The license year ends with February, so every annual license and trout permit runs out inside this quarter, whenever it was bought, and a new one is needed from March 1. The border agreements with six neighbors are back for this license year, the October-to-March trout waters stay catch and release until spring, and prices now move with inflation every two years.
What to fish for in early November
Kentucky's winter splits east and west. The western lakes and the water below the Ohio and Tennessee River dams carry the warm-water side, crappie on the ledges and sauger and stripers below the locks; the Cumberland below Wolf Creek and the October-to-March streams carry the trout; and the east has its muskellunge lakes and the native walleye that start up the rivers late in February.
Crappie
Holds on deep cover through the cold and feeds steadily, and the central lakes' fish start toward the banks in the warm spells of late winter.
Where. Ledges, brush and old stumps on Kentucky Lake and Barkley, and Green River, Barren River, Nolin and Rough River in the central hills.
The crappie waters we forecast Water Usual water now Forecast Lake Barkley about 63F Best Tue, Nov 10, A+Today's forecast Taylorsville Lake about 61F Best Thu, Nov 5, A+Today's forecast Rainbow Trout
Stocked fish carry the winter: the October-to-March streams get theirs in the fall and are fished catch and release until spring, and the Cumberland below Wolf Creek holds the fish stocked through December.
Where. The Cumberland below Wolf Creek Dam and the seasonal catch-and-release streams of the east.
The rainbow trout waters we forecast Water Forecast Cumberland River below Wolf Creek Dam Best Fri, Nov 13, AToday's forecast Walleye
Native Rockcastle-strain fish gather in the deep pools of the eastern rivers through the cold and start upstream late in February, among the first spawning runs of the year.
Where. The Rockcastle and the upper Cumberland above Cumberland Falls, and the lakes they drop back into.
The walleye waters we forecast Water Forecast Ohio River at Smithland Dam Today's forecast Musky
A cold-water fishery for the few who chase it, slow and deliberate, with the fish holding off the creek mouths and the standing timber.
Where. Cave Run Lake, Green River Lake and the eastern rivers that feed them.
The musky waters we forecast Water Usual water now Forecast Cave Run Lake about 61F Best Thu, Nov 5, A+Today's forecast Striped Bass
Feeds through the cold on Lake Cumberland, following the shad across the open water, and gathers below the big-river dams in the moving water.
Where. Lake Cumberland's open water and creek mouths, and the tailwaters below the Ohio River locks and the Barkley and Kentucky dams.
The striped bass waters we forecast Water Usual water now Forecast Lake Cumberland about 63F Best Sat, Nov 14, A+Today's forecast
Usual water now is that water's normal for this point in the season: a lake's modeled seasonal curve or a river gauge's long-run average, not this year's reading. The forecast link reads this week's.
What changes soon
Nothing on this report's calendar for Kentucky in the next six weeks.
In the last two weeks
- Sun November 1Delayed Harvest streams turn catch and release in Georgia, South Carolina and West Virginia, and on Big Soddy Creek in Tennessee; those in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Kentucky have been catch and release since October 1.
Every date for Kentucky from November to February (2)
- Sun November 1Delayed Harvest streams turn catch and release in Georgia, South Carolina and West Virginia, and on Big Soddy Creek in Tennessee; those in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Kentucky have been catch and release since October 1.
- Sun February 28Every Kentucky license and trout permit expires at midnight.
This week's fishing reports
This report covers the season. For what was caught this week, read the people who report on this water.
Kentucky's agency reports every week, on video: Kentucky Afield, the Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources' television show, posted a short fishing report every Friday last winter, from November 7 to February 27, without saying in writing which waters each one covered. In writing, Explore Kentucky Lake reports Kentucky Lake and Barkley every two to four weeks in winter. Lake Cumberland, the Cumberland tailwater, Dale Hollow, the Ohio River and the eastern lakes have no dated written report.
Where to fish in Kentucky, area by area
Each water links to its live forecast. The engine outlook in these areas was generated November 3, 2026, for the 14 days from that date; good hours are the hours at or above a B+.
Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley
Kentucky Lake · Lake Barkley · Land Between the Lakes
Kentucky Lake on the Tennessee and Lake Barkley on the Cumberland, side by side with Land Between the Lakes between them and a canal joining them, with long creek embayments, ledges and stump fields. Crappie, bass and catfish, and sauger below the dams.
Who reports here. Explore Kentucky Lake posted eight reports last winter, mostly Steve McCadams', every two to four weeks rather than weekly.
Engine outlook
- Best: Tue, Nov 10, A+13 good hours67F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 13h
Lake Cumberland and the tailwater
Lake Cumberland · Cumberland River below Wolf Creek Dam · Dale Hollow Lake · Laurel River Lake
Lake Cumberland, deep and clear in the hills of the south-central part of the state, the cold Cumberland below Wolf Creek Dam with its trout, and Dale Hollow and Laurel River lakes nearby.
Who reports here. No dated written report for the lake, the trout water below Wolf Creek Dam or Dale Hollow could be found: the marinas and striper guides publish nothing dated. The trout water is stocked every month from March to December, so not in January or February.
Engine outlook
- Best: Fri, Nov 13, A13 good hours62F measured Nov 3 at CUMBERLAND RIVER AT LONG BOTTOM NEAR ROWENA, KYbest run 13h
- Best: Sat, Nov 14, A+13 good hours67F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 13h
The central lakes
Green River Lake · Barren River Lake · Nolin River Lake · Rough River Lake · Taylorsville Lake
The flood-control lakes of central Kentucky, Green River, Barren River, Nolin and Rough River in the west-central hills and Taylorsville and Herrington in the Bluegrass, crappie, bass and catfish water that stays open through most winters, with Green River Lake also one of the state's muskellunge lakes.
Who reports here. No dated winter report could be found. The Department's weekly video report ran every Friday last winter, but which waters it covers is not written down, and its annual Fishing Forecast names several of these lakes among the best bets for late-winter slabs.
Engine outlook
- Best: Thu, Nov 5, A+13 good hours67F measured Nov 3 at TAYLORSVILLE LAKE NEAR TAYLORSVILLE, KYbest run 13h
The Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio along the whole northern border, a navigation river held by locks and dams from the West Virginia line to the Mississippi, with sauger, white and hybrid striped bass and big catfish below the dams.
Who reports here. Nobody publishes a dated report for the Ohio below its dams.
Engine outlook
- Its best day in this outlook has passed.
Eastern Kentucky
Cave Run Lake · Rockcastle River · Daniel Boone National Forest streams · Red River · Fishtrap Lake
The Appalachian east: Cave Run Lake with its muskellunge, the Rockcastle and the streams of the Daniel Boone National Forest, the Red River gorge, and the coalfield lakes, Fishtrap, Dewey and Paintsville.
Who reports here. Nobody reports the eastern lakes or streams: the Cave Run muskellunge site has posted nothing since 2015. The seasonal catch-and-release trout streams are open to March 31.
Engine outlook
- Best: Thu, Nov 5, A+12 good hours65F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 12h
The rules from November to February
What changed this time
- Every 2026-27 license and trout permit expires on February 28; fishing from March 1 takes a 2027-28 license.
- The border agreements are back for this license year: with Ohio, Indiana and Illinois on the Ohio River, Missouri on the Mississippi, Tennessee on Kentucky Lake, Dale Hollow and the Big South Fork, and West Virginia on the Big Sandy and Tug Fork.
- License and permit prices now move every two years with the consumer price index; this year's are in the rules below.
Read on October 19, 2026, from the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (its fishing guide and its license, permit and trout pages) and from the Kentucky Administrative Regulations, Title 301.
Licenses, and which state's rules apply
- Anglers 16 and older need a Kentucky fishing license, and a trout permit to keep trout. The license year runs from March 1 through the last day of February, so an annual license expires at the end of February whenever it was bought. An annual license costs a resident $24.31 and a nonresident $58.14, a day $7.40 or $15.86, a nonresident week $37, and the trout permit $10.57.
