Fly patterns for Kentucky tailwaters

What this page is

A fly box built from the public record. The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR) has, over the years, named specific flies for its tailwaters in its Kentucky Afield Outdoors columns, its summer tips page and its Cumberland River education page. Those names, sizes and colors are gathered here, each one attributed to the column that printed it and dated. The 2026 Fishing Forecast and the 2026 trout stream classification supply the stocking and holdover context, and the agency's own waterbody pages supply the rules.

What it is not: a hatch chart, a shop's recommended list, or our own fly box. KDFWR has not published a hatch chart for any Kentucky tailwater that we could find, and this page does not invent one. Where a fly shop or a guide service would fill a gap, we leave it open and name it in "What we don't know yet."

Four waters are covered, because they are the four tailwaters on this site that KDFWR has written about for fly anglers: the Cumberland River tailwater below Wolf Creek Dam, the Herrington Lake tailwater (the Dix River), the Nolin River Lake tailwater and the Green River Lake tailwater. Three are trout waters; the Green is a smallmouth river, and the agency's fly advice for it is poppers.

Basis: editorial on the scope; the sources are named in each section

The words on this page

• Nymph. A fly that imitates the underwater stage of an insect, fished near the bottom. The Copper John, Hare's Ear, Prince Nymph and pheasant tail are all nymphs. Our indicator nymphing page covers how to fish them.
• Beadhead, tungsten. A metal bead at the head of a fly that sinks it. KDFWR's 2023 column: "These flies sink quickly as tungsten is much denser than lead."
• Midge. A very small two-winged insect; a zebra midge is a slim nymph pattern that imitates its larva or pupa.
• Streamer, Woolly Bugger. A fly fished with movement to imitate a baitfish, crayfish or leech. The Woolly Bugger is the common one. Our streamer fishing page covers the retrieve.
• Wet fly. An older style of sunk fly, fished on the swing; the Adams wet and Hendrickson wet named below are examples.
• Scud. A small freshwater crustacean, common in tailwaters, and the fly that imitates it.
• Terrestrial. A land insect that falls on the water: grasshopper and ant patterns.
• Popper. A floating cork or foam fly with a flat or cupped face that pops when stripped. Our poppers and topwater flies page covers it.
• Size. Fly hook sizes run backward: a size 20 is tiny, a size 2 is big. Sizes 16 to 18 are small trout nymphs; sizes 2 to 8 are smallmouth flies.
• Holdover. A stocked trout that survives from one stocking year into the next.
• Generation. The dam releasing water through its turbines. The river rises when it starts.

Basis: editorial definitions of standard terms; the one quotation is KDFWR, 26 December 2023

Where the names come from

Every fly on this page traces to one of these agency sources, read for this page on 4 November 2026.

The columns are one agency writer, Lee McClellan, reporting what KDFWR staff who fly fish told him. John Hast is described as a KDFWR wildlife biologist in the 2020 column and as its bear and elk program coordinator in the 2023 one; Ron Brooks was its aquatic nuisance species director at the time, and Dave Dreves its assistant director of Fisheries. Where a sentence is theirs, the name is given. Where a page is undated, we say so and read it as current only because KDFWR still serves it.

Basis: official (KDFWR), as listed

Cumberland River tailwater: the nymphs

The Cumberland below Wolf Creek Dam is the water KDFWR has written about most, and its nymph list is consistent across four years of columns.

The core three. In 2020 Hast called the Hare's Ear and the Copper John "the gold standard" on the Cumberland tailwater. In 2023 he widened it: "A good nymph selection, including Copper Johns, Prince Nymphs and Hare's Ears in sizes 16 to 18, serves you well." For faster water: "For swifter current, I like a Dally's tailwater jig in the same sizes." He favors "Prince Nymphs with a tungsten head and the Dally's tailwater jig that also employs a tungsten head."

