Brad Johnson of Wilmore pointed out landmarks along the Kentucky River during a tour Wednesday, July 20. (Photo by Jonathan Kleppinger) |
What does a seminary professor do when he needs to cut loose? For Brad Johnson of Wilmore, he cuts loose from the bank and heads upriver to show central Kentuckians beautiful treasures right in their backyards.
Johnson, 46, runs Dix River Adventures and takes passengers to fish and see the natural wonders of the palisades in the tailwaters of Herrington Lake.
Indiana was home for Johnson until he and his family came to Wilmore in 2004 for him to finish his master’s degrees at Asbury Theological Seminary with a plan to return to Indiana upon graduation. But the offer of a teaching fellowship at the seminary kept the family in Jessamine County — and the scenery didn’t hurt, either.
While Johnson had always loved boats, he found natural beauty on rivers in Kentucky that he had never seen before.
“I fell in love with this the first time I took a little boat out on it,” he said.
At a staff retreat out on a lake years ago, Johnson realized he wanted to make boating more than a hobby.
“They were fishing, and I got hooked, so to speak,” he said. “For years, I would just use borrowed boats or little basic boats, older boats, oftentimes that had a lot of mechanical problems ... Finally, I thought, ‘I could put together a boating package and, for a modest fee, I think, take people out for tours and fishing and sort of support my hobby that way, and it’s worked out really well so far.”
The tour starts in Pool 7 of the Kentucky River, just upriver from Lock and Dam 7 and just downriver from High Bridge. Johnson takes his occupants under the historic bridge and past the Dixie Belle, Shaker Village’s 115-passenger boat docked in Mercer County.
The water cools after Johnson makes the turn onto the Dix River, traveling against the current toward the palisade cliffs and the Dix Dam, which causes the cooling when discharging into the river.
The 2-mile stretch of the Dix below the dam is the destination for Johnson — the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife has designated these tailwaters as a “trophy” brown-trout fishing area, where the minimum size limit is 15 inches instead of the 12-inch restriction in the rest of the state.
Johnson, a KDFW licensed guide, said many people in central Kentucky don’t realize that excellent fishing areas and beautiful scenery on the river are available so close.
“We’re 10 minutes from Wilmore; we’re 30 minutes from Lexington. I’ve had folks fly into Bluegrass Airport to fish, and from the airport, they can be here in 40 minutes,” he said. “It’s a terrific fishery; it’s not a big one, and it’s hard to get to, but with the right boat and the right equipment, you can get there easily, and you can have a great day of fishing — and if the fishing’s not that great, the scenery is terrific.”
For more information on Dix River Adventures, visit www.dixriveradventures.com.
