The MLF Fisheries Management Division partnered for the first time with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources to deploy habitat in Kentucky Lake ahead of Bass Pro Tour Stage 5, as part of the Minn Kota Habitat Restoration Program.
On the morning of June 4, Bass Pro Tour anglers Gary Klein and Nick LeBrun joined MLF Director Steven Bardin, MLF staff, Kentucky Wildlife biologists and First Choice Farm and Lawn Calvert City at the Kentucky Lake Dam State Park.
With the assistance of a Kubota SVL75-3 Track Loader, the group constructed 50 MossBack Fish Habitat ReedMats, which were deployed in sites selected by KDFWR. Three of the sites are accessible only by boat and GPS coordinates will be available on the KDFWR website. The other deployment site can be accessed from shore using the ADA Fishing Jetty off of US 641.
The MossBack ReedMat is made of recycled PVC and provides a long-term stake bed habitat popular with panfish anglers.
This is the fourth Minn Kota Habitat Restoration Project of 2025. The previous projects were at Stage 1 at Lake Conroe, Texas; Stage 3 at Lake Murray, South Carolina; and at Stage 4 at Lake Chickamagua, Tennessee.