Kentucky's seasonal catch-and-release trout season is on now. The regulation, 301 KAR 1:201 Section 5, says it plainly: "There shall be a catch and release trout season from October 1 through March 31" on the streams it lists, and on those streams a person shall "Only use artificial bait" and "Release all trout." The regulation names fifteen streams. KDFWR's own stream page lists fourteen. Ten stockings on these streams were scheduled in the three weeks before this was written.
That order is the point of the program. The fish go in during October, nobody can keep one until April, and the stream holds them through the winter. If you fish small water in the cold months, these are the streams to know.
The rule, in the regulation's words
Section 5 of 301 KAR 1:201 is titled "Seasonal Catch and Release for Trout." It has three parts.
- (1) "There shall be a catch and release trout season from October 1 through March 31" "for the bodies of water established in subsection (3) of this section."
- (2) "A person shall: (a) Only use artificial bait; and (b) Release all trout."
- (3) "The streams established in paragraphs (a) through (o) of this subsection shall be open for the catch and release trout season:" The fifteen streams follow.
The version of the regulation we read on the Legislative Research Commission site carries an effective date of 3 September 2026.
"Artificial bait only" has a specific meaning in the same regulation. Section 2(12) says a person fishing an artificial bait-only area shall not attach any of the following to the artificial bait: "An insect;" "Minnow;" "Fish egg;" "A worm;" "Corn;" "Cheese;" "Cut bait; or" "A similar organic bait substance including dough bait and putty or paste-type bait designed to attract fish by taste or smell."
That last line is the one to read twice: dough, putty and paste baits made to attract fish by taste or smell are named in it, alongside worms, corn and cheese.
Basis: 301 KAR 1:201, Sections 2(12) and 5, Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, read 26 October 2026.
The fifteen streams
The regulation's list, paragraphs (a) through (o), with the stretch where the regulation gives one. Where the regulation names only the stream and county, KDFWR's stream page supplies the section and its length; those are marked.
| Stream | County | Section | Miles (KDFWR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bark Camp Creek | Whitley | KDFWR: mouth to USFS Road 193 | 3.9 |
| Beaver Creek | Wayne | Hwy 90 bridge upstream to Hwy 200 bridge | 2.8 |
| Big Bone Creek | Boone | Within Big Bone Lick State Park | 2.1 |
| Cane Creek | Laurel | KDFWR: mouth to Middle Fork Cane Creek | 6.6 |
| Casey Creek | Trigg | KDFWR: mouth to a private road bridge 3.6 miles up | 3.6 |
| Clear Creek | Bell | Mouth upstream to the 190 bridge | 4.5 |
| East Fork of Indian Creek | Menifee | KDFWR: mouth to Morgan Hollow | 5.3 |
| Elk Spring Creek | Wayne | KDFWR: mouth to upper end of Monticello Park | 2.8 |
| Floyd's Fork | Jefferson | Hwy 60 downstream to Bardstown Road | 20.0 |
| Gunpowder Creek | Boone | KDFWR: within Sperty Park | 1.5 |
| Left Fork of Beaver Creek | Floyd | Hwy 122 bridge to the headwater | Not on KDFWR's page |
| Otter Creek | Meade | Fort Knox Reservation and Otter Creek Park | 12.4 |
| Rock Creek | McCreary | Bell Farm bridge to the Tennessee line | 9.8 |
| Trammel Creek | Allen | KDFWR (as Trammel Fork): Little Trammel Creek mouth to Blankenship Road bridge | 3.5 |
| Swift Camp Creek | Wolfe | KDFWR: within Clifty Wilderness Area | 8.0 |
KDFWR's page leaves out one stream the regulation includes: the Left Fork of Beaver Creek in Floyd County. Neither document explains why. The regulation is the rule, so we have listed all fifteen. KDFWR's page gives a mileage for each of the other fourteen but no total; by our addition they come to 86.8 miles. KDFWR's page also says, for every stream on it, "Statewide regulations apply April through September."
