Buy House on Cumberland?

I have an friend who is selling a house on Lake Cumberland. He knew I have always wanted a lake house so he asked me if I was interested. The problem is, I have never been on Cumberland and don't know anything about it.

It is only 4- 4.5 hours away so it would be easy to make weekend trips.
I spend about 80% of my time bass fishing, 10% walleye fishing, and 10% gill/crappie fishing. Would you recommend Cumberland as a bass fishing lake?
From google maps, it looks like the house is ~4 miles up the river from Gen. Burnside Park. What is that area like?

I know the dam has recently been repaired and they are raising the water levels. Do you think this will improve the fishing because a lot of nutrients/trees will be added to the lake?

Thanks guys. Any info would be great.

I think you would like it.

You would love it. There is a definate learning curb to fishing that lake. Most that hate don't put in enough time to learn her secrets. It is a great Bass lake and at times it makes you wanna cuss and scream. I have been bass fishing twice this year so far down there and did very well both times with some really nice fish caught. I also love catching the Stripers and have caught my share of them this year to.

It is a good area with good people and it has it's share of scumbunnies to. Mostly Meth heads that won't work and would rather steal than do anything else other than hit their crack pipe. Some area's don't have this while others are bad. I wouldn't leave my Rig at Lilly Creek boat ramp unattended if you paid me. I mention this only to let you know and not to down you on it. Learning to fish Highland Res's like the Big C can be challenging but once you figure out the seasonal patterns and keeping dated logs does help you will do just fine. My wife and I have 2 and half acres down there and it will eventually be my sleeping place when I'm not fishing or hiding from her, lol....

You mentioned that you would be on the far east end of the lake. I for one don't like that area but many others do. I prefer the West end, it's deeper, clearer and I think the fishing is much better. However you could always trailer that far and fish or take a long boat ride. Just my two cents on that. YES, the lake coming up is gonna make it awesome and the fishing will explode...

From an anglers prospective, I think Cumberland is a great lake and you'd easily adapt to it's patterns for all fish species. I know if you tried it you'd love top water fishing for surface feeding Stripers. Their fight makes a bass look like a bluegill.

From a real estate standpoint, I offer this, and hope you view it impartial advice, with no implications. A real estate transaction with a firend can be rewarding, or a disaster that ends in a bad buy and a lost friend. Again, accept this recognizing I don't know how familiar you are with the property, and that's it's offered to help a fellow angler.

My thoughts are before you make any form of offer, require the results of a radon test, a lead based paint test, a thorough property inspection by a licensed inspector, and ask the potential seller to provide you a written property disclosure report. [url]http://krec.ky.gov/legal/Legal%20Forms%20%20Contracts/M105.pdf[/url]
While this form is not required by a seller on a "sale by owner transaction", it is a good thing to ask for as a seller who has well maintained his property will be glad to make this effort. In the event you sense reluctance....consider that carefully. And finally, remember that in a "for sale by owner trasnaction", the burden of determining if the home is priced fairly in accordance with real market value in that area falls completely on the buyer. You may want to check the PVA office in the local area and request a copy of the propery value assessment and taxes on the property for the current year. Even though this is a sale from a friend, you might want to entertain a realtor to act on your behalf as a buyers agent, as they can steer you through any potential areas of concern. A realtor can ask the question that might otherwise cause friction between you and a friend.

Again, I offer this only as real estate advice, and I fully acknowledge and respect your knowledge of your friend, your relationship with your friend, and knowledge of the property.

However things turn out, may your roof never leak and your lines stay tight.

[QUOTE=mhall;513848]. My wife and I have 2 and half acres down there and it will eventually be my sleeping place when I'm not fishing or hiding from her, lol....

[/QUOTE]

Hey, so you have a known commodity as a neighbor, sell me 1/2 of your lot, I'll build beside you, and provide free property security for you and me for the duration that I live there......and stay sober. Whichever comes first. :-)

Makers Mark has a great selection of high power rifle scopes.

PS: for a 12 pack of Guinness, I'll sit on and protect your trailer at Lilly alll day long while you fish. ;)

[QUOTE=HURRICANEBOB;513903]Hey, so you have a known commodity as a neighbor, sell me 1/2 of your lot, I'll build beside you, and provide free property security for you and me for the duration that I live there......and stay sober. Whichever comes first. :-)

Makers Mark has a great selection of high power rifle scopes.

PS: for a 12 pack of Guinness, I'll sit on and protect your trailer at Lilly alll day long while you fish. ;)[/QUOTE]

LOL, Your not right.......We have condered selling the back one acre of this property though. It is in a small very rural subdivision if you wnat to call it that. It's on the right on the way to Pleasant Hill about 5 to 7 minutes from the road ending boat ramp...

I live on the Lake straight across from General Burnside State Park, so that property would be very close to me. If interested give me a shout and I can assist you in any way I can. I live here full time and some areas are better than others as mentioned already.
I like it here but I do more striper fishing than bass on this lake. I do my bass fishing in Lake Erie and Lake St. Claire which is phenomenal so I just striper fish here. There are more tournaments let out at Burnside Island than most other ramps so there is a lot of bass released right here so there is a lot of bass in the area. Whether resident, newly resident or holding until headed back to where they were caught from there are a lot of bass in the area.

And yes the water going up will make a big difference in bass population in near future plus the water is a lot cleaner. It has not gotten anywhere near as muddy with the recent rain as it had in the past. Majority of your banks are back to rock banks instead of mud banks so the water stays green instead of muddy brown when it rains now. Next spring the remainder 25% or so of mudd banks will be back to rock banks as well when they do the final fill up.

Thanks for all the replies. I am going to go down next week and look at the property.