Photo by Tom Evans

Over the past several years, trout-fishing opportunities have grown by leaps and bounds. The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR) has structured such an outstanding trout program, it's hard to imagine all the options that are now available.

These days, we enjoy the results of trout being regularly stocked in lakes, rivers, and streams. We also have seasonal catch-and-release waters and other locations with the potential for trophy fish. What more could any angler want?

Kentucky has an immense trout-rearing and stocking program. The Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery, near the dam on Lake Cumberland, produces some 850,000 trout a year for Commonwealth waters. Of these, around 100,000 are brown trout, with the remainder being rainbows.

Nearly 160,000 rainbows are stocked in myriad streams. Some 250,000 salmonids are stocked into the tailwaters below 14 of our dams. Another 250,000 rainbows are stocked into nearly 30 different lakes. Brown trout are released in several of our streams and tailwaters. Additionally, trout are put in waters at both the Ft. Campbell and Ft. Knox military reservations, providing a plethora of trouting-fishing opportunities in the Bluegrass State.

But there are great differences in the waters. Not all are stocked with the same number of fish. Stocking is based on the water's size, its accessibility for anglers, fishing pressure, and each water's potential to support or even grow trout. Some waters will support trout only during the coolest time of the year, while others offer year-round fishing.

For example, the Cumberland River is our premier trout water. Subsequently, it receives vastly more rainbow and brown trout than anywhere else in the state. There are around 75 miles of river accessible to Kentucky anglers; the Cumberland claims the state records for rainbow, brown, and lake trout.

The Cumberland River may be our most famous trout water, but it's certainly not our only trout haven. Bluegrass State anglers can find most anything they're looking for. So here's a preview of some of our choices for 2007, along with details on stocking and angling opportunities at some of the better locations.

SEASONAL CATCH-AND-RELEASE
We now have some 15 streams included in the seasonal catch-and- release program. Originally, this program was called the Delayed Harvest Program, but confusion over what the name implied led to the change.

Basically, regardless of what it is called, the program is relatively simple to understand. Trout are stocked into these streams in October, and anglers may fish for them, but are not allowed to keep them. Anglers must use artificial baits only and immediately return any trout caught back into the water.