Lake Cumberland 4-1-11 to 4-3-11 Report

The fishing at LC is hot and I had great weekend. Took the girlfriend down to the lake and it was great time. Arrived at the lake around 1:00 am and the bait is still tough to catch at the marinas, however, we managed to catch enough bait out on the lake to fish on sat. I spoke with my buddy Jerry Morgan prior to fishing and he indicated the fish were at depth of 15' to 25' deep. I did not have my poles tied up right and spent the the first hour of daylight tieing up lines as we went through the no wake zones. Flat lines and small weights seemed to be the ticket. It did not take long to catch a fish, the GF loves to fish and I let her catch the first one, however, she does not have a lot of experience steering fish away from the planner boards. As she was reeling in the first fish it began to tangled with another board. I grabbed the pole that was interfering with the fish she was trying to reel in and the next thing I noticed the fish she was trying to reel in was bigger than I thought. I handed her the pole I had and I began reeling the pole I took away from her and more boards went down. We manged to catch four fish in the first set (only one keeper around 12 #s) and the pole I took away from her was the biggest fish we caught that day. We caught 11 fish trolling and only three were keepers. This happened within 2 hours of fishing and we also missed some fish that pulled boards beneath the surface. I noticed that the fish were going to the bottom and we decided to go fish on my favorite point about half way up from the mouth of the creek. It was around 11:30 when finally got tied up on the bank. Within 1/2 hour we caught three more short stripers and one smallmouth. We decided to go in and get some sleep and get ready to watch some college baskeball (what a shame the Cats lost).

The next morning we went out with Jerry Morgan and we caught 6 fish within 1.5 hours and 4 of six were keepers (6 to 8#'s). I let her catch all of the fish due to her complaining about taking way the biggest one from her the day before. After we went back to the dock to clean the fish she wanted to go back on the lake for a boat ride. We were exploring areas like Lily creek and it is amazing how high the lake is and it reminds me of the fall at normal pool. She is a good girl who is a hard worker (nurse) and there nothing better than to take her mind off work than to show her the beauty of LC. She has been down at lake 4 times and I do believe she is my lucky charm. She really enjoyed watching me catch bait and enjoyed looking at the plankton that is attracted to the light. One thing I was surprised is the size of the alewifes and the gizzard we did catch. It took alot of work to round up some bait and I also bought some shiners that also caught fish. There is still a alot of big fish in the lake and I saw them with my own eyes chasing shad to the surface. I am firm beliver that the lake will recover fast and I also have stressful job and sometimes I could care else about cathcing fish somedays due to enjoyment and challenge of trying to locate fish.

Last but not least Morgan's Guide service is a first class operation, Jerry's boy is now guiding and he will be a good one. I caught my first striper with Jerry many years ago and remeber his boy when was just a young kid who really loved to fish. I can catch the fish on my own, however, I enjoy good company and try to go out with Jerry two or three times a years. If anybody has the time I encourgae you to attend the kids trout derby. It is a good time and a good opportunity to take a kid fishing. Good fishing good times and remeber LC will always be a great place to enjoy God's creations.

Talk to y'all later

Gizzars Shad
PS it is a shame that Butler lost and I know that the CARDS will be back in the game next year and obivously so will the CATS.

Gizz,

Great info. With the fish at 15-25, how deep was water you were fishing?
Was it best over shallow water or over deeper channels.

What end of the lake. Don't need specific, just general marina area you went out of.

HURICANNE BOB
I noticed that the fish were up high in the morning and were near the bottom as the morning went on. The bigger fish were at a depth of 25 feet and more concentrated toward the creek channels. I am looking forward to getting down to LC in the future and try Conely Bottom. I never fished up there before, but I know some folks up there that say the fishing is excellent in the early spring. One of my favorite creeks is Lily and Wolf. I try to mix it up from time to time just to see some different banks/structure. I really want too try to fish for Walleye after i catch some stripers and I believe the east lake is better location for those elusive eyes. I could be wrong but I will try. Hope this helps

Great report!
Sounds very familiar with the confusion when all boards hit at once. Come on down to Cumberland Point. White Oak Creek and Faubush are good spots to hit the stripers.

I will I always heard good things about that area of the lake especially in the spring.

Hurricane Bob I should of read your question a little closer. I typiclly go out Jamestown Marina and that was the marina I went out of when me a GF did well. Wish I could have gone again last weekend, but I had to much stuff going on with my job. I am currently working in TN and hope to be home this weekend to go turkey hunting than I will head back to good old LC.