Fishing at Cedar Creek Lake

Kentucky Life host Doug Flynn is an avid recreational angler, and visiting Cedar Creek Lake in Lincoln County was an exciting experience.

Cedar Creek Lake was impounded in 2002. Marcy Anderson, Fisheries Program Coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, says that the agency has been tracking the lake’s fish population and stocking it as necessary since 2003.

Largemouth bass are a big draw for anglers, but the lake is also home to a robust population of sunfish.

“We do have several different bank fishing areas that are available, so you don’t have to have a boat to come out and fish Cedar Creek,” says Anderson. “Bring the kid and fish along the bank, and you’re certain to catch some bluegills at least.”

The area around Cedar Creek Lake is also an important habitat for several bird species. Lauren Taylor, an avian biologist with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, explains that the lake provides a home for birds of prey that were nearly extinct in Kentucky in the recent past.

“Most raptors in Kentucky declined in the mid 1900s. That was due to the pesticide DDT,” says Taylor, adding that DDT was banned in 1972. “[Ospreys and eagles] vanished as breeding species in Kentucky.”

Now, Taylor says, the populations are rebounding.

“We have 174 eagle nests documented in Kentucky,” she says. “Most of those nests are in far western Kentucky, so it’s really special to have eagles at Cedar Creek Lake because it’s more of a central/eastern Kentucky location.

“Ospreys are really special,” Taylor continues. “Well over half of the nests are in the farthest western part of the state; 99 nests out of 155 are in Land Between the Lakes alone. So to have them this far east is really cool.”

Ospreys are migratory birds that can fly 2,000 miles every year as they journey to South and Central America for the winter, but they always return home for the summer season.

“Once they are successful at building a nest, laying eggs, and successfully hatching and fledging chicks, they become attached to that area,” says Taylor. “They are notorious for having very high nest site fidelity. They will build in the same spot and come back every single year.”

This segment is part of Kentucky Life season 25, episode 9, which originally aired on January 11, 2020. Watch the full episode.