Lake Cumberland Striper Report
by Nancy Guide Service ngsstriper@hotmail.com

Take a look at our specials

Kentucky Striper Club

Check the current weather maps before you head out. (Updated hourly)
Satellite Image | Radar Image
Lake Levels

Lake Cumberland Llake levels & outflow:
Yr. to date
Last 10 days

Generation preschedule

______________________

Striper Articles

Striper fishing and moon phases
by Tim Tarter

Shad Tanks and Keeping Bait
article by Tim Tarter
(part 1) (part 2)

Cast Nets and Baitfish
article by Tim Tarter

Boards Shad and the Striper Connection
article by Tim Tarter

"Trophy Stripers & Hybrids" by Steve Baker, Neil Ward Our Price: $14.95 Order this book right here! Give it as a gift to the guy who's boat you go striper fishing on all the time. It's cheaper than a tank of gas!

Fantastic! There is so much information in this book you can read it over and over and learn something new every time. Highly recommended. I keep a copy on my boat and at home.Covers lakes, rivers, and all seasons of the year.
"It's my striper and hybrid bible."
Peter Maloney-Fishin.com

Fishing Report for the Week ending March 31, 2007

The big question on everyone's mind is, the water level on Lake Cumberland. What is it going to do to the fishing? What do we expect for the upcoming 2007 season? I will give everyone a run down and tell you what has been told to me regarding the lake before we get into the fishing report. It is my understanding that with the seepage on the earth wall of the damn on Lake Cumberland, there is a great amount of concern and repairs have started. It is a high tech operation that will take considerable time but should be a permanent solution to the seepage of the Wolf Creek Damn. In order to complete this process the Corp. Of Engineers has determined that the Lake must be lowered and held at a level of 680 feet above sea level, which is about 30 - 40 feet below the normal summer pool. I can't get any definite information on how long it is going to remain at this level. The overall project, to my understanding, is about a 7 year process. We do not expect the lake to be held at this level for the entire 7 years. Regardless of the reports that you have heard "That Lake Cumberland has gone dry." Those are totally inaccurate and false. Cumberland normally stays at a pool of 52 - 55 thousand acres and at the level of 680, we are at approximately 35 - 37 thousand acres, which is still a lake, that is larger than 90% of all the lakes in the country at this time. Access ramps of course are on of the biggest concerns. Many of the ramps at this time are unaccessible. The Corp. Of Engineers have already started work on a "priority basis" to extend the launching ramps here on Lake Cumberland. It is my understanding that by mid April, many of the ramps WILL BE back in operation and that before Memorial Weekend most all of the ramps, or at least the major ramps will be in operation and ready for boating access. All of the Marina's are open for business. A couple of the Marinas are in shallow water, such as Alligator #1. There is the possibility that they may be relocating in a different position on the lake, however the remaining Marina's are floating and the tourist and the fishing industry will be operating on a "Business As Usual Basis. Lake Cumberland is open! We are ready to fish and we are ready for tourist and boating recreation. So, come on down and enjoy this magnificent lake. It is still here. It is still beautiful and, there is still plenty of water! Regarding the fishing, not only Stripers, but all species, I have spoken with the Director of Fisheries, Benji Kensman at the Fish and Wildlife Dept., and most of you should know by now that with the outstanding Fishery Dept. that we have, they are doing everything in their power to insure that their is no danger to our fishery here on Cumberland. A long term plan is being implemented by our Dept. Of Fish & Wildlife to insure that we do not suffer any problems with the Lake Cumberland Fishery. And while the Lake is down, there is a plan to enhance habitat for species that require much coverage, such as Bass and Crappie. The Fishery Dept. is working with the Corp. Of Engineers to do everything possible to protect our fishery here on Lake Cumberland. The (3) fish that we have the most concerns over for the upcoming year, is the Stripers, the Trout Fishery below the damn, and the Walleye. These three fish are the most sensitive under stress conditions. I will try to explain as simple as I can how this works, and what could be our worst possible scenario. Over the winter months, the lake builds up all of its cold water storage. In other words, it has a high oxygen content. Remember, the Corp. Of Engineers is going to maintain the level of 680 feet regardless. If we have a normal Spring, where it does not raise the lake significantly, not much of the cold water storage will have to be let through the Damn. When water is released through the damn, it comes from the bottom of the lake. That is where the release is at. If we have an enormous amount of spring rain, and we have to pull a lot of water from the bottom of the lake, that is going to start building a layer of warmer water on top. Warm water does not hold oxygen nearly as well as cold water does. This will create a lot of warm with little or no oxygen during the stressed months of summer, such as August, September and October. The worst case scenario would be that if we had a lot of rain and we have to pull all of our cold, highly oxygenated water off the bottom of the lake. Long story short, we could end up with a lake full of hot, non-oxygenated water, which could be devastating to the Trout below the damn, and the Stripers and the Walleye in the lake and the river. The Bass, Smallmouth, Catfish, and other species can tolerate the warmer water temperatures, along with lower oxygen levels. They are trying to implement plans below the damn on an emergency basis to possibly alter this water, so that it may create some oxygen in the river. What we can do this year for the Walleye and Stripers in the lake itself, is basically nothing, but say a