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February. Ask around and you’ll find it is a least favorite month, especially among those of us who like to prowl around in the woods and on the water. Not the least favorite, perhaps, but few outdoor types have a deep fondness for February.
This can be unfair, especially if you like to trout fish in Kentucky.
While trout fishing around the Commonwealth isn’t necessarily more productive in February than, say, May, June, September or October, there are more places to fish for trout right now.
Let me explain.
Kentucky’s trout program is hatchery supported. And while a few waters, including the Cumberland River tailwater below Wolf Creek Dam (the state’s largest and most productive trout water) and a handful of Appalachian creeks, experience some natural trout reproduction, the statewide program is supported by regular stockings. State fishery officials have identified numerous creeks and streams that have the water quality to support trout year-round. These waters get trout most months of the year, and some are managed under special regulations.
During the winter season, however, trout stocking is expanded to what the state fishery folks sometimes refer to as “seasonal” waters or “p-t” fisheries, which generally are lakes and ponds and a few streams that will support trout during the colder months but not during the summer. Trout are cold-water critters. When water temperatures creep into the 70s, trout stress. Warmer water temperatures are fatal. The “p-t” is shorthand for put-and-take. These waters are stocked for wintertime fishing fun.
Get out and catch some.
While the winter trout stocking bloom usually starts in November, February can be a particularly fun time to go. The weather is often surprisingly moderate. Trout that were stocked in the first round of winter stockings (and survived) have become somewhat acclimated to their surroundings. Fishing pressure will be light.
The Fishing in Neighborhoods (FINs) program particularly benefits from winter trout stockings. FINs lakes and ponds are found in urban settings across the state. More than 40 FINs waters get trout from October/November though February/March. By late winter (February), fishing pressure often is surprisingly light, but the fish often are very cooperative.
Winter-season waters get rainbow trout from the Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery. Stocking-size trout are generally 9-11 inches. Statewide daily and possession limits are generous, and there is no minimum size limit. Special regulations apply to some waters.
FINs lake aren’t the only waters that get winter trout. Morton’s Lake on the Higginson/Henry Wildlife Management Area (Union County), for example, usually gets a February stocking; so do Paintsville Lake (February and March) and a few others, including three waters on the Peabody Wildlife Management Area.
That is not a misprint, although Jeremy Shiflet, the state’s Northwestern Fishery District biologist, would understand if you thought it might be. The Peabody WMA is scattered across more than 41,000 acres in Ohio, Hopkins and Muhlenberg counties. It’s largely reclaimed strip mine property, and while it is dotted with hundreds of lakes and ponds—many of which harbor bass, panfish and other fish—only a handful have the temperature and water quality to support trout, and that’s only during cold-weather months.
“[Peabody] does get trout [stocked] in three lakes,” Shiflet said. “Rob’s Lake, Flycatcher Lake and Access Lake get trout.”
These are not managed as catch-and-release fisheries. By late spring, the waters likely will be too warm for trout to survive.
“We want anglers to catch them and enjoy them,” Shiflet added.
Unless license exempt, anglers need both a fishing license and a trout stamp to possess trout from any waters. Anglers on the Peabody property also need a Peabody user permit, which is available where licenses are sold.
Trout stocking dates and times can vary during the winter due to weather and road conditions. For information about the trout stocking program, including the location of most stocked waters, visit fw.ky.gov or contact the Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources at 1-800-858-1549.
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February, of course, has other positive attributes. It’s Black History Month. It’s American Heart Month. It’s National Bird Feeding Month. And four United States presidents were born in February: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan and William Henry Harrison.
Only one, Washington, was a fisherman.
Readers may contact Gary Garth at editor@kentuckymonthly.com