Lake Cumberland Reports Posted Here

[prc4816]

Lake level has dropped about 5 ft from my last post. Water clarity is a little clearer as well, but still plenty of submerged trees to fish. The topwater bite seems to have gone into full swing first thing in the mornings. I have had success on zara spooks on points, but have seen others getting bit on poppers and buzzbaits especially around the trees. It seems the bigger bass have moved out into deeper water, and have found most of my better fish around ledges in the mouth of creeks in the 20ft range. I used a 18 ft diving crankbait to target these fish mainly crashing it into cover on these ledges. This produced some nice bass, a 26 inch striper, and a 4+ ft gar on my last outing.

[cec2fish]

thanks for the post.

[musky50]

I look, keep posting please. I will be down the week of the 4th of July, any info would be helpful

[prc4816]

I'm glad somebody is actually reading these. People tend to be pretty tight lipped on this lake, but there is plenty of water to fish. Granted I won't give out specific locations, but hopefully I can help point people in the right direction. This time of year I catch some of my biggest SM on this lake after dark. The keeper fish in the past have schooled up around bait on main lake structure... and deep. This is the hard part for a lot of people because deep on KY or Barkley is still shallow out here. My first year of really getting into big summer SM, I was fish a 5/16 jig on a bluff around 30-40 ft of water. My biggest fish came on the bottom usually around 30-35ft. This year things have changed. With water levels up, and going from little structure, to trees everywhere, I've had to re-think a few things. The baitfish this year are the best Ive seen in the past few years, big and plentiful. This has slowed my craw imitating baits, not that you wont catch fish, but they are smaller it seems. All of my big fish in the past month or so have been on a shad imitating bait. The problem with this time of year is, how do you get that bait in to the strike zone at 20+ ft? I'm still experimenting with this some, and will report back later.

If I were to go out this week I would target 2 areas. First, I would find a main lake flat with structure around 20 ft before dark. Whether its boulders, a ledge, or trees (or preferably a combination), you should start graphing schools of fish. Now chances are there are going to be some stripers, whites, walleye, SM, you name it. I would try to crash a crankbait into this structure and thoroughly cover the area, as this school, especially if feeding, will more than likely be moving. If you have a partner in the boat, keep the school fired up once you start catching them. The big key is to cover water fast, and then once you get one, keep throwing around that specific area. My last trip I caught a walleye, 2 stripers, and a keeper SM out of what appeared to be the same school, all within 5-10 mins of each other.

Second, I would target steeper rocky points with a big worm, jig, or creature bait after dark. I prefer a smaller jig this time of year, and creature baits for SM, and the big worm for largemouth. If there is plenty of moon light you may try throwing the crankbait as well, but I haven't tested this technique yet. If this produced a fish, I would note the depth it was caught at, and also parallel the bank down both sides of the point, targeting that depth. There is usually a stair step type series of ledges down these areas, that a lot of fish will suspend just off of or cruise up and down the bank on. This was more of last years pattern, but seems to be working this year as well. Keep in mind that with the lake level rising as it has, it seems everyone is having to re-learn everything, and start from scratch again.

My next experiment is going to be a flutter spoon and spinnerbait. Ive heard stories of these producing well, but have never been able to pinpoint when and where to throw one as opposed to the other. If anyone has any ideas or info, feel free to chime in. Also feel free to message me any time with questions or information. I'd also like to know if any of my reports helped. I'd really like to see this thread come back alive. Like I said, there is plenty of lake for everyone, and these patterns have worked for me in a wide array of areas.

[musky50]

I leased a camper lot up near Alligator 1, with all the idling necessary to get down on the main lake. I have been trying to figure out a bite up in all the newly flooded headwater of Wolf. The quality isn't what I am willing to settle for so my next outing I plan to head down around the mouth of Wolf. I am well armed with electronics, are these 20' flats going to be easily located or will it require pinpoint accuracy? If you are in the area of Wolf the week of the 4th of July IM me, I would spring for lunch to get to discuss the lake with someone?

[prc4816]

Not pinpoint, I only concentrate on the bigger flats, then pinpoint the "spot on the spot". Wolf creek has some good flats in it, and there are some that are not so obvious. My summer patterns through years past have always seemed to be more main lake oriented, and I will generally not venture more than 1/3 of the way back one of these major creeks.

[prc4816]

Not much to add. Fished a few days before all the rain last week. Caught some on cranks during daylight, but near as many as before. After dark did pretty well on T-rigged brush hogs. For this I targeted trees on steep banks.