Larger and colored. The October 2019 column, written for November fishing, runs bigger: "Fly anglers do well with Size 12 to 14 red or green Copper John nymphs fished below a strike indicator" set "so the nymph drifts just above the river bottom." Also "Brown beadhead pheasant tail nymphs in these same sizes also work well fished under a strike indicator," and "Size 10 to 12 black stonefly imitations fished on the bottom also fool trout in November."

Brooks's winter box. From the December 2019 column: "Pheasant tail and Hare's Ear's nymphs with a gold beadhead in sizes 10 and 12 work well." He "likes beaded flies with a sinking line for better quality fish in fall and winter," and "If the water is low and clear, I drop down to an 18 or 20 size fly."

Midges. Hast, 2020: "Some anglers run a zebra midge off those under a strike indicator," meaning off the Hare's Ear or Copper John as a trailing fly. The education page: "Fly anglers should try beadhead pheasant nymphs or smaller midge patterns for summer rainbows."

Scuds. Brooks, 2019: "He also likes fishing scuds as well as the Adams wet and Hendrickson wet flies." No size is given.

Put together, the agency's Cumberland nymph sizes run from 10 to 20, and the spread is not a contradiction: the 10s and 12s are the fall and winter columns, the 16s to 18s are Hast's everyday selection, and the 18s and 20s are Brooks's low, clear water. Which one fits the day is the angler's call; KDFWR does not say more than that.

Basis: official (KDFWR columns of 31 October 2019, 12 December 2019, 28 October 2020, 26 December 2023; KDFWR Cumberland River Tailwater page, undated); the reconciliation of the size spread is editorial

Cumberland River tailwater: streamers and Woolly Buggers

Hast's buggers. 2023: "Hast also fishes beadhead Woolly Buggers in olive, brown and orange and black." He "also uses Woolly Buggers weighed with lead wire to help the bait sink to the trout's feeding level, or strike zone." The reason for the season: "Woolly Buggers are best fished near the bottom in winter since they imitate both crayfish and baitfish." The column gives no hook size for the buggers.

For browns. The education page: "Browns hit larger olive, brown or black wooly buggers, shad-colored streamers and crayfish patterns fished near woody cover." The summer tips page puts the fish where the flies go: "Rainbow and brook trout hold in the flowing shoals while brown trout lurk near woody cover in deeper water."

The Chicago fly. Two undated KDFWR pages name it. The education page: "Both species go for the Chicago fly, a generalist beadhead nymph that resembles a sparser version of a black Mohair leech." The summer tips page lists "the Chicago Fly that resembles a mohair leech" with beadhead pheasant nymphs and cracklebacks as productive flies. KDFWR calls it a nymph; it is listed here with the streamers because of the leech it resembles, and that placement is ours.

A cicada. The December 2019 column's photograph caption shows a brown trout "caught on a cicada fly upstream of Burkesville." That is a caption, not a recommendation, and we print it only as what it is.

Hast "fishes a 4-weight fly rod for nymphs and a beefier 6-weight rod for throwing Woolly Buggers." The retrieve, in the column's words: "Hast fishes the Woolly Bugger just over bottom with slow strips of the fly line on the retrieve." Our streamer fishing page covers the strip and the swing in general.

Basis: official (KDFWR, 26 December 2023; KDFWR Cumberland River Tailwater page and Summer Fishing Tips page, both undated; KDFWR, 12 December 2019 caption)

Cumberland River tailwater: summer, terrestrials and wets

Dreves, June 2020: "nymphs are always good on the Cumberland," and "Terrestrials such as grasshopper and ant patterns work well in late summer." That is the whole of KDFWR's dry-fly advice for the river that we could find. No column names a mayfly dun, a caddis dry or a hatch by name, and KDFWR has not published a sulphur, caddis or midge hatch timetable for the Cumberland that we could find. Our dry-dropper page covers fishing a dry with a nymph beneath it, which is the natural rig for a hopper or ant over one of the nymphs above; that pairing is ours, not KDFWR's.

The two wet flies, the Adams wet and the Hendrickson wet, come from Brooks's December 2019 column with no size or season beyond "fall and winter."

