Cumberland River Trout!!!!

i hate to say it again, all that stuff is stupid if you continue to have a size and number limit on stripers below the dam and then continue to let the state below to continue to stock more stripers in the river that will only eat more with your regs. The rainbow record should have been broken by now. Stripers are up to the dam as of now but our state supports their eating habits today. Is it OK for saltwater fish to eat all day on trout and not for a non boat owner to fish with waders within a couple miles of the dam with a paid trout stamp to keep a trout and it takes a lot of effort time and money to do so. Kentucky has a lot more room for stripers to fish for in the lake, so why protect them in the river?My two cents worth.

You hit it right on the head with the strippers. Tenn. stocks them in Cordel Hull Lake and it is an easy run for them to come up to feast on the trout our money pays to put in the Cumberland. The slot limit allows people that want to keep some fish to eat to do so and protects the fishery too. I don't eat trout, but I am told by friends that do that the 13 and 14 inchers are the best eating. Also the folks that just want to put a trophy on the wall can keep one of those in each species. The 15 to 20 inch fish have a much greater chance of avoiding the strippers bellies than do the smaller fish as well. Louisville Trout Unlimited is all for open season on strippers! Common sense tells you that if a fish that we don't sponser is damaging the fish that we pay to put in and fish for, then any way you can reduce the numbers of the preditors would be a good thing }( I here stripper is great in the skillet!
Barry Morris

What about barbless in the river. In the local pond it has made a huge difference with realesed fish with survival of realesed fish with really no difference with the percentage of fish that are landed and the fish that do get gullet hooked the hook can be easily removed unless it is reaaly deep. The bait fishemen close to the dam( I am one of them) would not like it to start but it would help for a realese pattern and we could fish the way we want to. It is easy to pinch down the barbs with pliers so no new equipment is needed.

Best idea yet...

Agreed on the barbless...

In the Smokies they only allow single hook lures...I caught plenty of fish and it was much easier to release. Again it would probably be met with some difficulty right off the bat, but believe it would increase the survival rate after release.

The Bluegrass Chapter of Trout Unlimited has not advocated or does not support the catch and release proposal being discussed for implementation on sections of the Cumberland River. Many of our members actively practice catch and release everywhere they fish and catch and release does have benefits for the fishery, but it is not the only way to enjoy the sport of trout fishing. We feel that recent regulatory changes made to the Cumberland river regarding creel limits and the addition of a slot limit on rainbows were based upon scientific data that clearly showed a decline in the Cumberland's trout population and the number of mature fish. Something had to be done to reverse the decline in trout numbers. Bluegrass TU feels that given time and future shock sampling studies it will be years before the true success of the regulations can be properly judged. Several of our members have reported that overall fishing: numbers of trout and size have all improved this past year. We hope this is a sustained trend. TU's mission is to perserve and protect our cold water fisheries not to promote fly rods over spinning tackle or what type of fish one should consume. As proud Kentuckians we are very fortunate to have such a great river as the Cumberland and everyone should feel a sense of pride and commitment to make it even better for our children and their children. Everyone has an opinion of how the river should be managed and we must consider that everyone usually has the best intentions when they propose changes, but we have the right to oppose them. One way all interested parties that fish the Cumberland can help perserve the fishery and see to its improvement is to practice proper fish release techniques for all trout that are not kept for consumption or fall within the protective slot limit. Trout are a very delicate species of fish and if not properly handled during a release they can have a higher mortality rate than other fish. In closing, respect the river, respect other anglers and their rights and let's wait for the fish biologist whom manage our fisheries to advise us on what is the proper course to sustain our resources.
J. Steele
Bluegrass Trout Unlimited Board of Director Member

Who do we contact to float the thought. I do not want to put the occasional angler out, but he would have to know to take simple pliers and pinch the barbs down on the hooks to fish for trout. If that policy was enacted there should be no penalty for a few years to try to educate the fishermen about the technique and the benefits about doing so in the years to come.After that I am sure enforcement would be a big problem but it is worth a try.

