Receding Floodwaters at Kentucky Distillery Reveal an Appropriately-Named “Bigmouth”

If you've ever gone fishing in Kentucky, you've probably caught some species of bass. We have them in spades here in the Commonwealth. And how appropriate is it that some of the aquatic life in our rivers and streams have an "affinity" for bourbon?

I've been seeing a number of post-flood images and stories from around Kentucky about how people are recovering or trying to recover from another catastrophic 14-year flood (1997, 2011, and 2025 all saw historic flooding).

Buffalo Trace Fish Rescue

There are sad stories, as you can imagine, and there are heroic ones. Also, no surprise. And then there are interesting tales of rescues you might not see coming. Who knew FISH had to be rescued from water? Well, it depends on the water, and Kentucky State University's Aquaculture Program is aware of that fact. They jumped in to rescue fish who got washed into an isolated pool in a reservoir at Buffalo Trace Distillery. They came from the nearby Kentucky River.

And how's this for a coincidence? Keeping in mind this reservoir was on the grounds of the Buffalo Trace Distillery, how appropriate is the breed of one of the fish that was rescued?

Get our free mobile app

Now, this is super interesting. There's no telling how old that Bigmouth Buffalo is that was rescued from that pool. I've learned they can live VERY long lives. Some have even gone well past 100 years old. I'm particularly happy THAT dude was rescued.

All in all, 250 pounds of fish were saved and returned to the Kentucky River.