Basis: official (KDFWR, 18 June 2020; 12 December 2019); editorial on the dry-dropper pairing, labelled

Cumberland River tailwater: where and when the columns put them

• Numbers of trout, upper river. October 2019: "Fisheries biologists recommend the upper part of the tailwater from the dam to Helm's Landing or Winfrey's Ferry" for numbers of trout.
• Winter. December 2023, Hast: "The flowing holes with hides in the form of rocks or undercut banks make the best places to fish nymphs and Woolly Buggers in winter." December 2019: "At this time of year, big trout move to the shallows and stay there to feed." Brooks fished the Bakerton and Crocus Creek area, which he found less affected by releases than the water near the dam.
• Summer. June 2020 names the public wading accesses, Boyd's Bar at Little Indian Creek, Helm's Landing, the Rockhouse and Long Bar, and the morning window near the dam: "The best time to wade near the dam is usually in the early morning in summer, basically from daybreak to about 10 a.m." Those are public access sites, and the water page has them.
• Depth. Hast, 2023: "Your fly needs to be near the bottom to have any luck on the Cumberland River." The October 2019 column sets the indicator "so the nymph drifts just above the river bottom."

What is live in the river, from the 2026 Fishing Forecast: rainbow trout with "Good numbers of stock-size fish (9-11 inches) available year-round and some trout over 20 inches present" and "Increased numbers of fish over 18 inches were observed during fall sampling"; brown trout "numbers in the tailwater were lower during 2025 sampling," with "Some keeper fish (>20 inches) present but numbers are low"; brook trout "Stocked annually in the tailwater," a "Low density population with most fish in the 10- to 12-inch range"; and cutthroat "have not been stocked in the tailwater since 2024 but an occasional fish may still be observed."

Basis: official (KDFWR columns as dated; KDFWR 2026 Fishing Forecast)

Herrington Lake tailwater: the Dix River

One KDFWR fly recommendation exists for the Dix, and it is specific. Hast, October 2020: "We've done well on the Dix River in October and into November running a zebra midge beneath a strike indicator." And: "If they're not eating that, you're not in the right spot." No size or color is given. The same column's general advice for Kentucky's stream trout in the fall applies here too: "Fly anglers should consider carrying smaller streamers and midge patterns as well as stonefly and egg imitations."

That is a 2020 statement about a fishery whose condition KDFWR now describes cautiously. The 2026 Fishing Forecast: "Low numbers of holdover fish expected due to poor water conditions. Rainbow Trout (4,500) are stocked annually," and for browns, "Very low numbers of holdover fish expected due to poor water conditions. Brown Trout (300) are stocked annually." The 2026 trout stream classification lists the two-mile dam-to-mouth reach as a put-and-take rainbow water, and its brown trout history says brown stockings here ran from 1988 to 2016 and ended in 2017 because of inconsistent water quality. The 2026 forecast's "Brown Trout (300) are stocked annually" and the archive's line "Lake Herrington Tailwaters, Mercer County - 300 (Brown Trout)" dated 11 March 2026 say otherwise. The three agency statements do not agree, and we print all three rather than pick one.

The rule. KDFWR's Herrington Lake Tailwater waterbody page, read 4 November 2026, describes the water as "Dix river from Herrington Lake Dam downstream for two miles" and lists one regulation: "Fishing with artificial lures or flies only." Flies qualify by name. The water page has the access and the gauges.

Basis: official (KDFWR, 28 October 2020; KDFWR 2026 Fishing Forecast; KDFWR Trout Streams Program in Kentucky for 2026; KDFWR Yearly Trout Stocking Archive; KDFWR waterbody page wid=135)

Nolin River Lake tailwater

KDFWR names no fly pattern for the Nolin tailwater in any page or column we could find, and we do not supply one. What the agency does say about the fishery, from the 2026 Fishing Forecast: "Rainbows stocked monthly (April-November) except for August." "There are some holdover fish up to 16 inches." "Brown Trout stocked since 2017, but not commonly encountered." "Trout most abundant in first 3.5 miles of tailwater." The forecast entry names no fly, lure, insect or color for trout here.

