Catfish are a popular fish species during the summer months.
Central Kentucky anglers who want to catch a trophy-sized Blue Catfish have a good opportunity right at their doorstep, no need to travel to far western Kentucky.
Taylorsville Lake, 25 miles southeast of Louisville in Spencer, Anderson, and Nelson counties, is a top destination in Kentucky, somewhat overshadowed by the fisheries in Kentucky Lake, Lake Barkley and the lower Ohio River.
Kentucky’s largest catfish
The Blue Catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) is Kentucky’s largest catfish.
They can attain enormous size. The current Kentucky state record is 106.9 pounds, and was caught by Glynn Grogan from the Ohio River on October 20, 2018.
The Blue Catfish is native to the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and their major tributaries. In recent years Blue Catfish have been stocked into Taylorsville Lake, four other major reservoirs and and handful of small, state-owned lakes.
There are several reasons why Blue Catfish thrive in Taylorsville Lake.
First and foremost might be that Taylorsville Lake is a hyper-eutrophic lake of high productivity, the most fertile major lake in Kentucky.
This high fertility is due to the discharge of treated sewage effluent from the cities of Lawrenceburg and Harrodsburg, and runoff from numerous cattle and dairy farms in the Salt River basin.
The lake also supports a big population of Gizzard Shad, one of the Blue Catfish’s preferred food fish, and unlike Kentucky Lake, Lake Barkley and the Ohio River, there is no commercial (net) fishing allowed on Taylorsville Lake.
On Taylorsville Lake anglers have a good opportunity of catching a Blue Catfish, 40 inches and larger. A trophy Blue Catfish is defined as a 35-incher.
Some natural reproduction has been detected since 2012, but not enough for a self-sustaining population, so there have been periodic supplemental stockings.
A total of 23,500 eight to 15-inch Blue Catfish were stocked in August, 2016, at a rate of 7.7 fish per acre.
In 2018, 7,000 Blue Catfish were stocked at the Possum Ridge boat ramp, and 9,500 at the Settler’s Trace boat ramp.
In recent years, 23,500 Blue Catfish have ben stocked in the lake annually, at various locations.
Size and coloration
Coloration is bluish-gray, with silvery sides and a white belly, without any spots or other markings. The tail is deeply forked and the anal fin is rounded.
Food habits
The Blue Catfish consumes crayfish, freshwater mussels and fish, both alive and fresh killed, with a preference for Gizzard Shad. Some anglers targeting Blue Catfish in Taylorsville Lake prefer to fish cut up chunks of shad, or bluegill.
Where to Find Blue Catfish During the Summer
During warm weather months catfish vary their depth daily, in predictable patterns.
Slow your bait presentation down, and probe every hump, ditch, channel, rock pile or hole in the bottom cover. Put the bait right in front of the catfish’s nose so he gets two or three good looks at the bait, not just a fleeting glance.
Drifting is an especially effective technique during the summer when catfish are widely scattered across the flat basins of major reservoirs.Early in the morning catfish will be up on top of the ledge, but midday they move down into the river channel, in deeper water.
In the late afternoon, catfish will move back up on top of the break, where the river bank once was, and there are tree stumps and other cover still in place.
Drift at a speed where the line is at about a 45-degree angle behind the boat, to aid in feeling the bottom contour, and avoiding snags. Raise and lower the bait very slowly. That’s when most strikes occur.
Tackle and rigs
Tackle should include heavy-action rods, and stout line spooled on casting reels.
Some anglers spool their casting reels in braided line, and use heavy monofilament line, 17- to 30-pound test, for the leaders.
The palomar knot is an excellent knot for tying on the large hooks (No. 4 to 3/0) used in catfishing. Fingernail clippers worn around your neck on a lanyard are ideal for clipping line.
The hook of choice for catfish is the circle hook, which ensures more consistent hookups. When the angler feels the catfish on the line, simply raise the rod tip and start reeling.
Consult a hook chart for recommended hook sizes, based on the size of catfish likely to be encountered.
The basic catfish drifting rig starts with a three-way swivel.
Use a bell sinker for the weight on the bottom of the rig, tied to the three-way swivel on a 24 to 30-inch leader. Typically, the hook leader is shorter, about 20 inches long. Foam floats are sometime added to the hook leader to keep the bait up in the water column, just off the bottom.
Most anglers use lighter line on the sinker leader, to prevent losing the whole rig when the sinker snags.
Creel limits
The daily creel limit on Taylorsville Lake is five catfish per angler, Channel Catfish and Blue Catfish combined. No more than one fish may be over 25 inches.
For more information on Taylorsville Lake visit KDFWR’s fisheries website.
It’s summer, it’s hot.
Go fishing early and late in the day, or at night. Early morning fishing is especially productive if there’s a cooling rain in the morning forecast or heavy overcast after an overnight rain.
