Sportsman's Lakes

 The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR) is  headquartered in Frankfort. The Salato Wildlife Center,  located there,  sits beside two lakes called Upper and Lower Sportsman’s Lakes. Both  lakes are part of the FINs program, and stocked with bass, crappie,  catfish, trout and bluegill.

I spent a couple of hours fishing the upper lake on a muggy June  afternoon. I threw spinners, tube jigs, and gulp baits, but nothing hit until the end, when I was throwing a pin’s minnow by Yo-zuri. I landed a 12 inch bass and threw him back.

There were several other people fishing, and I did notice some other  folks catching a variety of fish. One in particular caught a nice 7 lb  catfish next to me. He was using chunks of hotdog and had caught a few  smaller cats as well. Another group was catching crappie using wax  worms, every time they threw the line in. This all took place within an  hour of dusk.

The lakes are quite accessible, with floating piers and accessible  fishing points of various kinds. They are located west of 127 in  Frankfort, on US 60 past the airport. There is a pretty big sign with an  elk statue on top of it announcing the entrance. Hours are sunrise to  sunset.