At Chimney Top Creek, brown trout are stocked only once per year, usually sometime during the month of June. But the specific date is purposely not announced. Around 450 trout are released at this time and will average 3 to 4 inches in length. Stocking personnel release fish in both Chimney Top and Right Fork.

Brown trout have been stocked at this creek since 1990 and show good signs of carryover. The trout grow well in the stream and reach the minimum harvest size fairly quickly. Some angler reports have indicated catches of brown trout up to 18 or 19 inches at Chimney Top.

The lower section of the creek is much bigger than upstream. This section has some fairly large open areas and affords the opportunity for some casting and fly-fishing. Upstream, the creek narrows, which limits fishing opportunity.

There is a variety of habitat along the stream. There are sections with large boulders and other sections with a lot of woody habitat such as fallen trees and submerged structure. Some time back, big rains washed a lot of debris into the lower section. There are some fairly deep pools in the creek and also some long stretches of fairly shallow water.

PARCHED CORN CREEK
Brook trout are an entirely different game altogether. In Kentucky waters, they are in limited supply, difficult to access, and tough to catch. Additionally, they are governed by catch-and-release regulations the year around.

There is also much debate among some anglers over the brook trout. Many folks say there are no trout native to Kentucky waters and that all species have been introduced to the Bluegrass State through stocking. Others argue that there was a small native population of brook trout in certain streams.

Regardless of what the true history concerning brook trout may be, we do have fishing opportunities for them now. The KDFWR has stocked brook trout in the past, and stockings have also been done by at least one private individual. There are currently no stockings ongoing for brook trout in Kentucky.

One of the two DBNF streams that have wild brook trout is Parched Corn Creek in Wolfe County. It is the easier of the two to access. Even then, there is no direct access, and it can be reached only by hiking.

Parched Corn Creek joins the Red River between where Chimney Top Creek and Swift Camp Creek meet. The river and is around 1.5 miles or so from where Swift Camp Creek goes into the river. Forest Service Road 10 travels along one ridgetop while Highway 715 parallels it on another ridgetop. Parched Corn Creek is located in the drainage between these two roads.

There are some signs of natural reproduction in the creek for wild brook trout. Fish as small as 2 inches have been sampled, even though stocking was being discontinued there several years back. Anglers should expect most fish caught from this stream to be fairly small, with the largest usually between 7 to 10 inches.

The KDFWR has sampled the creek occasionally through the years. Their last sampling was done in 2000, when biologists sampled more fish than during the last previous sampling in 1994. Sampled fish were between 2 and 7 inches in length. The area of the creek sampled had a maximum width of 12 feet with an average depth of 9 inches and a maximum depth of 12 inches.