Went tonight after all of this rain, the lake is up almost 10 feet, and has good color to it. The lake has a fair amount of debris on it, and I've heard of many people tearing up there boats on floaters. Saw one being towed in tonight. The pleasure boat traffic was pretty rough. It seemed to be about the same number of boats out, but the ones out tonight seemed to be pretty inconsiderate. I've had this problem before, but not on the scale it was tonight. The corps is also pulling the lake hard to get the water level back down. Only caught 5 tonight, and only 2 would keep. Marked a lot of fish suspended off the bottom in 30 ft of water. Caught a couple in the trees fishing brush hogs like before, but nowhere near the same as before the water level came up. Caught one SM on a beaver rigged on a jig head deep on a main lake point. Everything seemed to be pretty scattered. Tonight was one of those nights that I threw everything at them, and had to really work for every fish caught. Im sure this is due to the rate at which they are pulling the lake. Long story short if you're planning a trip, you may want to wait until things stabilize a little more. Hopefully someone else had better luck than I did, and can offer some more insight, but thats all I got for now.

[musky50]

Coming down this weekend to night fish. How is the debris looking around the mouth of Wolf and Caney?

[prc4816]

There is some debris as you probably know by now. I have had some luck on big soft plastics T-rigged, brush hogs, 10 in worms, etc. The one bait that seemed to be really getting the SM fired up is a beaver style bait rigged on a shakey head jig. The problem I have ran into in the past couple of weeks is the same fish I was catching a while back are now very deep. Some of my best fish have been in 30+ft of water. I think this has to do with the water temp as well as the extreme fluctuation in water level in the past couple of weeks. I tried fishing a jig, with hit and miss results, but could go back in the same area with the beaver and get bit. I am finding that the fish are going back to more of a traditional summer pattern, and seem to really be loading up in the mouths of creeks. The best piece of advice I could give is if you get bit in a particular spot, or catch a fish, throw right back in there. At one particular spot, I got bit 5 out of 5 casts over the same spot, and catching 2 fish.

[musky50]

Thanks for the info, it was tough. Had about 6 between us on Friday night, storm ran us in on Saturday night. Went back at daylight on Sunday morning with 1 little spot for the morning. What weight are you fishing at 30'? I tried a 1/2 oz and it seemed like they didn't care for the noise or the weight itself. I stayed around the mouth of Wolf, Caney and Lily.

[prc4816]

I'm using 1/4, which seems light, but when you don't have the skirt of a jig, it gets down there pretty quick. The one thing I have noticed with going to lighter jigs on this lake is you feel the fish at deeper depths. What I mean by this is, if you're fishing a 1/2 ounce that deep on mono, when you lift up you feel a lot of the weight of the jig. From my experience, the SM especially, are so easily spooked, that when you pick up, and they feel that pressure, they drop the bait. With that lighter weight, when you pick up there is very little resistance. So when you pick and feel the slightest bit of weight, you gently reel down and set the hook. In the past, I have fished finesse jig with a craw trailer, but this has not been as productive. I was getting bit on brush hogs, but I was missing a lot of fish that only had half the bait in there mouth when they ran with it. So I switched to a beaver T-rigged, but was having a hard time hooking up in deep water, thats when the shakey head jig came in. So far it has worked like a charm. Typically, I'll have that for 20+ft and a traditional T-rig for 20-ft. My next experiment is switching to fluorocarbon. Stren 100% flouro comes in clear blue. I tried it on Green River tonight, and it performed well, and had significantly less stretch, and was more sensitive than mono. The true test will be how it performs around the rocks on Cumberland. If you do decide to try it out, be careful about cinching the knot, as it weakens greatly if not wetted before pulling tight.

[musky50]

I am coming down next weekend, going to try some dropshotting and shakey heads in low light conditions. Last weekend reminded me why I dislike night fishing so much. I wear glasses and walking around a crowded messy boat at night isn't my cup of tea. I have lost some horses at Dale on the dropshot, still working on technique of setup on that but I like the idea of it. Seems like I can get bites but have trouble with the solid hookup.

[prc4816]

Welcome to the world of drop-shotting. I have used it, and you can really get bit good on it, but it is notorious for losing fish. There are some good articles at minimizing this on the web, but I never could really get the hang of it consistently. I love night fishing personally, the one thing that I learned early though was to slow down. Slow your presentation, slow your moving around the boat, slow driving the boat, etc. You may look in to putting some deck lighting around the boat. I usually fish with my father, and he has some trouble with this as well, so I'm looking at some lights as well. Early morning your guess is as good as mine. May try topwater or a weightless fluke. Have your favorite soft plastic close at hand as well. As the sun comes up, I'd look into dropshot and carolina rig. Both of those I'm still figuring out, with limited success.