- A Kentucky license is good on the whole main stem of the Ohio River from a boat or the Illinois, Indiana or Ohio bank, on the Missouri side of the Mississippi, on the Tennessee parts of Kentucky Lake between the US 68 and US 79 bridges, the Wolf River arm of Dale Hollow and the Big South Fork from Leatherwood Ford to Yamacraw, and on the Big Sandy and Tug Fork main stems up to the Virginia line. From the bank, follow the rules of the state whose bank it is.
Bait, gear and fish you cannot keep
- No snagging within 200 yards below any dam on the Ohio River, and no taking fish from an aircraft. Artificial bait only, all year, on Chimney Top Creek in Wolfe County and the Dix River for two miles below Herrington Lake Dam, and no chumming on the Cumberland below Wolf Creek Dam.
Lakes, ponds and rivers
- Statewide, black bass are 6 a day, largemouth and smallmouth at least 12 inches; walleye and sauger 6 of at least 14; white and hybrid striped bass 15, no more than five of them 15 inches or longer; striped bass 5 of at least 15; crappie 20; muskellunge 1 of at least 30. On Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley largemouth and smallmouth must be at least 15 inches and crappie at least 10. Lake Cumberland allows 2 striped bass of at least 22 inches, with smallmouth at least 18 inches and crappie at least 10; the Ohio River 30 white, striped and hybrid bass, only four of them 15 inches or longer.
- On the rivers stocked with the native Rockcastle strain of walleye, among them the Rockcastle and the Cumberland above Cumberland Falls, walleye are 2 a day and every one from 18 to 26 inches goes back.
- Statewide you may keep 8 rainbow trout a day and 1 brown trout of at least 16 inches, with no culling, and brook trout go back. The seasonal catch-and-release streams are artificial bait only, every trout released, from October 1 through March 31. On the Cumberland below Wolf Creek Dam everyone needs a trout permit, rainbows are 5 a day with none from 15 to 20 inches and only one over 20, and brown trout 1 of at least 20 inches.
Read on these agency pages: KDFWR: Frequently Asked Questions, KDFWR: Kentucky Fishing and Boating Guide, March 2026 to February 2027 (PDF), 301 KAR 1:201: Taking of fish by traditional fishing methods, KDFWR: Trout Streams Program in Kentucky for 2026 (PDF).
The season at a glance
What these months usually do
Each lake's own seasonal curve, the one the engine scores the lake on: what these dates usually do, modeled rather than measured, and not a forecast for this year.
| Water | Nov 1 | Dec 1 | Jan 1 | Feb 1 | Feb 28 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cave Run Lake | 62F | 51F | 45F | 42F | 44F |
| Lake Barkley | 64F | 54F | 46F | 44F | 46F |
| Lake Cumberland | 64F | 54F | 47F | 45F | 46F |
| Taylorsville Lake | 62F | 51F | 44F | 41F | 45F |
The moon from November to February
| Month | New moon | Full moon |
|---|---|---|
| November 2026 | Mon, Nov 9 | Tue, Nov 24 |
| December 2026 | Tue, Dec 8 | Wed, Dec 23 |
| January 2027 | Thu, Jan 7 | Fri, Jan 22 |
| February 2027 | Sat, Feb 6 | Sat, Feb 20 |
The U.S. Naval Observatory's dates, on local time.
Daylight in each area from November to February
Worked out for one place in each area, on its own clock.
| Area | Shortest day | Earliest sunset | Latest sunrise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkleyat Lake Barkley | 9h 38m, Dec 21 | 4:37pm, around Dec 6 | 7:06am, around Jan 6 |
| Lake Cumberland and the tailwaterat Cumberland River below Wolf Creek Dam | 9h 38m, Dec 21 | 4:25pm, around Dec 6 | 6:55am, around Jan 6 |
| The central lakesat Taylorsville Lake, on Eastern time | 9h 31m, Dec 21 | 5:23pm, around Dec 7 | 7:59am, around Jan 5 |
| The Ohio Riverat Ohio River at Smithland Dam | 9h 36m, Dec 21 | 4:38pm, around Dec 7 | 7:09am, around Jan 6 |
| Eastern Kentuckyat Cave Run Lake, on Eastern time | 9h 31m, Dec 21 | 5:16pm, around Dec 7 | 7:52am, around Jan 5 |