Water level
729.82ft
-0.02 ft in 24h
USGS 03249498 updated 10:05 AM
Waters · Lakes · KY · Wed, Sep 30
Cave Run Lake water level today 729.82 ft, falling
Bite index 6/10 — Biting — save your energy for the evening.
Worth a cast.
Built from solunar, pressure, level, wind. This water has no live gauge for every reading — see the sources below.
6/10
Biting
Today's bite windows
12 AM6 AMNoon6 PM11 PM
10Peak 9 8Strong 7 6Good 5 4Slow 3 2 1Dead
Major
3:21 AM–5:21 AM
Moon overhead
Minor
11:34 AM–12:34 PM
Moonset
Major
3:50 PM–5:50 PM
Moon underfoot
Minor
9:02 PM–10:02 PM
Moonrise
Sunrise 7:29 AM · sunset 7:18 PM · tomorrow's first major 4:21 AM–6:21 AM · windows on every water
Solunar · computed updated 10:31 AM
Conditions right now
Water temp estimated
≈62.5°F
7-day mean of air temperature, ±4.5°F typical
computed from NOAA KSYM updated 10:15 AM
Pressure
30.08inHg
rising · +1 hPa/12h
NOAA KSYM updated 10:15 AM
Wind
5mph SE
NOAA KSYM updated 10:15 AM
Moon
81% waning
Solunar · computed updated 10:31 AM
What this means
Largemouth bass, Crappie, Catfish
This gauge reports level but no water temperature, so depth calls stay open. Read the windows and the pressure trend instead.
Cave Run Lake level over the last 8 days
729.82 ft down 0.02 ft in 24 hours
That sits 3% of the way up the band it has held over the last 8 days, between 729.81 and 730.11 ft. Over the week it is down0.26ft.
09-22 729.81–730.11 ft 09-30
USGS 03249498 updated 10:05 AM
The week ahead
| Thu | 6 | Biting | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri | 7 | Biting | |
| Sat | 6 | Biting | |
| Sun | 6 | Biting | |
| Mon | 5 | Picky | |
| Tue | 5 | Picky | |
| Wed | 6 | Biting |
Forecast days carry solunar and the wind outlook. Pressure and gauge movement land the morning of.
Cave Run Lake depth and lake size
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers computes this from the dam's official design elevations, not from a bed survey we could draw a contour map from. Cave Run Lake and Dam is the project's formal name.
Deepest point
74 ft
Volume at full pool
222,600 acre-feet
Measured from the top of conservation pool at 730 ft down to the deepest surveyed point at 656 ft. Depths quoted against a flood pool or an older survey come out higher.
Depth data from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, LRL District. Bathymetry changes slowly — treat it as structure, not as today's water.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, LRL District · reported figures
Cave Run Lake boat ramps and public fishing access
Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources lists 22 public access points on Cave Run Lake. These are the 8 closest to our gauge — the farthest one the agency lists sits 15 mi away.
- Stoney Cove 0.3 miRamp surface: PavedLaunch lanes: SingleParking: PavedParking capacity: 51 plusRestrooms: Seasonal All-HoursFee: No
- High Bank 0.5 miParking: PavedParking capacity: 25 or LessRestrooms: Seasonal All-HoursFee: No
- Scotts Creek Ramp 1.5 miRamp surface: PavedLaunch lanes: MultipleParking: PavedParking capacity: 26 to 50Courtesy dock: YesRestrooms: Seasonal All-HoursMarina: Year-Round Limited-HoursAccessible ramp: Year-Round All-HoursFee: Yes
- Twin Knobs Ramp 1.7 miRamp surface: PavedLaunch lanes: MultipleParking: PavedParking capacity: 26 to 50Courtesy dock: YesRestrooms: Seasonal All-HoursCamping: Seasonal All-HoursFee: Yes
- Boat Gunnel 2.1 miParking: PavedParking capacity: 25 or LessRestrooms: Year-Round Limited-HoursFee: No
- Shallow Flats 2.5 miParking: PavedParking capacity: 25 or LessRestrooms: Seasonal All-HoursFee: No
- Alfrey Boat Ramp 2.6 miRamp surface: PavedLaunch lanes: MultipleParking: PavedParking capacity: 51 plusCourtesy dock: YesRestrooms: Seasonal All-HoursCamping: Seasonal All-HoursAccessible ramp: Year-Round All-HoursFee: Yes
- Musky Bend 3.0 miParking: PavedParking capacity: 25 or LessFee: No
Access data from Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. Distances are straight-line from our gauge, not driving distance.
Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources · public access inventory
Before you go
A Kentucky fishing license covers this water — $24.31 a year for residents. KDFWR sets the rules and is the one that counts.
What it costs, and who is exempt →Nearby waters today
- 5 Picky Buckhorn Lake KY · 87 km
- 5 Picky Carr Creek Lake KY · 108 km
- 6 Biting Herrington Lake KY · 109 km
- 7 Biting Detroit River MI · 466 km
- 6 Biting Clear Creek CO · 1881 km
Questions people ask about Cave Run Lake
Answered from the same readings as the rest of this page. Where we have no basis for an answer, there is no entry — spot-by-spot local knowledge is not something we can claim for Cave Run Lake.
- Is it worth fishing Cave Run Lake today?
- 6 out of 10 — biting. Worth a cast. The strongest stretch is 3:21 AM–5:21 AM. That number is worked out fresh each morning from the solunar windows, the pressure trend, the water level.
- What time should you fish Cave Run Lake?
- Today's major windows run 3:21 AM–5:21 AM and 3:50 PM–5:50 PM, with minor windows at 11:34 AM–12:34 PM and 9:02 PM–10:02 PM. Sunrise is 7:29 AM and sunset 7:18 PM. A major landing on first or last light is the stretch worth setting an alarm for.
- What is the water temperature at Cave Run Lake?
- No gauge on Cave Run Lake measures it, so this is an estimate: roughly 62.5°F, worked out from the 7-day mean of air temperature at NOAA weather station KSYM (Clyde A. Thomas Regional Airport). Checked against the lakes that do have a thermometer, that method lands within about 4.5°F of the real reading and was off by 8.3°F at worst. Treat it as a ballpark, not a measurement — and note the bite index above ignores it entirely, because an error that size would move the verdict as often as it would fix it.
- What is the water level at Cave Run Lake right now?
- 729.82 ft, read at 10:05 AM from USGS station 03249498. Over 24 hours it is down 0.02 ft.
- Are water levels rising or falling at Cave Run Lake?
- Falling. The lake is down 0.02 ft in 24 hours and down 0.26 ft over the week. Over the last 8 days it has held between 729.81 and 730.11 ft. Every figure here is a difference between two gauge readings, not a forecast — what the level does next depends on rain and on what the dam releases.
- Is Cave Run Lake full right now?
- At 729.82 ft the lake is sitting right at its top of conservation pool of 730 ft, as U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, LRL District defines it. That is a comparison of two elevations, not a percentage of capacity — a reservoir at half its depth holds far less than half its water, so the two are not the same thing.
- Can you eat the fish you catch in Cave Run Lake?
- That is a health question and it belongs with the state, not with us. KY publishes fish consumption advisories through its health or environmental agency, and those are the ones that count. We give no eating advice.
- Do you need a licence to fish Cave Run Lake?
- Yes. A Kentucky fishing license covers this water, required from age 16. KDFWR sets the rules and is the one that counts.
Where these numbers come from
- Solunar computed 10:31 AM
- NOAA KSYM Clyde A. Thomas Regional Airport 10:15 AM
- NOAA JKL gridded forecast 7:29 AM
- USGS 03249498 CAVE RUN LAKE NEAR FARMERS, KY 10:05 AM
Held by Cave Run Dam on the Licking River, a Corps of Engineers project - but the gauge is a USGS lake station reporting the pool surface itself, not a river stage below the wall. No water temperature there, so the depth calls stay open.
No one types these in by hand. If a source goes quiet, the page says so instead of showing you yesterday.