LIMESTONE DRIFT KENTUCKY WATER, TOLD STRAIGHT
FIELD CARD Pool & Access · No. 11-3
Cannelton pool · Dixie Highway corridor · I-264 exit 3 · US 31W/60 · Jefferson and Hardin counties

Ohio River at Louisville

Below the dam on the Kentucky bank: Shawnee Park's two-lane ramp, opened by KDFWR and Metro Parks in 2021 as "access to the Cannelton Pool of the Ohio River"; the Greenwood Ramp in Riverview Park; the West Point ramp on the Salt River, "TEMPORARILY CLOSED!"; and Mauckport's fee ramp in Indiana.

I-264 · DIXIE HIGHWAY · GREENWOOD ROAD · US 31W TO WEST POINT Launches at KDFWR coordinates · schematic
I-264 · exit 3Dixie Hwy · US 31W/60KY 79 · BrandenburgDam / tailraceMcAlpine Locks and DamRNA: no fishing craft, bridge to damBoat rampShawnee Park Boat RampNo fee · multi-lane · 6 a.m.–11 p.m.Boat rampGreenwood RampRiverview Park · no fee · 6 a.m.–11 p.m.Boat rampMauckport Boat DockIndiana · fee · single laneBoat rampWest Point Ramp – Salt River"TEMPORARILY CLOSED!" · dock · Salt RiverN05 miSchematic · launches at KDFWR coordinates · hollow discs are other corridors · hatched band is the federal RNA
Three numbers to get right
What you hearWhat the primary sources actually say
"You can fish right up to the dam."Not from a boat. 33 CFR 165.815, Clark Memorial Bridge (mile 603.5) to McAlpine Dam (604.4): "No pleasure or fishing craft shall be operated within the regulated navigation area at any time."
"Read the pool level."There is no pool to read. The Corps holds McAlpine at 420 and Cannelton at 383 ft; what moves is stage: USGS 03294500 below the dam, 03293551 above. No lake parameter, no temperature.
"A Kentucky licence covers both banks."It does — the rules do not. 301 KAR 3:160 (eff. 16 Oct 2025); KDFWR: "when fishing from the bank, anglers shall follow the regulations of the state in which they are fishing." Indiana feeders need an Indiana licence.
What the river does on this road
Two Kentucky launches listed and not reported closed (operating status not confirmed), both "Limited Hours": the parks close 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. West Point, the one with a courtesy dock, is closed, undated. USGS 03294500 reads this reach. KDFWR, 2021: "some of the best fishing in the state, especially for sauger, catfish and striped bass."
The record ends at the Salt River; the rules do not. Below West Point KDFWR's "Ohio River – Central" record carries the same three special regulations. Snagging: not within 200 yards below the dam (Kentucky); not at all on the Indiana side. Below the dam no boat-exclusion distance is published (33 CFR 334, Corps pages) — status pending; assume posted buoys.
LIMESTONE DRIFT
OHIO RIVER AT LOUISVILLE · DIXIE HIGHWAY Access and limits
Four launches, one of them closed
LaunchFeeKDFWR record, in the agency's words
Shawnee Park Boat RampNo"Watterson Expressway (I-264); Exit 3 W on Mohammad Ali Blvd. to Southwestern Parkway". Any trailerable, paved, two lanes (2021), 51+ paved parking, no dock, restrooms, picnic and shoreline year-round limited hours, accessible restrooms and parking. Park 6 a.m.–11 p.m.
Greenwood Ramp · Riverview ParkNo"Gene Snyder Freeway (I-265) W of Louisville; Dixie Highway N (US 60/31W); Hwy 1931 W (Greenwood Road)". Any trailerable, paved multi-lane, 26–50 paved parking, no dock, restrooms and picnic limited hours. "open from 6 am to 11 pm." Canoe access (Metro Parks).
West Point Ramp – Salt RiverNo"US 31 W in West Point; turn on only blacktop road running E from 31W. TEMPORARILY CLOSED!" Any trailerable, paved multi-lane, unpaved parking ≤25, courtesy dock, seasonal restrooms, year-round on the record. Closed, no date.
Mauckport Boat Dock · INYes"In Mauckport". Any trailerable, paved single lane, ≤25 paved parking, no dock, ramp and shoreline year-round 24 h; rest unknown. The western edge of this water.
Limits — three special rules, then statewide
SpeciesSizeDaily creel
Striped, hybrid, white bassno minimum · only 4 of 15 in or longer30 combined
Blue or flathead catfishone 35 in or longerno creel under 35
Channel catfishone 28 in or longerno creel under 28
Sauger, saugeye, walleye14 in minimum (statewide)6 · Indiana the same
Black bass12 in largemouth and smallmouth (statewide)6 combined
Crappiestatewide20 · Indiana bank 30
Everything else is statewide, yellow bass included (no limit). From a Kentucky-licensed boat, Kentucky's rules; from the Indiana bank, Indiana's (sauger 6 at 14 in, black bass 6 at 12 in, stripers 30 combined, crappie 30, snagging prohibited river-wide). Kentucky snagging: "a person may not snag within 200 yards below any dam on the Ohio River." Falls of the Ohio NWCA (36 CFR 331): no bow and arrow, no trotlines, no swimming. Camping, marinas: none on any record. Riverview Park: 8202 Greenwood Rd, 87 acres, river frontage. Fish attractors: none on the Ohio.
Live stage: USGS 03294500, Ohio River at Louisville (below the dam) · USGS 03293551 (above the dam) · NWS MLUK2 / MLPK2 · no lake or temperature series · pools 455 / 420 / 383 ft (USACE, datum not stated) · Corps office (502) 774-3514 · Cannelton Locks and Dam (812) 547-2962.
Sources: USACE LRD and Louisville District pages for McAlpine, Markland and Cannelton; releases 25-142 and 23-001; KDFWR waterbody record 337, the fourteen access-site records, the reciprocal-agreements page, the 2026–27 Fishing and Boating Guide, the 2026 Fishing Forecast and the 2 Dec 2020 Kentucky Afield piece; 301 KAR 1:201 and 3:160; 33 CFR 165.815, 162.100, Part 334; 36 CFR 331; USGS 03294500, 03293551, 03293600, 03293548; Louisville Metro Parks; Oldham County Parks; Falls of the Ohio Foundation; Indiana DNR 2026 regulations.
Conditions change. Verify stage, access and regulations before you travel. Revised October 2026.
QR code: https://limestonedrift.com/waterways/ohio-river-louisville/#ld-alertslimestonedrift.comAlerts and the water page
Water alerts. We email when the stage, the ramps or the rules actually change. limestonedrift.com/alerts/?w=ohio-river-louisville