Cumberland Mon, Tue and Wed

My week long trip to Cumberland lasted 3 days. 3 days of the most frustrating Striper fishing ever in my life. I have never claimed to be a good striper fisherman but at least I thought I would catch a few during the "week" long trip. Here is my report which starts out with hooking up the boat Sunday and I go to raise the motor to put on the "motor totor" and my battery is dead. Just replaced in in January so out it goes back to the store and I get a replacement, at a pro-rated rate of $12. Get down to the BP to buy some shiners and my boat cover has ripped all the way across from side to side for whatever reason. The boat stays in the garage and the cover stays rolled up neatly on the shelf most of the time. I know it is not dry rotted so just bad luck, GO BACK HOME.

Leave the house just after midnight Sunday night and swearve left to miss one deer then right to miss 2 more within 2 miles of the house, note to self - TURN AROUND AND GO BACK HOME AND GET BACK IN BED!!! But oh no, I am glutten for punishment. On the water at 3am and plan on Smallmouth fishing until morning. Catch a few small ones all on secondary points in about 20 feet of water. Daybreak comes and I have it on good authority (2 different guides that fish the lake daily) that the fishing has been sporadic but SMALL shiners fished 40-60 feet deep on main lake river channels is most productive. Very windy Monday, I pulled 4 boards and a balloon for 9 hours with 1 1/2 ounce sinkers, 40-60 feet deep around the bluffs of Jamestown, pigpen wall and some part in front of Beaver Creek. Nothing, notta, no shad graphed and very few fish graphed. Guide boats everywhere doing everything from beached to fishing on bottom, planer boards, umbrella rigs, down riggers, which told me there was no pattern at all. Gave up and started fishing for Spots or Smallies. Ended up catching several spots with one nice 3 pounder and 2 more almost 2lb each. The KY's were easy to pattern. If you fished the bluffs, then hit the point and the "cuts" of the bluffs. I call a "cut" where the rock has eroded and fell into the lake causing a "V" in the bluff. Easy to pattern, shiner, small jig or 3/16 single blade spinnerbait. Ky's were very aggresive. The other Ky's came up in the bays off the main lake, look for the run-ins in the back of the pocket. If any wood was present then a Ky was too. Small spinnerbait would catch them everytime. 200 mile drive, 15 hours on the water and I am exhausted off to the cabin for sleep.

Back in at 2am Tuesday morning, again Smallies came secondary points 20-30 feet deep on small black and blue jig. I did catch a couple on a Black Zara Spook up shallow. In all no size to any of them. Daybreak and back to Striper fishing. I called my 2 guide buddies and both had terrible Mondays as well, one skunked and the other had 1 that barely met the 24" size limit. One pulled umbrella rigs and down riggers, the other down riggers and boards. I started with mix bag of small shiners and the biggest in my box from 40-80 feet deep. Trolled at different speeds on my trolling motor, swinging side to side to speed some up and slowing others down. Focused between Indian and Beaver Creek on main lake, just because that is where every other guide boat was on Monday and it looked the same on Tuesday as boats where everywhere in this small area. Trolled from Indian to Beaver and back, (Excellent trolling motor batteries by the way, Carquest Gold Deep Cycle) Caught 1 - 23 incher on the way down on big shiner, 80 feet behind planer board. I moved all 4 boards to between 60-80 deep with the biggest shiners I had left. Had 1 more hookup but it got tangled up with another line and got off ( I don't think it was very big). On the way back from Beaver towards Indian, a good pull down and I let her run pretty good with it before setting the hook, landed a 22 pounder. Pulled the rest of the day with nothing else.

Put in at 1am this morning and same pattern for smallies held. No size to them at all and I tried to fish deeper but caught nothing looking for larger fish. Could not move much for the FOG was so thick I could not see the parking lot lights from the ramp at Holcumb. Never did see the dam lights, idled around everywhere and used GPS and spotlight to miss landfall. About 5am, well before sunup, I graphed several big fish at 80 feet deep, so out with the boards. I was on the main lake in front of Indian creek heading towards Beaver. Set all 4 boards from 60-80 deep with biggest shiners around. Started pulling towards Beaver (Scared to death that a guide boat would run over me at any minute coming towards me), but that is the price to pay for a 40 pounder. Pulled from 5am to 1pm without a sniff. Sunup and fog finally lifted and the usual, 15 boat guide party on the sout side of the lake between Indian and Beaver had started. Some were beached, some were pulling boards, some downriggers with live bait and one guy pulled out the umbrella rig. Never saw one fish landed this morning. At least Tuesday I caught 2 and saw one guide boat land 3 (with 4 clients aboard). Today, nothing. 1pm headed to the ramp to take out and drive 200 miles back home. Save the last 2 days of this weeks vacation for December FNF, now I will have to spend 23 days FNF this year at Dale in instead of 21 to burn up the rest of vacation.

