Lake Reba

I love a surprise.  After a rainy week, prospects for kayaking up the  Dix River weren’t looking good—the USGS web page showed water volume on  the Kentucky River at High Bridge to be 20 times higher than the week  before, killing my plan to check out trout fishing on the Dix.  The day  was getting old, so I decided to head to Lake Reba in Richmond, KY, only  35 minutes away.

I had been on Reba once before in the late ‘90s.  It was a poor  experience then.  My expectations for this trip were minimal; most word  of mouth has been dismal, and the KDFWR web site only mentions weed problems and stunted fish.  I figured I could take some pictures and  catch a bluegill or two—and wait out the wet weather for another  weekend.  Leaving Lexington at 4:30 PM, it was a little after 5 when I  was in the water.  The facilities at the launch area (no fee) are fairly  nice, with several hundred yards of shoreline for foot access and a  concrete slab pier that is accessible for wheelchair and folks who have a  hard time walking on the sloped grass banks that lead to the water.

There are a few small islands and a number of weed mats, along with a  rock pile or two in the 75 acre lake. There is a significant weed  problem in the lake, not surprising because of its shallow depth (27  feet is the deepest, but much is 5-10 feet), as well as being bounded by  a golf course and city park (lots of fertilizer/chemicals).  Not to  cause paranoia, but worth noting is that the southern end of the lake  borders the Bluegrass Army Depot, home of a major chemical weapons  storage and destruction area.  Though I’m sure it is perfectly safe to  eat fish out of the lake, I feel like there are better places to catch  dinner.

A muggy 85 degree, slightly overcast August day, the air definitely  felt like Kentucky summer.  I began by paddling to the first island, and  throwing a shallow crankbait near overhanging brush, then moved to a  floating weed patch, then a long stretch of shoreline.  After an hour of  trying this tactic, with no strikes, and no visuals of any fish (the  water is crystal clear, just lots of weeds), I tied on my old favorite  chartreuse roostertail.  Another hour of casting, and around 7 PM, as I  contemplated heading back and declaring the lake a waste of time, a  bluegill came from the depths to hit the lure right next to the boat.   Fishing the shallows and weedy edges had produced nothing, because  everything in the lake was on the bottom, apparently.

I paddled toward a tree trunk and weed mat, that turned out to be a  rock pile.  Several casts, allowed to sink first and retrieved slowly,  hooked a couple of little bluegill.  Better than nothing, but I was  looking for more. Noticing a weed mat and another small island further  up the lake, I started to paddle up the middle to try another spot.   Halfway there ,I noticed swirls on the surface, between small floating  patched of weeds that dot the surface.  I decided to fish the middle,  and did so by sinking the roostertail to the bottom (5-6 feet), then  starting a slow, staggered retrieve.  I could feel weed cover on the  bottom, but never did snag anything or lose any lures on tangles.  After  about 10 casts, I hooked something-certainly a bass by the long, quick  movements.  I started reeling, and then he really pulled back, pulling  line off a pretty tight drag. This fish had size!

I loosened the drag so he wouldn’t break the line.  The fight lasted a  good 90 seconds.  Each time I got him near the boat, he would run  again.  Finally, he quit, and I got him close enough to lip into the  boat.  A nice, hog-headed largemouth, maybe 19 inches, and every bit of  three pounds plus.  Just barely hooked—one more twist, and he would have  gotten away.  I snapped a couple of quick pictures, and let him go.   Now I was dialed in on how and where to fish this lake.

In the next half hour, using the same lure and retrieve, I landed  four more decent 12-13 inch largemouths.  No pictures, but plenty of  fun.  Three other boats joined me in that time.  One boat continued  fishing the edges, and he caught bluegill every other cast.  The two  other boats were using the same technique I had hit upon, in the middle,  on the bottom, slow and staggered.  Those two boats were catching  decent bass every couple of minutes, as well.

After an hour, I switched lures.  I tied on a Shallow Fry, which had  been my bass assassin on Cedar Creek Lake.  On the third cast, I hooked a  nice one, which circled twice, peeling off the drag.  Then it stopped,  and the line was stuck.  I pulled very slowly, and the snag gave way,  revealing a massive clump of weeds.  The line snapped, but I grabbed the  weed clump, and retrieved the lure.  I tied it again, and threw a few  more times, hooking a 12 inch largemouth.  I pulled him to the boat, and  as I pulled him out of the water, he jerked and snapped the line, lure  in mouth.  I circled, waiting and watching for the lure to float to the  surface.  No luck.  It was getting dark, and I had a pretty good paddle  back to the ramp ahead of me.

Lake Reba managed to surprise me.  I went with low expectations, and  ended up with the largest bass I had caught in years, along with several  other nice ones. As I rolled back toward the ramp, dozens of  shore-fishers had set up for the evening bite.  Plenty of “woo-hoos”  could be heard, as they reeled in catfish, bluegill, and bass.  What a  great Urban Fishing lake, I thought.  I just wished that Lexington,  Richmond’s neighbor to the north, could get its act together and work on  producing a comparable fishing lake.

The Details 

Lake Reba is just off of US 52 on the southeast side of Richmond, KY. The city website has good information and maps: Lake Reba Site . There is a 15 inch minimum on bass, maximum of three per angler.  The  lake is limited to electric motors only, and there is parking for 10-15  trucks with trailers.  Restrooms, courtesy dock, cleaning station, and  parking are all adjacent to the ramp.   A large city park and Gibson Bay  golf course border the lake, and the amenities of town are nearby.