Fishing has remained fairly well for late August on the western end of lake Cumberland. With all the abnormally cool weather we’ve had for august it has allowed the surface temperatures and oxygen levels to remain very comfortable for the stripers. Surface temperatures have stayed around 81-82 degrees as of late which is around 10 degrees cooler than normal for this time of year. Cooler surface temps. and plenishing oxygen rich water has allowed for some fish and tons of bait to stay in some shallow water throughout the day. As usual for this time of year the fish are not staying anywhere for any length of time at all and are pretty tough to stay on top of. I’m seeing some massive schools of fish running the channel now as well. Alewives have been a little easier to get for the last week or so. Gizzards are still catchable in the major creek headwaters as well. But just as the stripers the bait is moving around a lot too. Up until last week I was primarily down rodding fish on the flats but the last few days planer board set ups have been taking most of our fish ran anywhere from 45-60 feet behind the board on heavier weights. The fish are moving around quickly right now and will not settle down much for a while so I have been as well. Spending some time cruising around and really watching your graph will pay dividends this time of year, just make sure to have your bait and rods ready to quickly shut the boat down and drop on a nice school as right now you generally don’t have but a few minutes with ‘em and they’re gone again. Really gotta make every second count this time of year! As far as where to look right now, if you are patient enough you can find fish just about anywhere. On the flats in 40-60 ft. of water, running the channel in 140 ft. of water, in the coves, channel walls, there’s not really one place that is producing for me more than another. Just be patient, where you hit ‘em today, odd’s are, they probably wont be there tomorrow! Good luck and good fishing!
Jared