Dix River

[Brick]

Hello! Fairly new to the board but was hoping someone could give me some general info on Dix River. For boat fishing, I heard that you have to put in on the Kentucky River and travel up the river to get to the Herrington Lake Dam. Can you take a small boat all the way up the river to the dam? I was thinking of trying it this weekend or later in the fall. Is it worth trying?

Thanks!

[birdstrike]

What you heard is right. Put in at High Bridge and head up river the Dix is just past the bridge on the right, can't miss it. You will not make it all the way to the dam in anything other than a canoe or kayak. You hit a shallow riffle at the spillway and you're as far as you can get unless you can drag your boat over a rock bar. Because of this, it seems like the best fishing is right up on the dam where there is little fishing pressure. Another thing to note is the no live bait restriction once you get up the Dix a certain ways.

Great trip. Hope you have fun.

Steve

[Col Forbin]

The trip up Dix river is awesome! I have made the trip from high bridge to the dam several times in a canoe. You can't beat the views, and the fishing is great too. I always do best in the section birdstrike was talking about, but have also done well at the end of the riffle too. If you are going to fly fish, I always do pretty good with foam ant. Be sure to follow all of the boating regulations. In my younger (dumber) days I was ticketed because I left my life jacket in the car. And my buddy and I were stopped on a different day as well for a random check.

Enjoy the trip. Even if you don't catch a ton fish, the trip itself is worth it. Good luck

[Brick]

Thanks for the help. I will be going in the morning.

[birdstrike]

Let us know how you did!

[Brick]

Thanks again for everyone's input. I have a 17' sea nymph so i went up the river as far as I could and worked back. Fished about 3 hours. Caught 8 Rainbow Trout on small rapalas, 5'-10' deep. Threw just about everything but a fly at them and I always came back to the minnow imitations. Surface temp was 74.5 - 76 degrees. Colder toward the dam. The river looked low, but it was the 1st time I fished Dix. My graph was going crazy marking schools of bait fish and just underneath them larger fish. This was more noticeable about the last 1/2 mile, to where Dix runs into the Kentucky River.

Thanks again and I hope this report helps someone!

[birdstrike]

Sounds like a good trip. How was the ramp and the parking situation? the ramp has ben pretty washed out/ mudding in the past. I've seen the shad really pack in there too, hard to catch anything with that much natural food for the taking. Did you fish the rapids at all? Hope you had a good time, maybe next time you'll drag a canoe up there and fish that last mile. Thanks for the report!

[Brick]

Actually funny you should ask. The ramp was bad. When i put in I slid my boat in not putting the trailer in too far. When I was coming out I back in too far. Had a real bad time getting out. You have maybe 10 feet of concrete and then mud in the water. I did not fish the rapids this time but I am working on the canoe trip.