Originally Posted by
crappiepappy
Considering two facts ... one being that Cumberland is back at full pool, after 6yrs of being down 40ft --- and two being that by mid Oct, Cumberland may be down to Winter Pool (or on its way) ... then I'd suggest the following :
Pull up Lake Cumberland on Google Earth ... click on the year tab at the bottom left border of the map (just a small box with a year in it, usually 1997). This brings up a sliding menu, where you can look back over several previous years & see what that particular area looked like in that year. Go back to the 2008 -2012 timeframe & look at the banks around the area you want to fish. See where the trees/brush has grown up on those banks, while the lake was down 40ft from Summer Pool.
Then look in the creeks for those cuts that have "green" growing from the water to the treeline (in the 2008-2012 images).
If the lake is around Winter Pool depth ... those will still have up to around 20ft of water over them. At Summer Pool they'd have about 40ft of water over them. Check where the water level is, before you go, and you can estimate the water depth covering those young trees/bushes. That'll give you a starting point, at the very least.
Cumberland is basically a (almost) "new" lake, now that the water levels are back to normal. Tree & brush growth has had about 6yrs to take hold ... but, it's not going to be on every bank, or all along any particular bank. The Google Earth timeframe images will show you the transformation, and GPS coordinates of those spots. All the brushpiles & cover that have been placed there since the water was drawn down, now have an extra 20-40ft of water over them ... rendering them basically useless. The new growth that sprouted during the drawdown is now the prime areas ... and Google Earth's map will show you where those areas are.
White Oak Creek might be a good place to start looking.
Understand, also ... that if you are fishing during Oct 16-18th ... you'll likely be sharing the area with the Crappie USA Classic Tournament anglers, whom will be launching out of Burnside.
... pappy