Otter Creek's section runs through the Fort Knox Reservation; our fall stocking article covers Fort Knox's 2026–27 fishing guidelines. Bark Camp, Cane, East Fork of Indian, Rock and Swift Camp creeks are named in KDFWR's note on federal-property streams, whose stocking dates are not announced (more on that below).
Basis: 301 KAR 1:201 Section 5(3)(a)–(o); KDFWR, Seasonal Catch and Release Trout Streams page; both read 26 October 2026. The county and section for each stream are as written in each source.
The stockings that come first
KDFWR's October 2026 schedule put fish into most of these streams before the month was out. These are the entries for the seasonal catch-and-release streams, as the schedule writes them.
| Date | Water (as scheduled) | County | Trout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 Oct | Otter Creek ORA | Meade | 1,250 |
| 6 Oct | Otter Creek Fort Knox | Meade | 500 |
| 7 Oct | Floyd's Fork Creek | Jefferson | 2,000 |
| 8 Oct | Casey Creek | Trigg | 2,000 |
| 13 Oct | Trammell Creek | Allen | 1,000 |
| 13 Oct | Clear Creek | Bell | 400 |
| 21 Oct | Big Bone Creek | Boone | 400 |
| 21 Oct | Gunpowder Creek | Boone | 400 |
| 21 Oct | Elk Springs | Wayne | 400 |
| 21 Oct | Beaver Creek | Wayne | 500 |
These are scheduled numbers, not confirmed deliveries. The October schedule does not give a species for any entry.
Five streams are not on the schedule at all: Bark Camp, Cane Creek, East Fork of Indian Creek, Rock Creek and Swift Camp. The page names them in its note that "Stocking dates for streams on Federal Property are not announced ahead of time." They may well be stocked; you will not know the date in advance. The schedule also carries a Beaver Creek Right Fork in Floyd County (500 trout, 14 October). The regulation names the Left Fork of Beaver Creek in Floyd County. We cannot tell from either document whether those are the same water, so we have kept it out of the table.
Why October? KDFWR said it directly in a 2020 Kentucky Afield article on these streams: the October stocking is done "as a way to prolong the amount of time those fish are available for anglers to catch." The same article describes the season as giving freshly stocked trout time to settle into the stream before anyone can harvest them.
Basis: KDFWR, Monthly Trout Stocking (October 2026), read 26 October 2026; KDFWR, "Enjoy seasonal catch and release trout streams this winter," Kentucky Afield, 19 November 2020.
Last season's pattern
KDFWR's stocking archive covers September 2025 through August 2026, so it shows one full cycle on these streams. Reading it, three things stand out. This is our reading of their list, not something KDFWR states.
The October wave is the big one, and it repeats. Floyd's Fork, Casey, Trammell, Clear, Big Bone, Gunpowder, Elk Springs, Beaver Creek (Wayne) and both Otter Creek reaches were all stocked in October 2025, at the same count per stocking as this October except Casey Creek, which went from 1,000 to 2,000. Floyd's Fork got two 2,000-fish stockings that October, on the 9th and the 14th.
Some streams get fish during the closed season too. Floyd's Fork was stocked on 5 November 2025, 17 February 2026 and 25 March 2026, 2,000 trout each time. Otter Creek got fish on 12 November and 25 March, Big Bone and Gunpowder on 10 March, Trammell on 19 March. Fish stocked in those months go in under the no-harvest rule like the October fish.
Then a round right at the opening of harvest. On 1 and 2 April 2026, the archive shows Floyd's Fork (2,000), Casey Creek (1,000), Big Bone (400), Gunpowder (400), Otter Creek ORA (1,000) and Beaver Creek Right Fork in Floyd County (500) stocked. Beaver Creek and Elk Springs in Wayne County followed on 8 April, Clear Creek on 24 April.
Brown trout are in the mix on three of these streams. The archive marks 600 browns into Trammell Creek on 19 March 2026, 500 browns into the Fort Knox reach of Otter Creek on 25 March, and 250 browns into Casey Creek on 1 April.
