McAlpine tailwater · Falls corridor · I-64 exit 3 · I-65 to Clarksville · Water Street, New Albany
Ohio River at Louisville
The sauger tailwater, and the corridor where the access changed. Kentucky side: Lannan Memorial Park, a KDFWR-listed bank site (shoreline status unverified), and the closed Corps trail onto Shippingport Island. Indiana side: the state park shoreline, the closed Clark Homesite ramp and Jaycees on Water Street, New Albany.
I-64 EXIT 3 · I-65 · WATER STREET · THE TAILWATERSites at KDFWR coordinates · dam at USGS 03293600 · schematic
Three numbers to get right
What you hear
What 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
One listed ramp not reported closed: Jaycees, paved, single lane, no fee, no dock (operating status unconfirmed) — the Foundation's "Water Street ramp" for "launching below the Falls". The Clark Homesite ramp is "currently closed due to high water damage", no date. From a kayak this is a lower-pool fishery worked from Water Street, not a run to the gates: tows leave the lock canal here, and no published rule says how far below the gates a small boat may go — our reading.
Shippingport Island is closed. Release 25-142, 31 Oct 2025: trail "temporarily closed," to be re-evaluated "next spring" — no result published. Release 26-026, 16 Mar 2026: all island access closed, "force protection," no end date. Lannan Park shoreline: unverified. KDFWR: "Bowfishing is not allowed within the boundary of the Falls of the Ohio National Wildlife Conservation Area." From the Indiana bank Indiana's rules apply.
LIMESTONEDRIFT
OHIO RIVER AT LOUISVILLE · THE FALLSAccess and limits
Three sites, two of them closed or bank-only
Launch
Fee
KDFWR record, in the agency's words
McAlpine Lock and Dam · bank
No
"I-64 to 22nd Street (Exit 3); right on Northwestern Parkway; right on 27th Street; go under I-64 to Lannan Memorial Park (beyond Drawbridge)". Bank access, paved parking 51+, shoreline and accessible parking year-round limited hours, no restrooms (KDFWR listing; shoreline status unverified). The Corps trail beyond: closed.
George Rogers Clark Homesite · IN
No
"Take I-65 North from Louisville to Clarksville, IN. Exit at 1st ramp and turn left on Court Ave. Turn right onto South Clark Blvd and left on Harrison Avenue." Any trailerable, paved single lane, ≤25 paved parking, no dock, year-round on the record. "currently closed due to high water damage" (Foundation). Park lot $2 behind the interpretive center.
Jaycees Boat Ramp · IN
No
"In Jaycee Riverfront Park on Water Street in New Albany". Any trailerable, paved single lane, ≤25 paved parking, no dock, ramp, shoreline and picnic year-round 24 h on the record. The Foundation's named launch below the Falls.
Limits — three special rules, then statewide
Species
Size
Daily creel
Striped, hybrid, white bass
no minimum · only 4 of 15 in or longer
30 combined
Blue or flathead catfish
one 35 in or longer
no creel under 35
Channel catfish
one 28 in or longer
no creel under 28
Sauger, saugeye, walleye
14 in minimum (statewide)
6 · Indiana the same
Black bass
12 in largemouth and smallmouth (statewide)
6 combined
Crappie
statewide
20 · 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 on this road: none on any record. Falls of the Ohio State Park: interpretive center 201 West Riverside Drive, Clarksville; parking behind the center ($2, Indiana State Parks pass free), the railroad bridge lot, Ashland Park roadside, the Clark lot off Harrison Avenue. 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 parameter, no temperature · pools 455 / 420 / 383 ft (USACE, datum not stated) · Corps office (502) 774-3514 · Public Affairs lrl-pao@usace.army.mil · permits Shippingport@usace.army.mil.
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.
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