Question for the Southern Indiana/Kentucky guys

The wife and I are probably 5-7 years from retirement. We currently live in what you would call a suburb of Chicago. Winters are pretty harsh around here so we want to move further south. We are fortunate to have a lake house 90 miles from here in northern Indiana which has made very easy for me to get the wife to agree we need to retire on the water.

Ideally, I am looking for a decent size body of water. Our current lake is 550 acres - you all probably consider that more of a pond. We agree that we would want something larger than the lake we are currently on. We like the convenience of being right on the water, and having our own pier/boat house. If possible - we would like to be reasonably close to a larger city - maybe 75-100 miles.

Just wondering if anyone knows of a lake or two that fits that description? I know we probably limit ourselves wanting to be right on the lake with our own pier - but to be honest, as I think through retirement not sure I would want to constantly trailer in every time I want to fish or take the wife out for a cruise.

Thanks guys! Appreciate the help.

I'll take a stab at this one..... KY Lake.....

barren river lake

If youre looking for something cheaper and in a great out of the way spot. Patoka. its trying to come back to its previous glory and you arent going to burn up bass there all the time but i personally love the area.

well in that distance from louisville you can be at nolin ,rough,t-ville,green river and barren or patoka in indiana.Out of those id choose nolin and barren over the others,from most areas of louisville you can be at nolin in about 45 mins depending on traffic and all,Barren is a lil bit further but near 100 miles..Not sure how big of a city you want to be near,but of course ky lake /dale hollow is high on my list of possibles not quite a big city around them but you would be at the lake ore then in the city anyway id think http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/roll.gif

KY Lake or Barkley.

I'd say Rough, Nolin, or Barren. You won't be able to have a house and dock on the water at Patoka since the state owns the majority, if not all properties that border the water and there are no private docks other than the marinas. I personally like the area of Barren the most, but Nolin would be a close second. Can't go wrong with Rough either. You just need to take a trip to each to decide. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif

Don't forget Cumberland.

Lake Monroe

KY Lake or Barkley.

Ky Lake or Lake Barkley. From the north end of Ky Lake you are about 115 miles from Nashville and about 210 from St. Louis...more than close enough to any big city...couple of smaller towns close of about 50,000...more than big enough...best lakes in the region hands down for fishing.

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by Dave Stewart &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Ky Lake or Lake Barkley. From the north end of Ky Lake you are about 115 miles from Nashville and about 210 from St. Louis...more than close enough to any big city...couple of smaller towns close of about 50,000...more than big enough...best lakes in the region hands down for fishing. </td></tr></table>

+1

I'm hoping to retire there myself. Love the area, the fishing is great and so are the people.

I'm going to move back to central Indiana, as my kids and grandkids are there. If I had no family at all, I would definitely move to the Kentucky Lake area. There would be no question about it. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif I don't know if you have family in the area you live in now or not. You should think long and hard about moving very far away from family, before you actually do it. I made a major mistake (for me) by moving so far away. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/ohwell.gif We don't live forever, since my wife died a few months ago, I am totally alone here, that's why I am going back home. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif

Very nice and reasonable patio homes on a private quarry lake about 10 minutes from downtown Louisville. I visited the area a few weeks ago, and the lake is crystal clear and full of bass. The patio homes are right on the water - there's a community beach, a community pool, and tennis courts. It's a very unique thing they have going on. The patio homes are actually built down in the quarry, so you have a very secluded and secure area, and it's amazingly quiet.
http://www.quarrybluff.com/home.php

If and when the east end bridge is built in Louisville, the value of these homes will skyrocket. Lots of homes are being bought or built now for that reason.

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by artcarney_agr &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Very nice and reasonable patio homes on a private quarry lake about 10 minutes from downtown Louisville. I visited the area a few weeks ago, and the lake is crystal clear and full of bass. The patio homes are right on the water - there's a community beach, a community pool, and tennis courts. It's a very unique thing they have going on. The patio homes are actually built down in the quarry, so you have a very secluded and secure area, and it's amazingly quiet.
http://www.quarrybluff.com/home.php

If and when the east end bridge is built in Louisville, the value of these homes will skyrocket. Lots of homes are being bought or built now for that reason. </td></tr></table>

THAT is waaayyy cool. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif

I'm going to vote KY Lake/Barkley. You could fish there for 20 years and not hit all the good spots. Its full of fish and good ones too. Get Dave Stewart to show you around. He is the man down there. Spend a few guide trips with him and you will know exactly how to fish that lake.

Somebody mentioned Patoka, but I don't think you can get a place there that has direct access to the water. I am not aware of any private docks on the lake.

Doc

there isnt on patoka,i mentioned it just because it was an hour away from a big city.Since it sounds like hes wanting to drive back and forth to different lakes and have a place on one.Me id rather have a place on a lake but still be within an hour or 2 of a few more ,but i like variety in life http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/Laugh.gif

Lake Lemon wouldn't be bad, roughly 1500 acres. Houses and private docks all around the lake and the lake is full of bass. It is located in the Bloomington Indiana area. Also would be a short drive to Lake Monroe. I would guess 30 mins depending on where you live on Lemon. That also puts you in a reasonable drive to patoka. Wouldn't be to bad if you wanted to fish Guist or Morse in the Indy area.

If you actually want to catch fish and enjoy it all year long go to KY and Barkley.