The stocking archive carries dated lines: "Nolin Lake Tailwater, Edmonson County - 2000" on 8 October 2025 and again on 13 November 2025; "Nolin Lake Tailwaters, Edmonson County - 250 ( Brown Trout)" on 25 March 2026; and 1,000-fish lines on 1 April, 19 May, 18 June and 14 July 2026. The September 2025 section notes: "Nolin Lake Tailwater Stocking is postponed until further notice due to water conditions." The Monthly Trout Stocking page for November 2026 lists a 2,000-fish stocking for Thursday, 12 November 2026.

The rule. KDFWR's Nolin River Lake Tailwater waterbody page lists brown trout and rainbow trout with "Statewide Regulations Apply." The statewide figures are in "Regulations" below.

What to carry, then, is a reasoning step and labelled as one: the same Cumberland nymphs and the zebra midge are the agency's stocked-rainbow flies on the other two tailwaters, and a stocked rainbow is a stocked rainbow. That is our inference, not a KDFWR recommendation for the Nolin. The water page has the access and the release data.

Basis: official (KDFWR 2026 Fishing Forecast; Yearly Trout Stocking Archive; Monthly Trout Stocking page, November 2026; waterbody page wid=80); the carry-over of patterns is editorial inference, labelled

Green River Lake tailwater: poppers for smallmouth

The Green below Green River Lake Dam is not a trout water in KDFWR's 2026 trout stream classification, and the agency's fly advice for it is topwater for bass.

The popper. McClellan, May 2021: "Fly rod anglers can find great sport-throwing bass-sized yellow and black cork poppers in the eddies behind boulders." An undated version of the column carries the same sentence. The Summer 2014 Kentucky Afield float guide names the same fly: "a yellow and black popper near shoreline cover." The 2021 column's stretch: "The Green River from Green River Lake Dam downstream to Greensburg holds many fat smallmouth bass"; the 2014 guide covers the 19 miles from Green River Lake Dam to Russell Ford.

Sizing the popper. No Green River piece gives a hook size. KDFWR's September 2022 stream smallmouth column, written for Kentucky's smallmouth streams generally and not for the Green in particular, says: "The medium-sized cork poppers, not the small ones for bluegill or the larger ones for largemouth bass," work best for stream smallmouth, and "Sneaky Pete topwater flies in white and black also draw strikes." The 2021 column's "bass-sized" and the 2022 column's "medium-sized" are two descriptions and we print both; our poppers and topwater flies page has the makers' sizes.

Sinking flies for stream smallmouth, from the same 2022 column, scoped to streams generally: "A few size 2 to 6 white or grey Clouser minnows"; "Near Nuff Crayfish flies in size 4 to 8 work well"; "An overlooked but deadly fly is a gold bead head lime green woolly bugger in size 4 or 6," and "Black is also a productive woolly bugger color." On the hook: "Find flies with a wider gape hook." Where the fish are in early fall: "the areas just upstream and just below stream drops hold the majority of the fish," and "an area that has foam and bubbles on the surface from turbulence is a good place to fish." That last sentence and the Green column's "eddies behind boulders" describe the same kind of water.

The rule. KDFWR's Green River Lake Tailwater waterbody page, read 4 November 2026: "From Green River Lake Dam and extending downstream to the end of the concrete wall, fishing shall be limited to rod in hand" "using either an artificial bait with a single hook or live bait attached to a single hook." A popper on a single hook qualifies there. The water page has the floats and the release forecast.

Basis: official (KDFWR, 20 May 2021; Kentucky Afield, Summer 2014; KDFWR, 1 September 2022, scoped to streams generally; KDFWR waterbody page wid=482; KDFWR Trout Streams Program in Kentucky for 2026 on the absence of a trout listing)

Rod, leader and tippet, as the agency gave them

KDFWR's columns are not tackle guides, but three of them name the rig their angler used.

