Lake Cumerland Fishing

[thunderstorm]

Plan to be down later this week and in the mood to fish for something other than stripers or bass.

What would you all fish for and how?

Bluegill
Crappie
Walleye
White Bass

These are all options and I have never tried for W. Bass. Are there enough to target now?

[mhall]

Crappie at night under lights should be good right now.
Bluegill is an overlooked fish at the big C. Look for beds in the back of pockets and creek arms. If you find them back off and fish a liitle deeper with slip bobbers. Crickets by far are the best bait for Gills @ Cumberland in my opinion. My wife and I have caught 12 inch Bulls in the lake and they are there in decent numbers from 8 to 10 inches.

White bass are in the lake, enough to make a target species...no in my opinion.

The bass bite should primarily be a night thing right now however very early and very late in the day will still yield a few bites. Throw topwater and if that doesn't work, creature baits and work them out fairly far off the bank. Look for Spots schooling on points after threadfin shad and you may have a blast with topwater.

If all this fails, drink extremely cold Miller Lites and watch the lovely bikini's that will be there this time of year....

[thunderstorm]

Thanks for the info.

I've never fished for crappie at night w/ lights. Can you give me a basic run down?

[stripernut1]

its as simple as it sounds really....anchor in 30+ ft of water of a point in the mouth of a major creek (doesnt matter which creek) lower your hydro glow, starfire submersible, BP green light, or whatever other form of artificial lighting you may have, lower to 6-8 foort deep and sit back enjoy a refreshment and be still, quiet and patient. do not fish for at least 30 minutes. watch the graph and when it looks like a decent school of critters ahas gathered under your light lower a minnow down to just above the depth thae fish are showing on the screen. hang on, do not lay your rod down, hold it or put it in a rodholder. minimum size limit on crappie is 10 inches, i dont think youll be using your fish measure very often though lol. if the fish seem to slow down after you catch a few, take a break for 30 minutes or so and go back at it again. we have 2 nights in 3 weeks now with 100+ fish total, crappie, whites, hybrids, ky bass and a handful of smaller cats. did i mention dont lay your rod down " yes i lost a rod

[thunderstorm]

Thanks. Sounds simple enough and very close to what I've been told to catch walleye.

With that type of variety of species, I'm guessing line and hook size is not a big deal???

[air1lch]

hybrids? I've caught my share of whites and stripers at Cland, but hybrids? And yes....I lost a nice rod and triton reel. And yes....after being reminded several times.....KEEP it in the rod holder!! Won't happen again. Good advice Stripernut

[stripernut1]

hybrids? I've caught my share of whites and stripers at Cland, but hybrids? And yes....I lost a nice rod and triton reel. And yes....after being reminded several times.....KEEP it in the rod holder!! Won't happen again. Good advice Stripernut

hybrids are plentiful in LC, caught 4 this morning, all 4 were 23-25 inches, 10 lbers. you should look at recent post titled "striper or hybrid" , i have photos of real life hybrids (not fat stripers) as well as a couple of other forum members photos of LC hybrids. this morning was trolling liveys , not under the lights

[air1lch]

read the thread. did a little more digging and also found thread on lakecumberland.com forum where KDFWR biologists confirmed netting a hybrid while netting walleye. Conclusion.....Hybrids do exist in LC!! Good buddy of mine swears they're not there.....he now owes me a beer!

[mhall]

read the thread. did a little more digging and also found thread on lakecumberland.com forum where KDFWR biologists confirmed netting a hybrid while netting walleye. Conclusion.....Hybrids do exist in LC!! Good buddy of mine swears they're not there.....he now owes me a beer!

Before you bang on him to hard keep in mind that they aren't advertised and if you ask alot of state fishery biologist they will tell you they aren't in the lake as well. Some will say they are but in very small numbers while others will discount it all together.

Are they there you bet they are and Jeff aka stripernut1 knows it well as he lives there and fishes the lake constantly. It only stands to reason that suplimental stocking of true Rockfish every now and then some Hybrids are going to make it in the frey. White bass are purposely being stocked in an effort to bring them back to the lake. They are getting better but have a long way to go yet..

[thunderstorm]

I've caught a couple of hybrids as well.


Thanks for all the info.


We managed to catch some crappie, a couple of walleye, several small stripers, and a few other odd and end fish. We did pretty good Wed night, not so much last night.

[REM19]

I've caught a couple of hybrids as well.


Thanks for all the info.


We managed to catch some crappie, a couple of walleye, several small stripers, and a few other odd and end fish. We did pretty good Wed night, not so much last night.

How long did u fish? Upper end or lower end of lake? Did you miss a lot , did the bite just really slow down the next day? I'm going to try this coming week and want to get as much info as poss. Got my light today.

[stripernut1]

How long did u fish? Upper end or lower end of lake? Did you miss a lot , did the bite just really slow down the next day? I'm going to try this coming week and want to get as much info as poss. Got my light today.

dont make this harder than it is lol. the beauty of this is just go put the light out and relax. its not magic, its still fishing, some nights are better than others. i will tell you this, dont expect alot , with this very full, very bright moon the light has less of a "drawing" effect on the right bait at the right depth . but once again, the beauty of this is its very relaxing whether youre catching fish or not. if you are a hellbent driven tournament angler this type of fishing isnt for you....its peaceful, its quiet, and some nights its very very slow. sometimes it really is about just enjoying. good luck to you.