In all, no pattern. I never claimed to be a good striper fisherman but I never graphed ONE SINGLE school of baitfish. I ran from Harmon and Difficulty creeks to the Dam, main lake up into the heads of the creeks and even did something stupid and went a couple of miles up into Lilly, Beaver and Indian just to see if any shad were there. If you can catch them, you are better than me. Pulled boards for somewhere around 25 hours to land 1 keeper that obviously committed FISHICIDE is not my cup of tea. Never saw one fish bust, much less any schools in the jumps. Water is down a good 25-30 feet below the treeline, 64-65 degrees and GIN clear. Clear as any water that I have ever seen in Cumberland. I think it actually might have dropped about a foot over the 3 days in looking at a few spots on the bank.

One funny thing, I went in Tuesday night to Lake Cumberland Country Store to get supper after about 16 frustrating hours on the water and some guy is bragging on catching 6 Smallies with the smallest being 19 1/2 inches long. I hear the story and think he had a REAL good day with 6 over 4 pounders, it could happen. Then one of the guys ask him how big was the biggest and he said "26 3/4 inches long." I thought I mis-heard what he said until he said it again then went into details of how much it fought. I could not stand it anymore. I asked him did he keep it and he said no. Did you take a picture and he said no. I am not Smallie expert but I would think a 26 3/4 Smallie would be close to 10 pounds or over this time of year. I told him that he probably release one of the 10 biggest Smallmouth ever caught in the history of mankind. To which, he insisited that it measured 26 3/4" long and I told him that his tape measure is missing about 5 inches. I left laughing my a$$ off. Nice way to end the frustrating day with a bold face liar. It is one thing to stretch the truth but that is rediculous. Go get them.

Thank you for the great report...I've got 4 days coming up the 1st friday in Nov. and plan on heading to the big C for atleast 2 days, smallies, Ky's and Lgmouths will be my quarry though, but beleive me I'll keep a spare rod on the deck for busting stripers.
Thanks again for the report.:-)

Well crap!!! Man that's some tough luck there Elnut. I was hoping to hear better from you as I'm sure you were hoping to come back and report better. However, keep your head up because while you were there a really strong cold spell came on so I'm sure that probably had something to do with the lack of activity.

I'm bullheaded sometimes, I have a trip planned for this Sunday through next Wednesday. Despite your report I'm not canceling. I'm still going and I'm going to fish for FISH, LOL...Smallmouth, Large Mouth, Ky's, Striper's you name it. I may come back beat down and blue but it sure beats being at work THINKING about fishing. You did provide us all with a great report though...thanks El!!

You can catch all the Ky's you want using the pattern that I told you. I was wanting some Stripers for the freezer but that will have to wait until whenever. Only fished for Walleye once and that was a futal attempt, don't fish for Crappie, don't like Catfish, can't make myself to keep and eat a Bucketmouth or Smallie so Striper is my only option for some tablefood. Didn't need it anyway. I do have a memory that will last for a couple of weeks from the trip. When I landed that 22 pounder, I buried the hook in my left middle finger all the way to the barb. My hands were so cold that I did not even feel it and did not realize it until I turned to put the fish in the cooler when something tugged on my hand. It was the hook still attached to the line. I looked down and blood was all over my boat. I had to push it thru the other side of the barb then cut off the barb to remove. Finger is very sore with a big welt on it. I am sure it will take a bit to heal up. Glad it was cold and windy for it did not hurt a bit going in. Good luck and catch a couple for me.

Sorry about the rotten luck Elnut. It's bad when you have to travel so far to catch little fish.
Hey you can always look forward to catching that world record smallmouth out of Dale with those 2 extra days vacation that is if I don't catch it first LOL. If you don't mind send me some tips on some F-n-F gear- Rod and reel. Looking to get me some in the next week or two.

I was running Cumberland and seeing all those bluffs and deep points, ice cold air temp and for one second today I turned to see where my FNF rod was for I saw a perfect spot for a Big Smallie. Kind of different with air temp in the 30's and water temp in mid 60's. It will be here sooner than we all think with this weather. My guess is by Thanksgiving it will be getting pretty good, which is about a week or two early than normal.

Punisher Jigs sells a decent FNF rod for around $60 (I started with a 9' rod but get more distance and love the 10' better) and teamed with a decent spinning rod (I use a Quantum TI-30) with a good drag system is really all you need equipment wise. If you tie your bobber straight to the line (As I did the first 2 years), then 6lb P Line, 1/16th oz jigs (Duck Feather is my favorite), FNF Bobbers (Bob's Bobbers is the name brand that Punisher sells), some fish dope (Punisher item) and a good bluff or deep point with some grass and you are in business.