The archive's December 2025 page shows no entries. We do not read that as no December stockings; it may simply be empty.
Basis: KDFWR, Yearly Trout Stocking Archive, read 26 October 2026.
What changes on 1 April
On 1 April the season under Section 5 has ended and, in KDFWR's words, "Statewide regulations apply." Three things follow from the regulation.
Bait opens up. The artificial-bait requirement in Section 5 runs only through 31 March. Bait is allowed again unless some other rule covers that water.
You can keep fish, with a permit. Section 2(11) says "A person shall release all caught trout unless the person:" "Has a valid trout permit;" "Is exempted from trout permit requirements pursuant to KRS 150.170(2); or" "Is fishing in a licensed pay lake stocked with trout by the lake operator."
Statewide limits apply. From Section 2(1) of the same regulation:
| Species | Daily limit | Size |
|---|---|---|
| Rainbow | 8 | No size limit |
| Brown | 1 | 16 in minimum |
| Cutthroat | 1 | 20 in minimum |
| Brook | Catch and release only | — |
The same section says "No culling statewide." From 1 April, a brown trout from Trammell, Casey or Otter Creek has to make 16 inches before you can keep it; until then you keep none at all.
One stream has its own trout limit. Section 3(68) reads: "Trammel Creek, Allen County. Rainbow trout daily limit, five (5)." On Trammel Creek the rainbow limit is five, not eight.
Basis: 301 KAR 1:201 Sections 2(1), 2(11), 3(68) and 5, read 26 October 2026; KDFWR, Seasonal Catch and Release Trout Streams page, read 26 October 2026.
The Cumberland is a different rulebook
The Cumberland River tailwater is not one of the fifteen, and its rules do not switch on 1 October. Two parts of 301 KAR 1:201 cover it all year. Section 3(19)(d) says "A trout permit shall be required in order to fish the Cumberland River below Wolf Creek Dam," and the requirement extends to the tailwater's tributaries up to the first riffle and to Hatchery Creek, whether you plan to keep fish or not. Section 3(37) makes the lower, signed section of Hatchery Creek artificial bait only, with all trout released, year-round rather than seasonally. Section 3(36) gives the upper section a combined daily limit of five rainbow, brown and brook trout with no size limit.
If you are deciding where to fish in January, that is the difference. On the seasonal streams you are fishing fish you cannot keep until April. On the Cumberland the limits stand all year, and so does the permit.
Basis: 301 KAR 1:201 Section 3(19)(d), 3(36) and 3(37), read 26 October 2026.
Fishing them
For the species itself, see the rainbow trout guide.
What follows is our advice, not anything a source states. Every fish you hook from now to the end of March has to go back, so pinch your barbs and carry a net with soft mesh. Neither is required by the regulation. Flies and small inline spinners fit inside the artificial-bait rule as long as nothing on the prohibited list is attached. The regulation does not define "artificial bait" and does not mention scented or biodegradable soft baits by name, so whether those qualify is Status pending; leave them home until KDFWR says.
What we don't know yet
1. Why the counts differ. The regulation lists fifteen streams; KDFWR's page lists fourteen and leaves out the Left Fork of Beaver Creek in Floyd County. Status pending. Section 5 is the rule, so we treat it as fifteen.
2. Whether "Beaver Creek Right Fork" is the regulation's Left Fork. The stocking schedule says Right Fork; the regulation says Left Fork. Status pending.
3. Swift Camp Creek's closing date. KDFWR's 2020 article said "The catch and release season on this stream closes May 31." The current regulation, effective 3 September 2026, gives Swift Camp the same 1 October to 31 March season as every other stream, and so does KDFWR's current stream page. We follow the current regulation. We could not find a record of when or whether the May date changed. Status pending.
