Thinking Of Spring Trip to Lake Cumberland

[R19]

I would do the lower end of the lake for smallmouth. As for striper I know very little about them and I rarely target them to fish but when they are present I have caught a few. I don't know how dead set you are on the May time frame but anytime you get two decent days of warm temperatures back to back in March the Cumberland smallmouth bite can be great. The key word in that last sentence was warm. Clear, sunny, bluebird highs are good anytime in early spring to help warm the water but a good cloudy warm front with a light warm rain is a perfect storm for hot action. The problem is in March it can be 20* and snowing one day and 65* and nice the very next day. May will be a little more stable weather wise but if you pay close attention to the the forecast and find a 2-3 day window that looks good then March would be my choice for smallmouth.

Right now I am scheduled off the last two weeks in March for vacation. If the weather is right I may add some more vacation or sick time and take the last three weeks in March off. I do this every year. I use to do it in April but I have found that March is better for big fish but the weather can throw a curve ball. I am only about 30 minutes from Cumberland so I can easily make a last minute decision to go or stay at home. I spend my time on Cumberland and Green in late winter/early spring and switch to just Green once the bass spawn is in full swing.

Now if my memory is correct (and the striper fishermen will know) the night striper bite heats up in May (mid/late?) when the shad spawn is going on. I "think" its more towards the end of May. Anyways I do recall about 5-6 years ago taking the only trip I have ever went where striper was the target. I went with a friend and we targeted steep shale banks at night where the shad spawn was going on. It was actually more like hunting than fishing. We would run to an area and shut down the boat 100 yards or more away from where we though a bank would be a good bank for shad to spawn on and listen. If stripers were feeding on shad on the bank it would sound like someone threw a brick overboard. We would be as quite as possible and ease into the area with topwater plugs. If nothing was present we would sometimes ease down a bank just blind casting but we always were listening for a blow up. It was a blast and I tell my self every year that I am going back to try it but I have only done it once. Whenever and wherever you decide to go I wish you luck.

[Duayne]

The spring striper night bite could be found in early May, but it usually picks up later in the month to early June.... If it's going to pick up at all. It's been really random for me the last few years but I am a weekend warrior. Given the debris issue and not being able to see well at night, I usually opt to wait until all the whoopy making is over or just be happy with whatever I get during the day.

[stripernut1]

Whenever i have relatives or friends that dont live here when they should plan their vacations to visit and fish, i always tell them i am 100% certain we can catch stripers and smallmouth in the same day any month of the year.....EXCEPT MAY!!!! may can bring you to your knees if stuff lines up wrong. The alewive spawn can shut the stripers down during the day, and you may get 30 short strikes in a night of casting without hooking up. The smallmouth may be 60yds off the bank suspended in 80ft of water, good luck catching those fish lol.
Im not saying this is a guarantee, but if it happens it will likely happen in may.
I would pick end of march, 1st week of april or june.
As far as cumberland being a huge lake, that is a good thing. It wont blowout overnite if there is a lot of rain. Also the bass bite isnt sensitive to flow from hydro generation like say guntersville and those lakes.
If may is the only time you can make it then by all means do it. There will be some fantastic largemouth amd ky bass fishing.
But yes there are 11 better months in my humble opinion

[headbanger]

Now if my memory is correct (and the striper fishermen will know) the night striper bite heats up in May (mid/late?) when the shad spawn is going on. I "think" its more towards the end of May.

First full moon in June is a pretty good guideline.

[BassLover]

Wow! You've all given me lots to think about. After checking out the historical water levels, its clear to me that the month of May generally has some pretty steep fluctuations from Spring runoff. Your posts all seem to indicate that coming down in May is probably not the best time for Stripers or Smallmouth. We were planning on camping out in my tent and thought May might be the magic time when the tributaries are in that 60-68* water temp range and the air temp would allow us to camp in relative comfort, but now I'm thinking March-April or early June might be better fishing conditions so I guess we need to change our plans a bit. My brother and I are retired and in our 70's, so we aren't very spry or comfy in cold weather - but being retired we can pick and choose our dates Thanks to all of you for your input

[stripernut1]

Not sure how familiar you are with ky spring weather, its all over the place. Weve had snow on the ground during youth turkey hunt in april as well as temps in the 80s . There are a lot of reasonable lodging options prior to tourist season. In june you might not even be able to get a camping spot if the crowds are here.

[fishincreek]

Good luck on trying to predict the Big C. One big rain and the whole lake can be a total mess, trashing all of your well laid plans. If I had to pick lottery days for that lake it would be first week of June. Can still get into nighttime stripers and walleye and can get some topwater bassin. Good luck.

[stoner]

1-606-678-8697 ranger info on fishing conditions

[Dobe Mejuwa]

The times I went in early may I concentrated on late evening and night fishing right up to break of day. Throwing lures at the banks at night is fun for surface feeding stripers. When I used live bait I concentrated on free lines and running boards shallow along flats, but also just as sun was going down tight to the sheer rock walls as tight as I could to get on stripers just arriving fr the night feed.

I pinch pennies. So I also check with the local motels and check rate schedules. If staying in Jamestown Resort Motel a room that is about $90 a night in June may be just 50-60 per night in May. 5 night stay at reduce rates pays for bait and boat gas

[BassLover]

Good luck on trying to predict the Big C. One big rain and the whole lake can be a total mess, trashing all of your well laid plans. If I had to pick lottery days for that lake it would be first week of June. Can still get into nighttime stripers and walleye and can get some topwater bassin. Good luck.

Never had much luck predicting anything, especially with respect to tryin to figure out when the bite is on All you can do is take a shot - but thanks to everyone for their thoughts. As we want to try night fishing I mounted a small floodlight on the bow of my boat to help me navigate through stumps and floating debris. I plan to take it easy so I don't screw up my boat or motor.

Anyone have any recommendations for top water baits? I've always had good luck with Hula Poppers, Strike King KVD Splash, Rapala XRap, Scum Frogs, and Jitterbugs - also think I'll try my heavy fly rod with some topwater poppers and large flies. Should be fun

Thanks again to everyone that took the time to repond. My brother and I really enjoy our fishing trips, even when we get skunked