See every public fishing venue in Kentucky on the map, with boat ramps, camping, parking and full rules for each one.
Lake Barkley is a public lake in Lyon County and Trigg County, Kentucky, managed by Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources. It is public water managed for fishing by the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources. Public access confirmed via marquee water.
Lake Barkley — the Cumberland River's answer to Kentucky Lake, 57,900 acres joined to it at Land Between the Lakes. Slightly more stained and fertile: outstanding crappie, largemouth bass in the bays and cypress, sauger below the dam, bluegill, and blue and flathead catfish.
Lake Barkley covers about 39,496 acres in the Western Kentucky region. Anglers here mostly fish for largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, spotted bass, white crappie; black crappie, bluegill, redear sunfish, sauger are also on record. The nearest other mapped waters on PiscaMaps are Energy Lake and Honker Lake.
Species from PiscaMaps water-type profiles, KDFWR trout designations and hand research.
Night fishing: No statewide night-fishing closure in Kentucky. Some KDFWR lakes and FINS lakes have posted hours or gate at dark, and a few trout and special-regulation sections are daylight-only — check the water-specific rules. Trotlines, limb lines, jugs and set lines are legal on most waters (not on trout water or in most state-park lakes) with the gear tagged.
Boats: Kentucky Lake, Barkley, Cumberland, Dale Hollow, Green River, Barren River, Herrington and the other big Corps/TVA reservoirs have no horsepower limit; idle / no-wake zones are marked near ramps, dams and marinas. Most KDFWR lakes and state-park lakes are electric-motor-only or have a gas-horsepower cap, and FINS lakes are typically electric or car-top only. Kentucky requires a boater-safety certificate for operators 12-17.
Bank & bivvy camping: Camp at Kentucky state parks (which sit on many of the best lakes — Lake Cumberland, Barren River, Green River, Dale Hollow, Kenlake and Kentucky Dam Village on Kentucky Lake, Grayson, Greenbo, Jenny Wiley on Dewey, Buckhorn), Corps campgrounds on the big reservoirs, and the Daniel Boone National Forest (dispersed camping allowed on much of it, including along the trout streams). Land Between the Lakes has both developed and backcountry camping with a permit.
Tackle: Statewide black-bass daily limit is 6 in combination (12-inch minimum on largemouth/smallmouth), but many waters carry their own slot or minimum — Dale Hollow, Cave Run, Green River Lake, the Cumberland tailwater and others. Crappie 30 on most reservoirs (with 9- or 10-inch minimums on some); muskellunge 30-inch minimum, 1 per day; the striped-bass and trout limits vary by water. Check the current KDFWR sport-fishing guide for this water.
Boat ramps: 18 mapped — Boat ramp, Boat ramp, Boat Ramp, Boat ramp, Boat ramp, Cravens Bay Boat Ramp at Land Between The Lakes and others nearby.
Camping: 6 sites mapped nearby — Demumbers Bay Backcountry Area & Boat Ramp at Land Between The Lakes, Nickell Branch Basic Campground, Old Kuttawa, Cravens Bay Campground & Boat Ramp at Land Between The Lakes, Linton, Energy Lake Campground.
Source: OpenStreetMap contributors.
Anyone 16+ needs a Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources fishing licence — resident annual is about $23, non-resident annual about $60, and short-term (1-day / 7-day / 15-day) licences are sold. A trout permit (~$10, resident and non-resident alike) is required to fish for or keep trout anywhere in the state. Kentucky residents 65+ (and disabled residents) can buy a discounted Senior/Disabled combination licence; residents born before 1 Jan 1961 may fish without a licence. Buy from KDFWR at fw.ky.gov. A Kentucky fishing licence covers this water. Kentucky Lake, Lake Barkley and Dale Hollow are fished lake-wide on a Kentucky or Tennessee licence.
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