Appalachian History Series
Why “Fishtrap,” and why a dam here
Early settlers on the Levisa Fork found an old Native fish weir in the river and gave the place its name, Fishtrap. By the twentieth century, repeated floods along the Levisa Fork and down the Big Sandy made the valley a candidate for a federal flood-control reservoir, which Congress folded into the Ohio River Basin program beginning in the late 1930s and refined in the decades that followed.
Building the highest dam in Eastern Kentucky
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntington District, broke ground in 1962 and completed Fishtrap Dam in the late 1960s. The structure is a rolled rock embankment with an impervious clay core, about 195 feet high and roughly 1,100 feet long, with four gated bays in the left abutment for controlled spillway releases. The project impounds Fishtrap Lake, which drains about 392 square miles.
On October 26, 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson dedicated the project on site, telling the crowd that the dam would protect families, bring industry, and create a playground for children in the mountains.
What the project was designed to do
Primary purpose, flood risk reduction. At maximum flood level Fishtrap can hold more than 54 billion gallons, which allows the Corps to shave crests off flood waves moving toward Pike County, the Big Sandy, and into the Ohio system. The dam’s gated works and intake tower give operators control over releases, which supports both flood operations and low-flow augmentation for water supply.
How the Corps manages the water. Fishtrap’s operating plan follows the agency’s standard Water Control Manual framework, which sets release targets and seasonal pools and is implemented in real time by Huntington District water managers. This program is governed by Army regulations that specify how projects mix objectives such as flood control, water quality, and recreation.
The community and the costs
Construction provided jobs and new infrastructure in the 1960s, and the completed project has reduced flood losses to downstream towns for decades. It also came with tradeoffs. Hundreds of valley acres went under water, families relocated, and parts of the local farm, timber, and coal economy had to adjust to a reservoir landscape. In the 1990s Kentucky’s Legislative Research Commission assembled a Fishtrap Lake task force that documented both the benefits and the hopes for stronger recreation development to offset losses that came with impoundment.
Ecology on a regulated river
A deep Appalachian reservoir changes water temperature and oxygen at the dam’s outlet, which in turn changes the fish community downstream. Fishtrap’s multilevel intake lets operators blend warmer surface water with colder deep water to moderate those effects while still meeting flood and water-supply goals. Agency water management pages and manuals outline how such selective withdrawal works at projects like Fishtrap.
Fishtrap in the War on Poverty era
Johnson’s 1968 dedication placed Fishtrap within the national spotlight on Appalachian development. In that speech he paired classic flood-control promises with recreation and industry, arguing that a modern dam would make room for growth in a mountain county that had long been vulnerable to high water. The address remains a useful primary record of how Washington sold multipurpose reservoirs to local audiences in the late 1960s.
Where things stand today
Fishtrap Lake is operated by the Corps’ Huntington District. The agency’s public water-management page posts current pool and release information for the Big Sandy basin, including Fishtrap. Recreational use continues to evolve, and facilities on the lake have changed over time as the Corps evaluates safety and operations.
Sources & Further Reading
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntington District. “Fishtrap Lake,” official project page, specifications and purposes. USACE Great Lakes Division
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntington District. Big Sandy Basin water-management portal for current operations and reference materials. lrh-wc.usace.army.mil
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Engineer Regulation 1110-2-240, “Water Control Management,” and ER 1110-2-8156, “Preparation of Water Control Manuals,” governing project operations and manuals. Army Corps Publications+1
“Remarks at the Dedication of Fishtrap Dam Near Pikeville, Kentucky,” President Lyndon B. Johnson, October 26, 1968, The American Presidency Project. The American Presidency Project
Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, Final Report of the Special Task Force on Fishtrap Lake (1999). legislature.ky.gov+1
USACE recreation profile for Fishtrap Lake, brief history and project stats. USACE Great Lakes Division