Geo went to Cumberland and STUCK some FISH!

Hey. Much THANKS to all who posted about fishing the Cumberland river for trout.

My fishing buddy and I went this past weekend for a couple days, and STUCK tons of fish. We both limited out both days on some quality rainbows. Caught Lots of slot fish, and enough under the slot to fill the coolers.

I have a couple questions for those who fish the river and harvest trout.

First..........the limit states 5 trout, with 1 only 1 over 20. Now, does this mean 4 under the slot AND 1 over 20 or 5 trout TOTAL. My understanding of the reg, is 5 trout total. If this is not the answer, then the regs are really confusing.

Next...........Regarding limits again. I know the brown trout limit of 1 over 20, but does that mean all browns must be over 20 to keep one. Not too sure, and again the regs are misleading regarding this point. We ended up not keeping browns..........maybe 1 that I mistook for a rainbow.

Finally.........What about possession limits. We caught limits both days we were there. Normally, possession limits are CLEARLY stated in the regs. We didn't find any regs regarding possession limits, and I think I would have been fined for having more fish in the cooler than 1 days worth. Since we were leaving Sunday, we chose to take the cooler with Saturday's catch along in the boat with us. After doing so, I was worried ALL day about getting stopped by a game warden.

If anyone can clarify these, it would be GREATLY appreciated.

Oh, btw, as an added bonus, we caught 4 keeper walleye, which we KEPT.

All in all, a FANTASTIC couple days.

Finally, finally. For anyone going, be aware that the ramps are NOT really useable at 6:00 - 7:00am CST. We had a rough time of it at Helms and Wolf. We did get the boat launched both days, but at Helms, my truck was backed off the ramp, and the truck was about 100ft into the river before I could even come close to floating the boat. At Wolf, the end of the ramp is really bad, and if you're not careful, or have a small trailer, you can do some SERIOUS damage. I ended up launching the boat on the LEFT side of the ramp, by backing down the riverbank, and cutting the trailer towards the deep hole at the bottom of the ramp.

Again, THANKS for all the help.

Later,

Geo

If you would have been caught with that cooler you would have gotten some tickets. The game warden has no way of telling you caught the fish the day before. The rainbow limit is 5 total but only 1 of the 5 can be over 20. You can keep 5 under 15. All browns must be over 20". We were there Sat. and caught our trout on super dupers. What did you guys catch your walleyes on?

Most came off of rooster tails in a variety of colors, but blue with silver blade, worked best...........Some came off a small crankbait.........clown color, and some came off blue/gold #4 rattling shadrap.

Also, caught some on natural #4 rattling shadrap.

So, would we have been "legal" by leaving the cooler with teh truck.

I just don't know how to handle this............especially if you go on a multi-day fishing/harvest trip.

And what about posession limits.........maybe there are no SPECIFIC posession limits, and 5 is it, PERIOD, but that needs to be spelled out.

Thanks,

Geo

You can have 5 under 15 or 4 under 15 and 1 over 20. All in all you can only keep 1 over 20. So the total is 5 with those stipulations. You can't carry the fish with you on a multi-day...you have to leave them in the truck. There's a yellow poster on the tree to the left of the ramp at Helm's that spells out what you can keep as far as trout.

I was down there Thurs. and we had some luck...most were in the slot, but it was so hot the bite was slow.

Wow Geo,

Sounds like you and your partner had one heck of a weekend... Glad you guys caught some nice fish.

As far as the Daily limit / Possession Limit. It would be better to have *** TWO *** coolers one for each day and clearly marked in case you would have been stopped and checked.

Thing is a CO doesn't know if you caught them all in one day or not, so don't take the chance, take two coolers to separate the fish in for each day. Would have hated to have you telling us of your great day, only to then explain how you wound up getting several tickets for violations on the Possession limits each day. Now you have an idea of what to plan ahead for the next time you go....Good Luck:)

I talked to the CO yesterday. He told me that regarding posession limits...........there are not such animals for trout. No matter how many days you fish, you can only keep 5 PERIOD.

I asked him specifically about multi day trips, and he said that if I catch limits on Saturday and limits on Sunday, that I',m in violation. The only way I'm not in violation, is if I take them home and freeze them, or eat them Saturday or Sunday before fishing. If I have 5 processed fish at my camp, hotel, truck, or ESPECIALLY boat, I'm in DIRECT violation.

He also told me that he probably would not have fined me, because I was trying to live by the letter of the law.

Finally, he said how the law is written that I really should not be fishing Sunday, since I had caught a limit on Saturday, and could not keep any Sunday. I really don't follow this mentality, since I should be able to fish and release any caught on Sunday.

HM.

Later,

Geo

One more thing.............

Regarding the 20" limit on rainbows and browns. From what the CO told me, you are allowed 1 20" brown, and ONLY 1............AND 1 20" rainbow. So you could have 3 under the limit, and a brown, and rainbow over the limit. I asked the specifically.

The key is..............5 fish TOTAL, with 1 or 2 over 20, but they must be different species.

Later,

Geo