Lake Cumberland Rookie - Looking for any advice

Hello all,

I wanted to start out by stating how informative this website is and applaud the many great posts that I have read on this forum. I purchased my first new boat this year (21' Sea Hunt 211 Escape LE) and have mostly enjoyed cruising the OH River thus far. I have also taken a few fishing trips to different lakes and have found that I really enjoy fishing as opposed to just cruising, skiing, etc.

I plan to move my boat from the OH River to Lake Cumberland this fall. This is where I begin to have multiple questions; and all are below:

1) The last time I was in Lake Cumberland was approx 10 years ago for my bachelor party. We rented a houseboat and took out a fishing charter where we had a blast and caught several striper. I remember that we rented the houseboat from Jamestown Marina. Now that I have my own boat and I live in Cincinnati, does anyone have any recommendations on storage/marinas closest to 75? I would like indoor temperature controlled storage. In addition, any recommendations on hotels or accomodations would be great!

2) Not only am I somewhat rookie boater, but I also recently have started fishing more. I have a fish finder/GPS on the boat, 6 rod holders, and a live well. I am interested in learning the best setup for mainly striper fishing. Do I need downriggers, planer boards, trolling motor, etc.? My boat has a four stroke yamaha outboard. Is a trolling plate an option?

Any beginner advice is extremely appreciated. I plan to go with a buddy in the next couple weeks and do a little fishing at Lake Cumberland. I certainly don't need to buy everything at once, but would like to get a good idea of how to rig my boat. Thanks in advance for any info!

Kevin

[QUOTE=Walshman;519577]Hello all,

I wanted to start out by stating how informative this website is and applaud the many great posts that I have read on this forum. I purchased my first new boat this year (21' Sea Hunt 211 Escape LE) and have mostly enjoyed cruising the OH River thus far. I have also taken a few fishing trips to different lakes and have found that I really enjoy fishing as opposed to just cruising, skiing, etc.

I plan to move my boat from the OH River to Lake Cumberland this fall. This is where I begin to have multiple questions; and all are below:

1) The last time I was in Lake Cumberland was approx 10 years ago for my bachelor party. We rented a houseboat and took out a fishing charter where we had a blast and caught several striper. I remember that we rented the houseboat from Jamestown Marina. Now that I have my own boat and I live in Cincinnati, does anyone have any recommendations on storage/marinas closest to 75? I would like indoor temperature controlled storage. In addition, any recommendations on hotels or accomodations would be great!

2) Not only am I somewhat rookie boater, but I also recently have started fishing more. I have a fish finder/GPS on the boat, 6 rod holders, and a live well. I am interested in learning the best setup for mainly striper fishing. Do I need downriggers, planer boards, trolling motor, etc.? My boat has a four stroke yamaha outboard. Is a trolling plate an option?

Any beginner advice is extremely appreciated. I plan to go with a buddy in the next couple weeks and do a little fishing at Lake Cumberland. I certainly don't need to buy everything at once, but would like to get a good idea of how to rig my boat. Thanks in advance for any info!

Kevin[/QUOTE]

all good questions, the best and fastest way to answer them, would be to get a good guide for a day, check out his boat, find all about storage, and get a line on some good spots to fish. .......... JMO

Gary

The first thing you need to decide is what part of the lake do you want to be on. You mentioned closest to 75 but that puts you around Fishing Creek which is more river like than big lake like. Lee's Ford and Burnside marina's are the only two in that area. Also stripers move towards the dam as the water warms and I am told from mid-July through mid-September the striper fishing around Fishing Creek is not very good at all.

Another 40 minutes of driving will get you to Jamestown. You can also put in at the state park, launching is free, it has a very nice ramp, and plenty of parking in the cooler months.

Once you decide where on the lake you want to be the next step would be to find a guide and do a day trip with them. Some guides are very giving when it comes to explaining how everything works, what to use, and what areas to fish depending on what month it is.

I highly suggest getting a guide to explain things. I spent my entire first year striper fishing on Cumberland without catching a single striper. I had no idea what I was looking for or the general area fish were in a given month. The next year I had caught one fish in the spring but still wasn't having much luck. Then I did a guided trip with Captain Jim of Striper Fun, he posts fishing reports on this site. I asked a lot of questions and got good information back. The following day my girlfriend and I went out and caught 3 stripers. Since then my catch rate per trip has greatly improved.

Trolling motor is a must and highly recommend one with I pilot so you can use remote to control vs having to be glued to the trolling motor. It is well worth the money vs wishing you had it later.
Planer boards are needed, you can start with 2 and eventually end up with 6. Make sure you get a Left and Right don’t just grab two off the shelf. Kicker motors are nice for trolling umbrella rigs but not needed, I troll with a 225 2-stroke so your 4-stroke will be just fine. Trolling plate could slow you down but IMO it is not needed.
You have a fish finder but a key to striper fishing is knowing how to use it. Study, study, study your graph, the difference of having a bad day and a good day or a good day and a great day is being able to understand your graph. Just marking the fish is one thing, but understanding what the marks mean and the relation of the marks and the fish’s movement can mean a lot on many days.
Hook, weight and line size is more preference than a rule. Whoever shows you the most and you catch fish that day is probably what you will end up using forever because you know it works.
I use 20# main line 17# Pline halo floro for leader 1/0 Gamagatzu live shiner hook with 3 oz weight for down rods and 1/2 oz on planer boards. Stripers move throughout the season so being at the right place at the right time is catching stripers. It is much easier to understand stripers in summer months than it is in winter months because 90% of them are condensed in a several mile stretch vs all over the lake. Plus technique changes as well for winter months.
Hiring a guide or at least going with someone who does it a lot before you get started will save you a lot of money and headaches.