Taylorsville Lake is a

artificial lake A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

located mainly in

Spencer County, Kentucky Spencer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the total population was 19,490. Its county seat is Taylorsville. The county was founded in 1824 and named for Spier Spencer. Spencer County is part of ...

. As of 12/19/21 Taylorsville Lake has become a hotspot for migrating ducks. According to Central KY Waterfowlers the lake is currently holding a record number of waterfowl. It has been estimated over 20,000 ducks have been harvested in 3 days. Construction by the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

started in 1974, and flooding began in 1983. The total cost of the lake was $103 million. It is about long. Backwater areas of the lake are also located in Nelson County and Anderson County. The dam is located on the Salt River, and it is estimated that it has prevented more than $129 million in flood damages since it became operational. The lake is named for Taylorsville, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of Spencer County, and today serves as a major economic source for Spencer County, as well as a popular fishing area. Taylorsville Lake State Park occupies a portion of the lake's northern shore.

Dam

Taylorsville Lake Dam (National ID # KY00051), owned and operated by the Corps of Engineers, is an earthen structure high, long at its crest, and was constructed for flood control and recreation. Its reservoir has a normal surface area of and a maximum capacity of 291,670

acre-feet The acre-foot is a non- SI unit of volume equal to about commonly used in the United States in reference to large-scale water resources, such as reservoirs, aqueducts, canals, sewer flow capacity, irrigation water, and river flows. An acre-f ...

Ecology

The lake's water is murky year round and contains a large amount of

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel ...

washed down from agricultural runoff up river. During the lake's creation there was a large amount of standing timber in the lake that still remains today. This timber provides cover for much of the lake's wildlife. Blue herons are a common sight feeding upon the lake's ample supply of shad. Major fish species in the lake are

largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, bu ...

hybrid striped bass A hybrid striped bass, also known as a wiper or whiterock bass, is a hybrid between the striped bass (''Morone saxatilis'') and the white bass (''M. chrysops''). It can be distinguished from the striped bass by broken rather than solid horizont ...

white crappie The white crappie (''Pomoxis annularis'') is a freshwater fish found in North America, one of the two species of crappies. Alternate common names for the species include goldring and silver perch. is named for the fish. The genus name ''Pomoxis ...

, black crappie, channel catfish,

blue catfish The blue catfish (''Ictalurus furcatus'') is the largest species of North American catfish, reaching a length of and a weight of . The typical length is about 25–46 in (64–117 cm). The fish can live to 20 years. The native distribution o ...

, and freshwater drum perch.

Recreation

On weekends with good weather, the lake is usually fairly crowded, especially around holidays. Boaters new to the lake should use caution when leaving the river channel that runs through the lake due to standing timber that can sometimes be just under the water surface. The two most popular boat ramps found in the northwestern part of the lake are Settlers Trace and Possum Ridge, also known as the State Park Ramp. There are two smaller boat ramps upstream, Chowning Lane and Van Buren. There is a small

waterskiing Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on two skis or one ski. The sport requires suffici ...

course on the lake. Waterskiing,

wakeboarding Wakeboarding is a water sport in which the rider, standing on a wakeboard (a board with foot bindings), is towed behind a motorboat across its wake and especially up off the crest in order to perform aerial maneuvers. A hallmark of wakeboardin ...

, tubing,

jet skiing A personal watercraft (PWC), also called water scooter or jet ski, is a recreational watercraft that a rider sits or stands on, not within, as in a boat. PWCs have two style categories, first and most popular being a runabout or "sit down" whe ...

, fishing, and boating are popular on the lake. Due to the lake's popularity and proximity to a major city (the closest large lake to

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

), fishing pressure on the lake is high, which can make fishing difficult. Fishing with jugs for

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive ...

is a common sight.

References

External links

Taylorsville Lake State Park
Kentucky Department of Parks
Taylorsville Lake History
Kentucky Department of Parks
Taylorsville Lake
Louisville District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers {{authority control Reservoirs in Kentucky Protected areas of Anderson County, Kentucky Protected areas of Nelson County, Kentucky Protected areas of Spencer County, Kentucky Bodies of water of Anderson County, Kentucky Bodies of water of Nelson County, Kentucky Bodies of water of Spencer County, Kentucky Salt River (Kentucky)