Lake Cumberland

Water temperatures are dropping. Right now trout are plentiful below the Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery and in the Cumberland River, Trout are being caught on spinners, salmon eggs, nightcrawlers, and corn.Trout on the cumberland river are fishing better than I can remember. Word is this is because of (3) three years of unusually high water. It is one of those years where it is difficult to do anything wrong. A dead drift is working very well, while you lose some flies you catch a lot of fish. I will post about other fishing conditions a bit later.

Lake Cumberland is recognized as one of the countries premier striper fishing lakes and a bass fisherman’s paradise. A 63,000 acre lake with 1255 acres of shore line, whether you’re a serious angler or a recreational fisherman/woman, Lake Cumberland is a fisherman’s paradise. Home to a wide variety of fish including Stripers, crappie, bream, walleye, trout, spoonbill catfish, and a variety of bass. Fishing on Lake Cumberland is a year round activity regardless of the time of year. This huge lake with beautiful emerald green water covers towns of years gone by and is home to irregular shorelines, shoals, and small tributaries that provide an ideal habitat and breeding ground for an abundant striper population.

The State of Kentucky record striper, weighed 58 lb. 4 oz. and was caught at Lake Cumberland. Our lake is known throughout the country as one of the top Striper Trophy lakes in the USA The average striper caught is between 12 and 15 lb. with no shortage of 20 pounders, some 30 pounders,and a few 40 pounders caught each year

This week (Week of July 27th 2006) Striper fishing has been very good . Best striper forumual seems to be fishing planner boards (until a week ago or so there was a brown algae coating the lines making this impossible) and bobbers with 1 - 2 oz. sinkers, and down rods with 3 oz. , between 28 ft.to 42 ft. deep over 35 ft. to 60 ft. On cloudy days they are being caught at 12-16 ft levels. Stripers are throughout the main lake, the most populated schools are at the mouths of the creeks and the river channels chasing Shad, medium to large shad are effective bait now. There was a report of a 35 pounder caught at near the island at the entrance of beaver creek.

For the past several weeks the fishermen/women I know have been catching daily limits virtually every day. On cloudy day

If you are planning a fishing trip to Lake Cumberland, KY Lake Cumberland has many marinas and lake access (see my next post) to check water levels http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ky/nwis/uv/?site_no=03413200&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060

best fishing is during the month of April, May, September, and October. During the summer months, early June and late August are among the best months. I will try to do a fishing report for each change of season.