Welcome to our Cave Run Lake Fishing Home Page
Cave Run Lake is a beautiful lake that covers 8,270 acres at full summer pool. It is located in the beautiful mountains of eastern Kentucky just south of Morehead and about 60 miles east of Lexington. Most people hear of Cave Run Lake for the muskie fishing, which is rare for the state of Kentucky. However, there is some very good crappie fishing here too to go along with largemouth bass and many other species of fish.
Learn About the Fish
Primary Species of Fish
Largemouth Bass, Crappie & Muskie
Cave Run Lake is known for its good muskie fishery in the south. You don’t have too many places where you can fish for Muskie in the south, so the muskie fishery definitely helps put Cave Run Lake on the map. The largemouth bass fishery is solid too. Anglers can definitely target them and expect to catch fish. Some big fish are here too.
Secondary Species of Fish
Smallmouth Bass, Spotted Bass, Striped Bass, White Bass, Catfish & Bluegill
For most anglers, the muskie fishery overshadows just about everything else on Cave Run Lake. There are some other species of fish to target here though. Anglers may catch smallmouth bass, spotted bass, white bass, striped bass, catfish and bluegill.
Cave Run Tailwater Fishing (Licking River)
There is a tailwater fishery below the dam on Cave Run Lake. This tailwater feeds the Licking River and it offers some pretty good fishing at times. Some anglers report some good fishing while others don’t do very well down here. This tailwater does offer anglers some rainbow trout, largemouth bass, catfish, white bass and the mighty muskie. Hit it right down here and you can have a blast, but there is a lot of fishing pressure in this spot.
Fish the Creek Arms
There aren’t a lot of creek arms on Cave Run Lake compared to many of the other popular lakes to fish in Kentucky and Tennessee, however, there are enough of them here to fish this pattern. These areas are usually better in the spring and fall. The spring is better as good numbers of fish move into these areas to spawn. You will find plenty of rocks, wood and there are some fish attractors places in these creeks as well.
Fish the Flats
There are some large flats on Cave Run Lake and at times, you can find some nice fish roaming the flats. The flats are usually much better in the spring and fall. In the spring, warmer waters will attract plenty of fish to these flats in the weeks leading up to the spawn. In the fall, as water temperatures cool, you can find lots of baitfish move onto these large flats and game fish will follow. If you don’t find any nice bass or muskie hanging around the flats, the white bass are usually willing to eat a bait that mimics a minnow. Lots of smaller minnows roam the flats and white bass are pretty common in these areas.
Fish Offshore
If you take a look at a contour map of Cave Run Lake, you will see that there is some good structure on the middle to lower end of the lake. These are great areas to target a variety of bass, panfish and muskie during the summer and fall months. Use your electronics to get on some of the drop-offs to see where the fish are hanging out any given day. Find schools of baitfish out here and you can run into some nice schools of game fish.
Fish the Points
There are a few major points on this lake with some smaller points to target too. This lake isn’t loaded with points though, so this pattern may be good one day and not so good the next. There just aren’t enough points on the lake where you can just run and gun and fish this pattern. However, when you pull up to a point, it is definitely worth taking a few casts to see if any fish willing to eat your bait.
Fish the Rocks
There is a good amount of rocks in Cave Run Lake. You will find plenty of rocky shorelines to fish and there are usually plenty of fish along these shorelines in the spring. The deeper rocks will hold better fish in the summer and fall.
Fish the Shorelines
The shorelines have a good mixture of cover to fish on Cave Run Lake. You will find rocks, weeds, wood and a bunch of fish attractors throughout the lake. Some parts of the lake are fairly shallow while other shorelines will have some nice drop-offs nearby. The shallower shorelines are typically much better in the spring as warmer water temperatures usually position lots of fish deeper from summer through early fall.
Fish the Weeds
Cave Run Lake does have a good amount of vegetation in the lake. When the bass are relating to the weeds, you can usually catch some nice bass around the deeper weed edges and over the submerged vegetation.
Fish the Wood
Cave Run Lake has a lot of wood in the lake. There is wood along the shorelines, standing timber offshore in some areas and Kentucky Fish and Wildlife does a really good job of adding fish attractors throughout Cave Run Lake.
