This dataset represents fish targets (presumed Silver Carp, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) recorded using Adaptive Resolution Imaging Sonar (ARIS; Sound Metrics, Bellevue, WA) in five backwater embayments of Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley, KY (2022 February). A surface-to-bottom block net was set across embayments in a “chevron” shape pointed upstream to guide fish movements downstream through net openings (about 15 m wide) along each shoreline and within sonar range for quantification. Fish targets were enumerated then subsampled for length measurement using a systematic random approach.