that just happens to fit the needs of trout perfectly. Anglers can expect to find fish there in good quantity and better sizes than in many other stocked streams. Like many streams in this vicinity, Rock Creek is very clear, bounded by huge boulders and rock outcroppings, and is best suited to belly-tubes or wading.

"It gets pretty narrow in spots, so floating with a small boat can become a chore when you have to portage it to the next hole," said KDFWR Information Officer Lee McClellan.

McClellan recommends using very light spinning tackle or fly-fishing with small, light flies to avoid spooking fish.

"It's good all the way down to the Tennessee state line and reminds you of one of those pristine places you see on television, if you like that type of atmosphere," McClellan added.

TRAMMEL FORK
Down in Allen County, a high-quality western trout stream called Trammel Fork gets quite a bit of angler attention, and rightfully so. First, it gets chocked full of rainbows April through September -- about 10,000 rainbows.

It's easy to find and marked well by signs, off U.S. Route 231 south of Scottsville and downstream from the confluence with Drakes Creek. There are about four miles of good water to fish, and much of it can be waded.

Interestingly, while no special regulations are in place on Trammel Fork, it is one of the 13 Kentucky streams where brown trout are also released once a year. On this waterway, 400 browns go in annually.

Most of the streams where browns can do well include some deeper pools with a little heavier shoreline cover. Trammel Fork has both and stays pretty cold year 'round.

While there are overhanging trees in many places, anglers can fly-fish the riffles and pools without too much trouble. Fishermen on this and any other streams where access may be through private lands need to gain landowner permission first, before hopping out and taking off.

OTHER STREAMS OF NOTE
For other opportunities where both rainbows and browns live together, check out Big Caney Creek and Laurel Creek in Elliott County, Bark Camp Creek in Whitley County, and the East Fork of Indian Creek in Menifee County. On the East Fork, be sure you contact the U.S. Forest Service in Morehead regarding access. Some of the roads around the creek were washed out, but work had begun to restore them last fall.

Taking a look at Paint Creek, the tailwaters of Paintsville Lake, isn't a bad bet either, now that a 16-inch minimum size limit and one-fish daily creel limit have been put in place from the SR 40 bridge downstream to the first U.S. 460 bridge crossing. Where minimum size limits and tighter creel limits are, there are usually better trout to be caught, so check spots like this one for good action this spring.

If you're the kind of trout angler who wants to stay clear of everything and everybody, and likes the challenge brook trout provide, check out the KDFWR's 2006 Fishing & Boating Guide regulation booklet to find out about the four or five streams where that fishing is available.

It's all catch-and-release and artificial, single-hook lure fishing only, but the experience is truly different than other trout fishing. Sometimes when you work a little more for it, it means a little more. It all depends on what you're looking for when seeking this wonderful species of fish in the Commonwealth.