Looking for Recommendation for Guide on Cumberland (Large or Small Mouth)

I am going to Lake Cumberland in April and would like to get a guide for a day that knows the lake. The guide services I call just are for Striper Fishing. That sounds fun but I really would prefer to catch Large Mouth or Smallies.

The only guide I know that will take you out smallmouth fishing on Cumberland would be Randall Gibson, he also guides on Dale for smallies too and he's good. Lance Sasser MIGHT do a bass trip with you if you ask him to, and that boy is darn good to. Really there just aren't any bass guides on the big C, sorry.

I think Randall just uses live bait if that matters. I have fished with his partner Greg Cary on Dale and he does a good job. Good guy to go on a trip with.

Check with Striper Fun, striperfun.com. Captain Jim is always including tips on fishing for smallmouth in his striper report. I don't know if that means he does a trip for smallmouth only but at least he is familar with it. There is an email address on his site. Shoot him an email and he is usually pretty quick to respond.

I know a couple of years ago when I started fishing Cumberland, I also looked for a dedicated Black Bass Guide and found that there was not one single Black Bass Guide that solely or primarily fished Cumberland for Black Bass. Good Luck in your hunt for a dedicated Bass Guide on this lake for Striper fishing is King when it comes to the guide business, someone told me there were over 100 liscensed Striper guide businesses on the lake. With some services having more than one boat per liscense, this is a lot of guide boats on the water each day chasing Stripers and we wonder why there aren't more 50 pounders caught out of the Lake? $250-$300 per trip, looking for 2 fish over 24" to fill out the limit per person has got to put a dent on the quality that is caught out of the lake with this many boats guiding. Just my opinion.

and do you think that if they catch a 20"smallmouth that it gets released back into the lake? any comments?

I would say (guess) that if a striper fisherman or giude catches a nice smally that it goes back into the lake.

I've seen a lot of pictures on some of the guides sites where there are customers holding nice smallies and I doubt that they went back in the water.

I'm not a guide...mainly fish for stripers.....all trash fish are released including several smallmouth this winter over 6lbs.

I made a comment to my Largemouth Loving Buddy that Bucketmouths were considered "Trash Fish" and I know how he feels now considering Cumberlandguy just called my beloved Smallmouth the same. OUCH!!! that hurts.

I see a lot of pictures on different Striper guide websites of customers holding big smallies and the marina is in the background, which tells me these fish either went home with the clients or to the fillet board.

That is truly a waste. I only jokingly call them trash fish. I used to love to bass fish, but it was all over after catching my first striper. The stripers just get much, much bigger and pull harder.

>I would say (guess) that if a striper fisherman or giude
>catches a nice smally that it goes back into the lake.
I wish that was true but when you hire a guide and catch a legal fish it's for you to decide. Not the guide unless things are agreed on early.