One tip if you fish Dale Hollow is that every time your bobber goes under is not necessarily a fish. I see where guys post about 30-40 pulldowns a day but only catch a few fish. Most of those were when you jig was hanging up on deep grass beds at Dale and when you moved it, the bobber went under. Grass grows upwards of 30 feet deep at summer pool and is still a good 10-20 feet deep at winter pool, so when you set you jig 10 below the bobber it will hit grass at times. Grass is a good thing, for the Smallies at Dale love it. Tough to fish thru and good ambush points for smallies to hide. When you get that "Grass" pull down just ease it off the grass and it will sink again naturally right into the waiting mouth of a Smallie. WHen you feel the grass pulldown enough, you will know what it feels like.

Another tip is that I constantly keep reeling in my line when I work the jig. It may only be an inch at a time but this way I know I have no slack in the line at all. Any slack in your line from the reel to the bobber, plus the 10-15 feet below the bobber your jig is, makes it very difficult to get a good hookset.

"Less is Good". The less that you work the jig the better the fish like it, I think. Cold water, December thru Feb, slower metabolism so the baitfish that you are trying to imitate is going to be slow and methodical. Barely move your wrist and the whipping action of your rod will actually move the jig. If you have a slight breeze and ripple on the water then I let the water do my movement.

Stay focused at all times on the bobber and get a FNF bobber. Don't use the plastic pear shaped bobber for the real thing tells you a lot. The real thing tells you when there is slack in your line below the bobber that you will not know otherwise. THis slack could be that you are on bottom or that a fish has come from underneath and sucked in your jig and floated up in the water column causing slack below the bobber.

Lots more tips but too tired, been up for 22 hours, fished for 12 of those and drove 200 miles back home, unloaded all the stuff and took the family out to supper tonight. Floatandfly.com will get you some more.

You can also go to [url]www.smalljaw.com[/url] and contact John Davis. He's been F-n-Fing a lot longer than all of us.


Billy Elkins

[url]www.thecreekbank.com[/url]
It's easier to let the cat out of the bag than put it back in

Thanks for the report Elnut, man this sounds all to familar to the reports I've gotten all year. Cumberland is not having a good year at all. Lakes go in cycles and I don't think there is any doubt the big C is on a down year. Sorry you didn't get'em but hey there is always next time. Wow, three days alot of hours and NO jumps seen at all, this time of year, NOT GOOD??? If I go next week for a couple of days I'll give my report, I'll be mostly be bass fishing, with the spook tied on, or my new secret weapon to reach out and touch any ole surfacing striper. Get'em at Dale, tightlines Mark. :P

I know fishermen can lie but the 26 3\4 inches long small mouth is not unheared of. I WITNESSED THIS In a fishers of men tournament held on Lake cumberland in May of 2003 a small mouth that measured 27 1\8 inches long was weighed in.MEASURED at the scales because it was a log !!!!! But since the female had just spawned the fish ONLY weighed 4.98 lbs!!!!
ALSO during one of the weekly Friday night tourneys out of burnside this summer, a smallmouth measureing 26 1\2 was weighed in. It weighed 6.2 but later the scales were check and they were off by 10 ounces. The best part of it was that the team had 2 brown fish that weighed almost 12 lbs on those scales.(11.89)

Elnut,

Thanks for the report. We were down Tues and Wed with the same results... except we didn't land any fish. No jumps seen in Wolfe/Lily area Tues. and not many fish/shad marked.

Wed. went to Beaver with same results. Finally saw the many boats you were talking about and joined in. We had a couple of hits pulling lures, but that was it. Saw a few fish boated, but mostly small.

What kind of boat were you in? Probably saw you Wed. mid morning.
Thanks for making me feel like we weren't the only ones not catching fish.

Exceptional report. Things I have in common:
a. Went Sunday morning , 22 Oct 06, with no patterns few hits, no hookups, in Jamestown area, Lilly and Greasy, no jumps.
b. My main engine battery must have set the standard for yours, it died Saturday, as I preped for a leave out Sunday, and got replaced. I think I see a pattern. Stripers do not like anglers with new batteries.
c. My "horse story" came at teh Jamestown ramp, Sunday PM, when I guy saw my rig and started talking Striper fishing. He swore up and down that he was in the first bend of Lilly between 0830 am and 1000 am, and had caught 6 nice Stripers in 5 or 6 outbreaks of jumps. I asked him if he meant today, he said, "yep". I asked if he saw anybody else in there? He said nope. I asked if he'd seen the jumps in the cove right in the mouth or along the walls on the left side, at the first left coming into to Lilly, and he said "yea....that's the spot". I said "congrats", smiled and walked away. I sat on that same wall from 0900 to 1000, with no jumps anywhere, no bait clouds, and only one other boat in there, that was fishing the opposite side, and middle. And the guy I was talking to was not the gentleman and his wife I'd seen on that boat. So, I figure, if that what it takes to make his day, if listenning makes him feel better, well, then that's the best I could do for mankind for today.

I fish out of a Pro V 17 Tracker. Big ugly guy by myself and I had my dark blue raingear on for some wind protection. I never fished with the heard for I did not see any fish boated. I pulled out in the middle to the North side. I was the only guy pulling boards where all the downriggers were going over. Thought I would try something different but same results.