Hast's reason for the fluorocarbon: "Fluorocarbon tippet line, while more expensive than other kinds of fishing line, is less visible to fish." The 2022 smallmouth column's view of tapered leaders for bass: "You don't need tapered leaders and tippets." Those two statements are about different fish on different water and do not conflict. Our fly rod, reel and line setup and leaders and tippet pages carry the general material; the fly-to-tippet knot is the improved clinch.

Hast's indicator habit, for the tungsten flies: "When using tungsten head flies, he attaches two small foam indicators to the fishing line instead of one large one." Our indicator nymphing page builds the rest of that rig.

Basis: official (KDFWR, 26 December 2023; 12 December 2019; 1 September 2022)

Generation and wading

The Cumberland columns repeat one warning. 2023: "One must know the electrical generation schedule from Wolf Creek Dam before fishing the Cumberland River." The schedule "is subject to change due to power demands or weather conditions," and anglers "should be mindful of sudden current surges that indicate unexpected generation from Wolf Creek Dam." 2019: "It does not take long for a wading angler with a mind consumed by catching another trout" "to get into a hairy situation from high, swift and cold water."

The columns do not agree on how to read the schedule's numbers. December 2023: "Each reading of 40 represents one turbine running, so a reading of 80 means two turbines are running." December 2019: "the number 45 means one turbine of generation" "and 90 means two turbines of generation." June 2020: "The number 45 represents one turbine of generation." We print all three, dated, and send you to the schedule's own key.

Dreves's shoreline gauge, from June 2020, is worth having in any season: "Pick out a stick or a rock along the shoreline to gauge and start moving to shore when you see the water rising." In winter, the 2023 column adds: "Because of the chill, wading anglers should wear neoprene waders and plenty of insulated clothes."

For the Green and the Barren, the 2021 column says "Water releases from their respective dams control the fishing on these rivers," and points to the Corps' three-day release forecast. Our wet wading and cold-water safety page covers the rest.

Basis: official (KDFWR, 26 December 2023; 12 December 2019; 18 June 2020; 20 May 2021)

Regulations

Quoted from KDFWR's own pages, read 4 November 2026. A page is a summary, not the law; the regulation itself is in Kentucky Administrative Regulations Title 301, linked from the KDFWR Fishing and Boating Guide page.

Statewide trout limits, from KDFWR's Species Sizes and Limits page (undated): rainbow trout, daily limit 8, possession 16, no minimum size; brown trout, daily limit 1, possession 2, minimum 16 inches; cutthroat trout, daily limit 1, possession 2, minimum 20 inches; brook trout, "Catch and release only" with the footnote "Except for the Cumberland River downstream of Wolf Creek Dam and the upper section of Hatchery Creek." The page also says: "Except for trout on Cumberland River, anglers may cull fish of a particular species until reaching the daily creel limit," and "Some waterbodies have different size and creel limits."

Cumberland River (Lake Cumberland Tailwater, Wolf Creek Dam to the Tennessee state line, including Hatchery Creek and all tributaries up to the first riffle), from waterbody page wid=186: brown trout, "Must be 20 inches or over - Limit 1 per angler"; cutthroat trout, "Must be 20 inches or over - Limit 1 per angler"; rainbow trout, "15-20 inch protective slot limit," "All fish between 15 and 20 inches must be released," "Limit 5 per angler, no more than 1 fish over 20 inches"; brook trout, "Must be 15 inches or over - Limit 1 per angler." Also: "All anglers must possess a trout permit to fish on this portion of the Cumberland River," "Anglers cannot cull trout by replacing a trout in their possession with another trout," and anglers "may not attract or chum trout with bait, corn or other attractants" meant to draw trout to one area.

Herrington Lake Tailwater (the Dix River, dam downstream two miles), wid=135: "Fishing with artificial lures or flies only."

Nolin River Lake Tailwater, wid=80: brown trout and rainbow trout, "Statewide Regulations Apply."

