I have a place on Barkley but fish both. As artcarney said both are good but that said I think KY is a bit ahead on panfish. Redears have come on strong in Barkley the last few years but I think there are bigger numbers on KY. I also feel that bluegills on KY tend to be bigger but this year the gills I caught on KY seemed smaller than usual. It seems to me the gills on Barkley tend to be kind of thin in comparison but these things can run in cycles. The weeds were gone on KY and I wonder if that had to do with the thinness of the gills. I also tend to catch bigger crappie on KY although I can find and catch more on Barkley. But you won't go wrong with either lake. I love them both...

kc