October 11 lake cumberland fishing report. The fall striper bite is starting to get fairly consistent. It is the normal fall pattern as the fish are moving extremely fast and long distances some days. Some nice schools of fish are currently making their annual run back to the eastern end of the lake with still yet a lot to come. Good bait as usual in mid October has been rather tough to harvest and is requiring a lot of time and effort for most of us. Small alweives are easy too get and most days the fish will eat them just fine.

Larger baits have been a little more difficult to get. Gizzard shad are my second bait of choice and somedays are a chore too get as well in most places. With all the recent rains the headwaters of most major creeks holding good gizzards are rather muddy and with lots of debris and anywhere from a 5-10 degree temperature change from the main lake.

Most areas of the main lake surface temperatures are anywhere from 72-76 degrees. My most productive way of catching fish has been planer boards and downrods fished anywhere from 40-60 ft deep. However bottom fishing is starting to turn up some nice limits as well. As usual in October I try hard to be patient because it's not very often the school of fish you hit somehwere today probably won't be there tomorrow. With the changing fall season on land it's changing just as much in the water as well. The fish can sense cold weather coming. I will spend just near as much time idling around using my electronics "hunting"as I do actually fishing in October and most days it will pay dividends!

Be patient and stay on the move. There are some huge schools staging most days early near the major creek mouths either on the main lake or a little ways in the creek and seem to be moving in and out throughout the day. It is about time for the topwater action to get started and I can't wait but the areas I have been fishing I haven't seen that much surface activity yet. Good luck to everyone and good fishing!