Fishing the Cumberland River HELP

I live in Cincinnati. I come down to Cumberland every other weekend. I was woundering what is the best strech to catch trout and striped bass so, we could make it a combo trip. Also, we would be fly fishing. I have heard the the best fishing is when they are running one or two generators. When is the river not fishable. How do streamers fish in the river. I will take any info I can get. You can PM me if you like. Even feel free to call my cell (513) 288-5653. I want as much info as I can get. Ronnie

PS How is the river fishing now

Went out wednesday, seen two boats fly fishing, one of them was john rush a guide, the other was tweo guys who were fishing up stream from burkesville, they said they had caught a couple of white bass a sauger, and a 19 inch brown, as for me, just 3 white bass. I was trolling small cranks, and casting small jigs, had one bump on the jig. The river was in good shape, just enough current to move you down stream, this is the first time in several trips that I havn,t caught at least one trout.Might try tommorow.

Haven't heard of any stripers being caught in the river for a while, but the bite on trout, sauger, and whites has been good. If you're flyfishing for trout, size 14 - 18 bead head nymphs are hard to beat for numbers of fish. Prince, pheasant tails, copper johns, and gold ribbed hare's ears are all good patterns. If you are strictly looking for a trophy, throw a bunny strip streamer and work it fast. Expect only three or four bite a day though. Sauger are fairly thick up by the dam now and you can catch them on you favorite small plastic grub or minnow bait bounced off the bottom If you will be using spinning gear, spinners, pin minnows, and those U shaped spoons work well. For trophy hunting, throw plastic jerk baits like sluggos. Good luck.

Just for the info there was a 9#+ Walleye caught yesterday below the dam:)

[quote=crocodile;317985]I live in Cincinnati. I come down to Cumberland every other weekend. I was woundering what is the best strech to catch trout and striped bass so, we could make it a combo trip. Also, we would be fly fishing. I have heard the the best fishing is when they are running one or two generators. When is the river not fishable. How do streamers fish in the river. I will take any info I can get. You can PM me if you like. Even feel free to call my cell (513) 288-5653. I want as much info as I can get. Ronnie

PS How is the river fishing now[/quote]

NICE TO MEET A FELLOW FLY FISHERMAN...THERE ARE FEW AROUND THESE PARTS! I'VE BEEN FLY FISHING THE CUMBERLAND EVERY WINTER FOR THE PAST 6 YRS...ENOUGH TO GET ME IN TROUBLE WITH THE MRS.! THE PLACE TO GO DURING THE WINTER IS THE HATCHERY CREEK THAT RUNS OUT OF THE TROUT HATCHERY AND HOOKS UP WITH THE MAIN RIVER A MILE OR SO DOWN STREAM. THE SPAWNERS HEAD UP THIS CREEK AND ARE THERE FOR THE PICKING. THIS IS USUALLY NOV.-FEB., BUT THERE MIGHT STILL BE SOME LURKING AROUND...GIVE IT A TRY! THE MAIN RIVER IS WAY TO HIGH TO FLY FISH! FLIES OF CHOICE ARE BEADHEAD ANYTHING! BH PHEASANT TAILS, BH HARES EARS, BH COPPER JOHNS, BH BRASSIES, BH STONES, ETC. ETC. THEY ALL WORK! CAUGHT A 7.5 LB 27" BROWN THERE THIS JANUARY...THEY'RE IN THERE! GOOD LUCK TO YOU AND REPORT BACK ON HOW YOU DO!

A buddy and I will be coming down the Sunday and Monday of the weekend of March 22. We are going to bring his drift boat. What is the average depth of the river? I can't wait to come down and hopefully get some BIG browns and rainbows. Going to try some stripes also. I would love for someone who knows the river well to contact me. I just want to know the water and what generation levels are fishable. Ronnie

Nobody knows the generation schedule more than a couple days in advance, but check this daily before you leave to spot a pattern [url]http://lakeinfo.tva.gov/htbin/lakeinfo?site=WCH&DataType=All[/url]

There's also a 1-800 # you can call to get a schedule once down there; numbers in my boat so you'll have to look it up.

They're more than likely be heavy generation given the time of year.

Although I believe some stripes are there "year round" the majority of fish move back down to the Hull in November and come back up in April.

Not sure what size "drift boat" your buddy has but the ramp at the dam is not easy to use for bigger boats and there are some skeg busters everywhere in the river. 15 feet is deep water in the river.

This is the time of year the big eyes/saugeye - whites make the run so I'd bring a spinning rod too.

If this rain continues, you can expect high, fast water that's tough to fish. The COE is going to aggressively keep the lake level as close to 680 ft. above sea level as possible.

Is there a website that I can check the water levels. At what water level would you consider the river unfishable. His drift boat is twelve feet. I have a canoe and a kayak that I would be fishing in when I come down again. Ronnie

[QUOTE=crocodile;318426]Is there a website that I can check the water levels. At what water level would you consider the river unfishable. His drift boat is twelve feet. I have a canoe and a kayak that I would be fishing in when I come down again. Ronnie[/QUOTE]

There may be a website that gives out that info, but I'm not familiar with it. But, here's a phone #. 800-238-2264. Wolf Ck dam and lake cumb. are extension # 34. These recordings will tell you the lake level, generation for the last 8 hrs, and predicted generation for the next 8 hrs. one day in advance. Usually the predictions are fairly accurate, but don't bet the farm.

I don't usually try to fish the river if they are using more than two generators. If the river is high and fast throw pin minnows, bang o lures, and large streamers for browns. Spinners will catch a few. I give up on nymph fishing when it's that high. I use a canoe too, but you might want to save that for a little warmer weather. The cumberland is ALWAYS cold, of course, but a tip over in the winter could be life threatening, and there are several stickups just under water that can get under the edge of the canoe before you see them. I flipped once in the summer, which was no big deal except some lost gear, but I sure wouldn't want to tackle that in the winter.

There is a website. Lakecumberland.com. The lake level is posted on the Homepage, in the center, about 1/4 of the way down the page. Lot's of lake info on the site. Hope this helps you out.:)

Mike