Green River Lake Tailwater, wid=482: "From Green River Lake Dam and extending downstream to the end of the concrete wall, fishing shall be limited to rod in hand" "using either an artificial bait with a single hook or live bait attached to a single hook."

Trout permit. The 2019 column: "Licensed anglers who intend to keep their trout also must purchase a trout permit," and "The permit is included in the Sportsman's license and Senior license." The Cumberland page's rule is broader for that river: every angler there must hold one. Whether a permit is needed to fish catch-and-release for trout on the Dix or the Nolin is not stated on the pages we read; buy one and the question does not arise.

Nothing here covers the number of flies on one leader. Hast's "zebra midge off those" is a two-fly rig; we did not find a KDFWR page limiting hooks per line on these waters, and we state no rule on it. Read the guide for the water before you fish two flies.

Basis: official (KDFWR pages as named, read 4 November 2026; KDFWR, 31 October 2019); no regulation is stated from memory

Stocking, as recorded

What KDFWR's own pages say about where the fish come from and when.

• The hatchery. The 2026 trout stream classification says every trout stocked in the KDFWR trout program is produced at the Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery, and that trout fisheries in the state's streams and tailwaters "are represented by Brown, Rainbow, Brook, and Cutthroat trout." It counts 14 tailwaters at 93.6 miles in the 2026 program.
• Cumberland. The Monthly Trout Stocking page: "Specific stocking dates for the Cumberland Tailwaters are also not announced in advance." The waterbody page: "Trout Stocking Dates will no longer be announced." The classification's history: 8-inch brown trout stocking began in March 1982, and the 20-inch brown trout size limit dates from 1996; the rainbow slot limit dates from 2004; brook trout at 8 to 12 inches from 2011; cutthroat stocking stopped in 2025 because of hatchery production limits.
• Dix. 4,500 rainbows and 300 browns annually per the 2026 forecast; six archive lines from 6 November 2025 to 13 August 2026, five of them 900 to 1,400 fish with no species mark and one of 300 marked brown trout. See the Herrington section for the disagreement over browns.
• Nolin. Monthly April to November except August, per the 2026 forecast; the dated lines are in the Nolin section above.

Stocking is the one fact on this page most likely to be stale by the time you read it. The archive and the monthly page are the live record.

Basis: official (KDFWR Trout Streams Program in Kentucky for 2026; Monthly Trout Stocking page; Yearly Trout Stocking Archive; 2026 Fishing Forecast; waterbody page wid=186)

Skill level

Beginner to carry the box, intermediate to fish it. Every fly here is a standard pattern sold everywhere, and KDFWR's 2023 column says of the nymph that using one "is an excellent way to introduce someone" to fly fishing. What takes time is the part the agency says least about: the depth, the drift and the water-reading on a river whose level changes on a schedule.

Basis: editorial; the quotation is KDFWR, 26 December 2023

What we don't know yet

• Hatches. KDFWR has published no hatch chart or named-insect timetable for any of these tailwaters that we could find. Sulphurs, caddis and midge emergences on the Cumberland are a matter of record in shop reports and guide writing, none of which is an agency source. Status pending until an agency or peer-reviewed source names them.
• Nolin fly patterns. No KDFWR page names a fly for the Nolin tailwater. The carry-over from the other tailwaters above is our inference and is labelled as one. Status pending.
• Woolly Bugger and zebra midge sizes. The 2023 column gives colors but no hook size for Hast's buggers; the 2020 column gives no size for the Dix zebra midge. Status pending.
• Popper size for the Green. "Bass-sized" (2021) and "medium-sized" (2022, streams generally) are the agency's words. No hook number. Status pending.
• Dix brown trout. The 2026 classification says brown stockings ended in 2017; the 2026 forecast says 300 are stocked annually; the archive shows 300 browns on 11 March 2026. We cannot resolve this from the pages and print all three.
• The turbine key. 40 per turbine (2023) against 45 (2019 and 2020). The schedule's own key settles it on the day; we do not.
• Hooks per line. No KDFWR page we read limits the number of flies on one leader on these waters. We state no rule.
• Trout permit for catch-and-release on the Dix and Nolin. Not stated on the pages read. Status pending.
• Green River below the dam in the 2026 forecast. The forecast's Green River entry from the Rochester dam up to Green River Lake dam reports smallmouth in "Good numbers overall with larger fish (15-inch plus) available" and says "Fishing best from Green River Lake dam to Munfordville." It names no fly or lure for them.
• Barkley and Barren tailwaters. KDFWR's 2021 column covers the Barren with lures, not flies, and we found no agency fly material for the Lake Barkley tailwater. They are not on this page.