lot of prayers. There is some long term plans, but they can not be geared up and ready to go by this season. So we are crossing our fingers, and hoping that we do not have an extensive amount of rain this Spring and during the Summer months. Through normal conditions, our Stripers and Walleye in the lake should survive under some stress. We still have the water depth to handle these fish, if we can control the amount of warm water that is put into the lake. This is the best information that I can give. I cannot guarantee you totally, that it is accurate but from my research this is the best way to describe the situation on Lake Cumberland at this point. We are optimistic and we encourage you to come down and enjoy the Lake as usual. Now regarding the fishing for this year. We are expecting one of the best years for Striper fishing in the history of Lake Cumberland. Think about it. You have the same number of fish in 20,000 less acres of water. WOW!! Talk about fishing in a barrel. So far this season has started out great. As usual, in the Spring time, weather fronts have effected fishing on certain days, as far as their inability to bite, but the quality of the fish has been unbelievable. I would say that 80 % of the fish that I have boated so far this year have been 18 pound and larger, with many of them in the 20 pound class. The fish are extremely fat. They have wintered great. With all indications, I truly believe that the fishing is going to be outstanding. We are going to see some massive size fish taken out of the lake this year. As many of you know, the patterns on Lake Cumberland, the last few years have changed enormously. Our Summer and Fall fishing is some of the best fishing that we have. Since I have introduced Umbrella Rigs to Lake Cumberland, the last few years, possessing live bait or holding is not near as important as it used to be. It is much simpler to buy a couple of umbrella rigs and go do a little slow water trolling to produce fish in the summer months. We have 2 new boats in our service to serve you. They are custom built rigs that we put on the water toward the middle of last year. They are strictly designed for Striper Fishing and of course, we still have our other older boats, that are fully equipped and functional for Striper fishing. We hope that you will come down and take advantage of the fantastic Striper fishing that we are expecting for this upcoming season. As always, I welcome any emails or information regarding technics or the fishing conditions at that time. I know that many of you have been disappointed with my lack of fishing reports that I have failed to produce in the last year. I am sincerely sorry that we have not done a better job. I know that I have let many of you down. We will try to do much better this year especially with the situation on the lake. I hope to keep you well informed about what is going on and what to expect. I cannot promise that I will do them weekly, but I will do my best to do as many as I can. We are still operationg out of Alligator #2, and we will still be picking up charters on other parts of the lake as the ramps become more accessable. As Spring kicks off, the weather feels more like summer than spring, and the water is warming up rapidly. The bait is schooling up in the head of the creeks and the fish are following them at this time. Our best success is currently on umbrella rigs running them 50 - 90 feet behind the boat at the speed of about 2 - 2.5 miles per hour holding over 20 - 25 feet of water against the bank. The live bait fishing is starting to be good using planner boards. Most of the fish coming off planner boards either with shiners or the ale wife shad, running them 15 - 20 feet behind the planner board with no sinkers or with a light 3/8 to ½ ounce sinker. Don't forget to concentrate on the schools of bait fish that are up high. That is what you want to look for right now. You probably are not going to see to many fish in the water column, since they will be scattered and almost to shallow to mark with electronics. Once you locate the schools of bait, the fish should not be to far away. If you are working an area close to the bank and not seeing schools of bait, you might want to make a pass with your electronics out toward the middle of the lake. Sometimes, bait will school in the open water in the back of the creeks, and the fish will follow them out there. Use the same type methods and patterns at approximate depths. All of the creeks have warmed up at this point enough that the fish are active in all of them. Indian Creek and Beaver Creek has been some of the better creeks the last couple of weeks. The upper end of the lake still has a lot of color but, it is clearing up rapidly. I expect the fishing to be better there in the next week to 10 days unless we get a large amount of rain. That is going to be one of the problems with the upper end of the lake this year. With the lake being drawn down, all of the fresh exposed mud banks will wash dirty water in much more rapidly and will hamper the fishing on that end much more than what it has in recent years. I hope that all of this information helps a little and gives you some direction on making your fishing plans for this year. We are not foreseeing any problems with any of our fishing in the year 2007. Using the scenario that I described earlier concerning the damn, the 2008 fishing will be a wait and see issue. We look forward to seeing you on Lake Cumberland. One final footnote in talking with the Dept. Of Fish & Wildlife regarding the stocking of Stripers, they are stocking as normal at a rate of 7 stripers per acres. Of course with less acreage of water, this does mean a few less fish that we would normally get. Once the damn is repaired, we will get a boost in the restocking of the stripers for the lake. So other than a kill off that we may see this year, which is still up in the air and we are hoping that we will not have, we should not see any effect on the population of stripers on Lake Cumberland over the next few years. Until next time

Sincerely,
Tim Tarter,
Licensed Professional Guide

ngsstriper@hotmail.com