[Z521SHO]

Perc 4816

Thanks for the reports!!! Have you been out lately. I was thinking about making a trip down the 3rd weekend of Sept. and trying to catch some LM, SM and spots. Just wondering how the fishing has been???

Thanks

[prc4816]

I haven't been out since my last report. Ive been fishing a small tournament series on Green River, and that has taken most of my attention. This time of year it really seems to depend on what end of the lake you are fishing. In years past, I have heard of better success out of the upper end. I believe this is mainly because it seems to warm and cool a little earlier than the lower end. I typically only fish the lower end. From what I hear the fishing is pretty slow, and most fish are suspended in open water. This is just what I hear though. I know some of the other lakes I have been on, the fish seem to be trying to transition into the early stages of a fall pattern. It seems LC usually is a few weeks behind, and there is some cool weather being predicted. This will hopefully get them back into a little more cooperative mode. As always LC can be feast or famine. I wish I had a little more up to date info right now. The nice thing about this year in particular is, there seems to be no "norm".

If I were to go out tomorrow and try to put together a pattern, I would start by trying to find fish that are in this transition mode. I would go to a large main lake cove and work my way from main points back. Pay close attention to your graph, and what depth the bait is at. Then target that depth range. If the fish are suspended you may try a spoon or tube bait. I would also have a lighter jig and work the deeper sides of the cove. With this techniques I prefer a 1/4-5/16 oz and a trailer that has a lot of action like a paca chunk. This really slow down the fall rate, and seems to be productive in years past.

You may also try a bluff wall that starts to transition into a more sloped bank on the main lake. I have caught some big SM with the jig. Try to find rock slides on the bluff wall, and concentrate on them. This has not been as productive as it was when the water was lower, but they are dropping the lake, and this may become more productive.

If the above 2 fail, find the largest creek near you. Find an area with chunk rock or boulders, and secondary points. I again would lean towards a jig, or a beaver style creature bait.

These are just suggestions, and they may work, or they may not. If you can time it right where the fish and bait start moving shallower and into a fall pattern, you can really load the boat up. This could be going on now, or it may not turn on until Oct. Thats the coin toss that we've been dealing with all year, its like a new lake for both us and the fish.

[Z521SHO]

Thanks PERC I will start with your advice and I appreciate the info.

[prc4816]

Went out last night. Found some nice spots around rock slides on bluff walls 1/3 off the way back in major creeks. Especially if they had a tree or log around them. Limited success on largemouth, but found them around the back of a creek close to deep water. No keeper smallmouth. All fish were caught on a beaver on a jig head, or crawfish t-rigged.

[Z521SHO]

PRC 4816 Headed down this weekend, going to try up the river and see what's going on if anything. I'll let you know on Monday how we did. Do you know what the schedule is for the lake level?? I thought they were going to hold it for the winter and bring it the rest of the way up in the spring?? Any guesses let me know.

Thanks!!!

[prc4816]

TVA: Wolf Creek

Here's a link to the generation schedule. I've been told they're going to drop it back to 685. Its at 695 right now. From the looks of the schedule they aren't absolutely draining it, but they are still pulling. The good news is this colder weather has got the stripers moving up, which tells me that the fall pattern is starting. The stripers are supposedly in the mouths of the creeks, but not staying up very long. I would say this would also be a good place to find some nice SM too. I haven't been able to go lately, but am planning to start hitting it pretty hard in the near future.

FYI There will be a charity bass tournament on Oct 26 out of the state park. It is going to benefit the Russell Co Little League. For more information send me a PM. I will also try to post in the tournament section.

[Z521SHO]

Patrick,

Didnt do too awfully bad, fished friday evening and then daylight till dark on Saturday then drove home. Friday we went up the South Fork of the river to Party Cove and only had one keeper spot. The next day we launced at Conley Bottoms and went to up a major creek to channel bend and caught a couple keeper spots and 2 short smallies on top water. My buddy hooked a nice striper but it pulled loose at the boat. It also came up and got topwater bait. We then went to the head of the creek and you could walk on the baitfish up there. We did manage to catch some short fish up there on crankbaits. We then made another run to different creek and manage to catch some keeper spots and 1 keeper LM on jigs and t-rigs. Water temperature is starting to cool. Up the river water temp was 80-81. Down the lake the temps when we left were in the upper 70 (78-79) but started out that morning in the 75-76 range. Hopes this helps ya.