Sources and how confident we are

Section	Basis	Confidence
Cumberland nymphs and sizes	Four dated KDFWR columns; one undated KDFWR page	High on the names and sizes; the size spread is three anglers in three seasons
Cumberland streamers	KDFWR 2023 column; two undated KDFWR pages	High on patterns and colors; no sizes exist in the sources
Cumberland summer and dries	KDFWR 2020 column	Medium: one sentence on terrestrials, nothing on hatches
Dix River	KDFWR 2020 column; 2026 forecast and classification	High on the one fly; low on the fishery's current condition, which the sources dispute
Nolin	KDFWR 2026 forecast, archive, waterbody page	High on stocking; no agency fly advice exists
Green River poppers	KDFWR 2021 column; Kentucky Afield 2014; KDFWR 2022 column (streams generally)	High on the fly; size is descriptive only
Rod and leader	KDFWR 2023, 2019, 2022	High; three anglers' own rigs, not a standard
Generation and wading	KDFWR columns 2019 to 2023	High on the warning; the turbine key differs between columns
Regulations	KDFWR waterbody and limits pages, read 4 Nov 2026	High as a summary; the regulation text itself was not read
Stocking	KDFWR 2026 documents and live pages	High on the day read; stale soon

Sources

• Fall Fishing Festival: Fly fishing the Cumberland tailwater - KDFWR, Kentucky Afield Outdoors (Lee McClellan, 26 December 2023) - Hast's nymphs in sizes 16 to 18, the Dally's tailwater jig, tungsten heads, Woolly Bugger colors and lead-wire weighting, winter near the bottom, 4- and 6-weight rods, 12-foot 5X leader and 3 feet of fluorocarbon tippet, two small foam indicators, flowing holes with hides, the generation schedule and the 40-per-turbine reading, neoprene waders.
• Fall for trout all over again - KDFWR, Kentucky Afield Outdoors (Lee McClellan, 28 October 2020) - Hast on the zebra midge under an indicator on the Dix River in October and November, the Hare's Ear and Copper John as the Cumberland's gold standard, the zebra midge trailed off them; smaller streamers, midge, stonefly and egg patterns for fall stream trout.
• Fishing remains productive during deer season - KDFWR, Kentucky Afield Outdoors (Lee McClellan, 31 October 2019) - size 12 to 14 red or green Copper Johns and brown beadhead pheasant tails under an indicator just above the bottom, size 10 to 12 black stonefly imitations in November, the upper tailwater for numbers, trout permit sentences.
• Lake Cumberland tailwater offers great winter trout fishing - KDFWR, Kentucky Afield Outdoors (Lee McClellan, 12 December 2019) - Brooks's gold-beadhead pheasant tails and Hare's Ears in 10 and 12, scuds, Adams and Hendrickson wets, sizes 18 or 20 in low clear water, a sinking line in fall and winter, big trout in the shallows, Bakerton and Crocus Creek, the 45-per-turbine reading, the wading warning, the cicada caption.
• Wade the Lake Cumberland tailwater to beat the heat and catch fish - KDFWR, Kentucky Afield Outdoors (Lee McClellan, 18 June 2020) - nymphs always good, grasshopper and ant patterns in late summer, the summer wading accesses and the morning window, the 45-per-turbine reading, the shoreline stick-or-rock gauge.
• Cumberland River Tailwater - KDFWR education page (undated) - beadhead pheasant nymphs and smaller midges for summer rainbows, larger olive, brown or black Woolly Buggers, shad-colored streamers and crayfish patterns for browns near woody cover, the Chicago fly.
