CAVE RUN LAKE
Best known for the super-sized muskies it produces, Cave Run Lake has quietly developed into a very good bass lake in recent years. "We seem to be really seeing positive effects from the slot limit put on this lake several years ago," Ross said. <!--end paragraph-->
<!--begin paragraph-->Ross notes that during the past couple of years, anglers have been catching more fish that either fall into the upper end of the slot, which is 13 to 16 inches, or are above the slot. Bass tournaments also have reported very good success on Cave Run in recent years.
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<!--begin paragraph-->Ross stresses that anglers should not be shy about taking home a limit of fish that fall under the slot, noting that they would, in fact, be helping the fishery by doing so. "For a slot limit to be effective, some of those smaller fish need to be taken out," he said. "That reduces competition and allows more fish that make it into the protected slot to grow to larger sizes."
Although Cave Run is in the highlands region and is bounded by hills, it also offers a fair amount of good shallow habitat for bass. The best largemouth habitat and the highest largemouth densities are up the river arms, but the lower end of the lake seems to yield more big bass. In addition, the lower end of the lake offers both largemouths and smallmouths for anglers to go after.
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<!--begin paragraph-->Cave Run bass anglers spend a lot of time pitching jigs to downed trees, stumps and other woody cover in the upper half of the lake. In addition, large stands of milfoil that have developed in recent years hold a lot of bass. During May, fishermen primarily work the edges of the grass or fish over grass that hasn't grown all the way to the surface.
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<!--begin paragraph-->All largemouths between 13 to 16 inches must be released on Cave Run Lake. The minimum size for smallmouths is 16 inches. Access to Cave Run is excellent, with more than 20 boat ramps for 8,270 acres. The lake is bounded almost completely by the Daniel Boone National Forest.
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