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Home › Waters › Kentucky › Buckhorn Lake
Lake · Perry and Leslie counties, southeastern Kentucky, an impoundment of the Middle Fork Kentucky River in the steep forested country east of Hazard · Kentucky

Buckhorn Lake Fishing Guides

A steep mountain lake on the Middle Fork Kentucky River in the eastern Kentucky coalfields, quiet and heavily wooded, with a well-regarded muskellunge fishery alongside bass and crappie.

The bow of a boat on flat reservoir water in early light
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Guides on the Buckhorn Lake

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About the Buckhorn Lake

Buckhorn Lake impounds the Middle Fork of the Kentucky River in Perry and Leslie counties, deep in the steep forested country of southeastern Kentucky east of Hazard. It is a mountain reservoir in the truest sense: narrow, winding, hemmed in by wooded ridges that rise straight from the water, with hollows and creek arms branching off the main channel every few hundred yards. There is very little shoreline development, a state park and lodge sit near the dam, and the surrounding country is national forest and mountain farmland. On a weekday in autumn a boat may have the lake almost to itself.

Muskellunge are what give Buckhorn its reputation beyond the region. Kentucky stocks musky here and the lake has produced good fish consistently, worked along the timbered banks, at the mouths of the creek arms and over the deeper channel edges by anglers who are willing to put in long hours for few bites. Largemouth bass are the everyday fishery and relate to the abundant wood and rock along the steep banks. Crappie hold on brush and standing timber and are what most local boats are after in spring. Bluegill and redear sunfish are plentiful in the coves, channel catfish are common, and white bass and walleye are present in smaller numbers. Buckhorn Lake State Resort Park provides lodging, a marina and the main developed access.

The gauge at Buckhorn reports lake elevation, precipitation and stage. Elevation is the figure that governs a trip, because this is a flood-control reservoir on a river that drains extremely steep terrain and it is managed accordingly. Heavy rain over the Middle Fork watershed lifts the pool fast and pushes debris and colour into the upper arms, and the lake is drawn down for winter storage. Both conditions change fishing and ramp access substantially. Check the elevation and the recent precipitation together, and treat the days following a big rise as a time to fish the clearer lower end near the dam.

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Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

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Pool right now

781.96ft NGVD29
  • 24 hours-0.01 ft → steady

Reading taken 43 min ago at USGS 03280800, BUCKHORN LAKE AT BUCKHORN, KY. Elevation is the surface of the lake above the survey datum, not depth. Source.

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Posting to Buckhorn Lake.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Lake level alert

Tell me when the pool at Buckhorn Lake ft (NGVD29)

Now: 781.96 ft pool elevation, read 5:15 am CST, Mon Nov 2, 2026 (USGS 03280800, BUCKHORN LAKE AT BUCKHORN, KY).

We never use this address for anything else and never share it. See the privacy policy.

Access

Buckhorn Lake State Resort Park - the lodge, marina and main developed access near the dam.
Buckhorn - the community at the dam and the gauge location.
Hazard - the nearest city west, with lodging, fuel and full services.
Hyden - the Leslie County seat south, with additional services.
Middle Fork Kentucky River - the inflow at the upper end and the river below the dam.
Daniel Boone National Forest - public land in the surrounding country with trails and access.
London - the larger town southwest along the parkway, with broader services.

Seasons

Spring: crappie move onto the shallow brush and bass work the wood, making this the busiest and most productive season.
Summer: bluegill and catfish carry the lake, bass fishing runs early and late, and musky anglers work the deeper channel edges.
Fall: the best musky season and strong bass fishing as the water cools and the surrounding hardwoods turn.
Winter: the pool is drawn down for flood storage, fishing slows, and crappie and bass concentrate on the remaining deep structure.

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Questions

What species can you catch on the Buckhorn Lake?

Anglers target Black Crappie, Bluegill, Channel Catfish, Largemouth Bass, Muskellunge, Redear Sunfish, Walleye, White Bass on the Buckhorn Lake in Kentucky.

Where can you access the Buckhorn Lake?

Buckhorn Lake State Resort Park - the lodge, marina and main developed access near the dam. Buckhorn - the community at the dam and the gauge location. Hazard - the nearest city west, with lodging, fuel and full services. Hyden - the Leslie County seat south, with additional services. Middle Fork Kentucky River - the inflow at the upper end and the river below the dam. Daniel Boone National Forest - public land in the surrounding country with trails and access. London - the larger town southwest along the parkway, with broader services.

When is the best time to fish the Buckhorn Lake?

Spring: crappie move onto the shallow brush and bass work the wood, making this the busiest and most productive season. Summer: bluegill and catfish carry the lake, bass fishing runs early and late, and musky anglers work the deeper channel edges. Fall: the best musky season and strong bass fishing as the water cools and the surrounding hardwoods turn. Winter: the pool is drawn down for flood storage, fishing slows, and crappie and bass concentrate on the remaining deep structure.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Buckhorn Lake?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Kentucky agency site: https://fw.ky.gov/FishBoatGuide/Pages/default.aspx