4. When the federal-property streams get fish. KDFWR does not announce stocking dates for Bark Camp, Cane, East Fork of Indian, Rock or Swift Camp creeks in advance, and none of them appears in the archive for September 2025 to August 2026. Their stocking record is Status pending. That does not mean they were not stocked.
5. Whether October's stockings happened as scheduled. The table records the schedule. Delivery for each entry is Status pending until KDFWR moves October into its archive.
6. Species in October. The October 2026 schedule gives no species. The fish in the table are "trout," not rainbows, until KDFWR says otherwise.
7. November and later. At our check on 26 October, KDFWR had not posted a November 2026 schedule. Read again on 1 November, the monthly page now shows November 2026, and it reaches three of the fifteen streams. As the schedule writes them: Floyds Fork Creek, Jefferson County, 2,000 trout on Wednesday 4 November; Otter Creek ORA, Meade County, 1,000, and Otter Creek Fort Knox, Meade County, 500, both on Tuesday 10 November. It also lists Right Fork Beaver Creek, Floyd County, 500 on 4 November, the same Right-or-Left question as item 2. The November page does not list Bark Camp, Beaver Creek (Wayne), Big Bone, Cane, Casey, Clear, East Fork of Indian, Elk Spring, Gunpowder, Rock, Swift Camp or Trammel Creek. Its federal-property note still names Bark Camp, Cane, East Fork Indian, Rock and Swift Camp creeks, so their dates are unannounced rather than absent. The page gives no species and no posting date, and its last listed date is 12 November. What follows after that is Status pending.
Sources and how confident we are
Check it yourself
- 301 KAR 1:201, the regulation itself: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/kar/titles/301/001/201/
- KDFWR seasonal catch-and-release stream list: https://fw.ky.gov/Fish/Pages/Seasonal-Catch-and-Release-Trout-Streams.aspx
- KDFWR monthly trout stocking schedule: https://fw.ky.gov/Fish/Pages/Monthly-Trout-Stocking.aspx
- KDFWR trout stocking archive: https://fw.ky.gov/Fish/Pages/trout_archive.aspx
Sources
Regulation
- Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, 301 KAR 1:201, Taking of fish by traditional fishing methods, effective 3 September 2026. The source for the season dates, the artificial-bait and release rules, the fifteen streams, the list of items you may not attach to artificial bait, the trout-permit release rule, statewide trout limits, the culling prohibition, the Trammel Creek rainbow limit, and the Cumberland and Hatchery Creek rules; read 26 October 2026: apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/kar/titles/301/001/201/
KDFWR
- Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, Seasonal Catch and Release Trout Streams. Stream sections, mileages, and "Statewide regulations apply April through September"; read 26 October 2026: fw.ky.gov/Fish/Pages/Seasonal-Catch-and-Release-Trout-Streams.aspx
- KDFWR, Monthly Trout Stocking, October 2026. Dates, waters, counties, counts, and the federal-property note; read 26 October 2026: fw.ky.gov/Fish/Pages/Monthly-Trout-Stocking.aspx
- KDFWR, Monthly Trout Stocking, November 2026. The same page, read 1 November 2026, when it showed the November schedule: the Floyds Fork, Otter Creek and Right Fork Beaver Creek entries in item 7 of "What we don't know yet", and the federal-property note: fw.ky.gov/Fish/Pages/Monthly-Trout-Stocking.aspx
- KDFWR, Yearly Trout Stocking Archive, September 2025 to August 2026. Last season's dates, counts and brown trout entries; read 26 October 2026: fw.ky.gov/Fish/Pages/trout_archive.aspx
- KDFWR, Kentucky Afield, Enjoy seasonal catch and release trout streams this winter, 19 November 2020. The reason for October stocking and the earlier Swift Camp date: fw.ky.gov/Fish/Pages/enjoy-seasonal-catch-and-release-trout-streams-this-winter.aspx
Stocking dates are KDFWR targets and move with weather, water temperature and hatchery logistics. Regulations change. Read 301 KAR 1:201 and KDFWR's pages before you fish.