• Summer Fishing Tips - KDFWR (undated) - rainbows and brook trout in the flowing shoals and browns near woody cover in deeper water, the Chicago Fly, beadhead pheasant nymphs and cracklebacks.
• Two Tailwater Floats for Early Summer Smallies - KDFWR, Kentucky Afield Outdoors (Lee McClellan, 20 May 2021) and its undated later version - bass-sized yellow and black cork poppers in the eddies behind boulders on the Green, dam to Greensburg, releases controlling the fishing.
• Floating the Green River - Kentucky Afield magazine, Summer 2014, pages 16 to 19 - a yellow and black popper near shoreline cover, the dam-to-Russell Ford floats.
• Early fall makes a great time to fly fish for stream smallmouth bass - KDFWR, Kentucky Afield Outdoors (Lee McClellan, 1 September 2022) - 5- to 7-weight rod, 7- to 9-foot fluorocarbon or monofilament level leaders, size 2 to 6 Clousers, size 4 to 8 Near Nuff Crayfish, size 4 or 6 lime green or black Woolly Buggers, medium cork poppers, Sneaky Petes, wider-gape hooks, stream drops and foam lines. Scoped to Kentucky streams generally.
• 2026 Fishing Forecast and Tips - KDFWR - Lake Cumberland Tailwater trout by species; Dix River below Herrington Lake holdover and annual stocking; Nolin River Lake Tailwater stocking months, holdovers to 16 inches, browns since 2017, first 3.5 miles; the Green River smallmouth entry below Green River Lake dam, which names no fly. Read as extracted text.
• Trout Streams Program in Kentucky for 2026 - KDFWR - four trout species, Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery as the source of every stocked trout, 14 tailwaters at 93.6 miles, the Cumberland's regulation history (brown trout 1982 and 1996, rainbow slot 2004, brook 2011, cutthroat 2021 to 2025), the Dix as put-and-take rainbow and its brown trout history (1988 to 2016, ended 2017; 15-inch limit 1989 to 2008). Read as extracted text.
• Lake Cumberland Tailwater - KDFWR waterbody page (wid=186) - the special trout regulations, trout permit, no culling, no chumming, stocking dates no longer announced.
• Herrington Lake Tailwater - KDFWR waterbody page (wid=135) - "Dix river from Herrington Lake Dam downstream for two miles"; "Fishing with artificial lures or flies only."
• Nolin River Lake Tailwater - KDFWR waterbody page (wid=80) - brown and rainbow trout, statewide regulations apply.
• Green River Lake Tailwater - KDFWR waterbody page (wid=482) - the rod-in-hand, single-hook rule from the dam to the end of the concrete wall.
• Species Sizes and Limits - KDFWR (undated) - statewide trout limits by species, the brook trout footnote, the culling note.
• Trout Stocking Schedule (Monthly Trout Stocking) - KDFWR, November 2026 - Cumberland dates not announced in advance; the Nolin line for 12 November 2026.
• Yearly Trout Stocking Archive - KDFWR - the dated Herrington and Nolin tailwater lines from November 2025 to August 2026, the Nolin postponement note.
• Fishing and Boating Guide - KDFWR - the guide's own description of itself as a summary of the law, and its link to Kentucky Administrative Regulations Title 301. The regulation text was not read for this page.

Related

Species

• Rainbow trout
• Smallmouth bass

Techniques

• Indicator nymphing
• Streamer fishing
• Dry-dropper
• Poppers and topwater flies
• Wet wading and cold-water safety on Kentucky streams

Knots

• Improved clinch
• Double surgeon's

Line

• Leaders and tippet

Gear

• Fly rod, reel and line setup

Waters

• Cumberland River tailwater
• Herrington Lake Tailwater
• Nolin River Lake Tailwater
• Green River Lake Tailwater