Glad to hear someone from Bluegrass sound off too. By the way, the proposal was turned down and they won't look at it again for two years when fish & wildlife has finished the study of the effects of the slot and creel.
By the way, from the reports we are getting from people fishing the Cumberland before the 24/7 generation started recently, the river is fishing (their words) better than it ever has. Ever! Several of these reports came from people that have been fishing the river for over 20 years and one of them is a proponent of the C&R section. I really do not think C&R sections will ever happen on the river as long as the measures that fish & wildlife study and put into practice on the Cumberland are working. It becomes a social issue, not a biological one and the fight that would insue after putting in a section like that isn't worth the good that might come from it. Tourism and bring more money into the region is most often stated as the reason to do it. The increase in property values could be a two edged sword not just helping some, but causing a lot of folks to loose their land because they can't pay the increased taxes that come with higher property value. A few motel oporators shop keeprs and river guides would benifit, but those that are just barely making ends meet to keep their family property would stand to loose everything. Remember what happened when they decided to tax the coal under the land, even if you didn't mine it? The property was worth more, but people couldn't pay the taxes and lost their land That pratice was repealed after they saw the damage it could do. I had forgotten about this side effect until Ron Kilmer, President of the Northern Kentucky Fly Fishers reminded me. This is one of the big reasons they oppose C&R on the Cumberland. Barbless is good if enforcable as are no treble hooks and circle hooks for bait fishing. These are things to look at in the future. Again the commissioners said they will look at no new regulations on the Cumberland until the on going study is complete in two years.
The river is good for everybody now let us just fish our butts off "RESPONSIBLY" and enjoy our great resource.
Barry Morris
Secretary
Louisville TU

Why does kentucky have protective limits for stripers below the dam that are stocked in tennesse in cordell hull that come up and eat trout? i cannot still understand that. will we stock the upper end of Dale hollow to create a striper lake in dale hollow which would be a very good striper lake if stocked. I would think that would be a good thing equal to the river fishery for stripers.

KY does not have a protective limit on Stripers in the river. In the lake the limits are 2 at 24 inches. In the river its 5 at 15 inches. SSKY, I've seen posts on here by you over the years wanting the state to make the Lake a trophy striper fishery. Such a fishery already exists below the dam. Why would you want to destroy that?

Andrew

The river can be a truly world class fishery for trout that we can or could have here close to our backyard. The 1980's proved that we can if wanted a trophy fishery for stripers in the lake and that could be done. The trout cannot do the same thing in the lake but can in the river. Saltwater fish above the dam and below it, give the trout at least the venue where they will do the best from the situation that the dam presents in the tailrace and let the saltwater (ocean) fish do their thing in the lake like they have proven to do in the past. Or better yet fish for them where they are native where they get bigger. I see no need for kentucky trout anglers to have to pay to fish for them and their money go for striper food for a fish that could be managed in the lake. If so, a striper stamp should be in order and everyone that likes to catch stripers in the river should be taxed about double what we pay for a trout stamp. Sounds fair to me,then we could stock more trout.Just my opinion. I must be an idiot.

SSKY you always talk bad about having stripers in the river. Well i have to say i do not agree with you one bit. I fish the river for stripers and i must say they do not grow anywhere in the world any faster than in the cumberland river. And as far as the trout go the guys who only fish for striper in the river still must have a trout stamp so we are paying to stock trout that we don't fish for. The state of KY does not protect the stripers at all in the river. They have a rollover limit from the ohio river. If you get down into Tenn. they protect the stripers now because they know how great of a fishery it can be. the limit there is a slot of no fish between 32" and 42" and only 2 fish a day of which only one can be bigger than 42". I would love to see that happen on all of the cumberland. I release all of my fish there and encourage others to do the same. And by the way many people say the river is better for trout now than it ever was. And hasn't the state record been broken twice in recent years. Just seems the stripers don't have the impact that you seem to think they do on the trout. Not looking to create an enemy or anything but just trying to make a point. We probably will never agree on this but someone has to speak for the striper fisherman too.