I am looking for Midwest BackPacking Locations with fishing

[steamboat]

I picked up hiking and backpacking as hobbies on my quest to lose 100 lbs and this winter it occurred to me, it would be cool to backpack into a spot whre I could also fish. I am not a fly fisherman or trout, mostly panfish, catfish and a bass if I get lucky. Patoka Lake has backcountry campsites so I scouted them on the 7th. They are not very remote but a few have easy access to the lake.

I would like to find a few other spots, reasonably close to Louisville, KY.

I made a short video of my photos of Patoka Lake camp sites for our hiking club.

My link

 

[punk_lawyer]

Kentucky has some terrific areas that meet your needs. I don't love the state parks near Louisville (Taylorsville, Rough River, etc). If you want to take the trip to Land Between the Lakes nearer to Bowling Green the areas there are impressive to say the least. Fantastic scenery, fishing and not all that far from Louisville. A little more to the east in the state you have Grayson Lake and Greenbo Lake. Both have great hiking and fishing. Red River Gorge is also a place of legend in the area.

I have done very little hiking in Indiana. I have done a good bit in Kentucky and Tennessee. Ohio has a few good areas but none that have satisfied me as much as the ones in the Bluegrass State.

 

[b.dawgson]

Southern / Southeastern Illinois has some nice places. There's the area around Rend Lake (where I live) then there's Crab Orchard Lake, Giant City state park, Garden of the Gods (Shawnee National Forest), Bald Knob Cross, etc. Lots of nice scenery and such.

 

[golfgar]

Below is a link to the Ozark Trail Association. It may be about 5 or so hours from Louisville to the nearest trail head, but the scenery is great and passes many streams that have smallmouth, and various varieties of panfish. It is worth the trip if you pick the correct part of the trail to hike. Most of it is in the Mark Twain forest.


http://www.ozarktrail.com/index.php

 

[steamboat]

Below is a link to the Ozark Trail Association. It may be about 5 or so hours from Louisville to the nearest trail head, but the scenery is great and passes many streams that have smallmouth, and various varieties of panfish. It is worth the trip if you pick the correct part of the trail to hike. Most of it is in the Mark Twain forest.


http://www.ozarktrail.com/index.php

Which part of the trail would you recomend?

 

[waffle]

I'd hit up Red River Gorge... dunno much about the fishing, I know its there, but the hiking/backpacking is out of this world. A buddy and I hiked it a few times last year and its even more amazing everytime we do it.

 

[golfgar]

Below is a link to the Ozark Trail Association. It may be about 5 or so hours from Louisville to the nearest trail head, but the scenery is great and passes many streams that have smallmouth, and various varieties of panfish. It is worth the trip if you pick the correct part of the trail to hike. Most of it is in the Mark Twain forest.


http://www.ozarktrail.com/index.php

Which part of the trail would you recomend?

For fishing, the Tom Sauk, Courtois or Current sections are good and pretty too. Tom Sauk is the highest hill in the state and Johnson Shut-ins is a very nice area of the Black River and I have fished the Courtois creek several times, there are some deep holes but it is a small creek that is accessible. I have also fished the Current and they stock trout in it as well at certain points. A bit bigger than the the Courtois.

For the combo trip (fish/hike) these would be my suggestions.