Cave Run Muskie Guide Service

Cave Run Muskie Guide Service runs full-day muskellunge trips on Cave Run Lake, an 8,300-acre reservoir formed by damming the Licking River about 50 miles east of Lexington, Kentucky. The lake’s shoreline is undeveloped, lined with pine and rock, with Long Bow Marina serving as a landmark on the water. Guides fish from Ranger boats and are on Cave Run 100 to 200 days a year, working the lake’s structure and current seams for muskie exclusively. There is no closed season on Cave Run, and because the lake rarely freezes over completely, trips run into the winter months when muskies reach their heaviest weight of the year. Full-day outings run eight or more hours and center on technique and local knowledge of where fish are holding that day. The guide staff includes Scott Salchli, whose client Sara Terry landed the Kentucky state-record muskie while fishing with him.