Cumberland River Trout!!!!

[troutcrazy]

I'm all for the slot limit! It has increased the size of trout I've caught this year...I've caught more 18in. and larger than ever! I was surveyed on whether or not to have a catch and release section of the Cumberland to which I answered, "Sure, as long as it's not the sections I fish." The KDFW guy laughed and said that many felt the same. I believe we will see a section of the river become catch and release and I'm betting on the section between the gateway rocks and Winphery's Fairy.(sp?)

On the treble hook damage I've fished the Mtns. of TN and they have a single hook rule...I didn't miss as many fish as I thought I would...this might be something you might see on the Cumberland in the future as well.

Lures...I've decided on two lures that work for me...copper and silver super dupers & silver cast masters. They never fail me. In fact one day this summer we were fishing with the SD's and nobody around us was catching, but we were jerking them in left and right. A group of about 30 from Owensboro came down and surrounded us up and down the river...before long one of them walked over and asked to see what I was fishing with...I showed him and then he asked me what one of them would cost...I told him "Today it'll cost you $10.00" He paid me on the spot and caught fish...too bad I didn't have a ton of them because I would have made a killing!

Good luck and tight lines!

[JoeB]

I like the slot, as I think it has increased the size of the fish, and I almost never keep them anyway. However, I'd be opposed to catch and release because I know how many people do like to keep some and they should be able to. There is absolutely no better way to spend a day in Kentucky than floating down the Cumberland fishing for trout and I sure don't want anything to happen that would decrease the quality of fishing there. It's great as it is, so I hope nothing is done to "fix" a non-existant problem. :9

[JimDicken]

I am NOT for ALL Catch and release on the Cumberland River. The main reason is that we stock enough trout in that river each year and pay to stock them that there is no reason to do it. The new slot limit is already working to increase the size of the trout.
Beyond that is the fact that when the river was dammed the State and Feds promised that the river would always be stocked to replace the fish that no longer in the river due to the colder temperatures. This was so that there would always be fish for people to take home.
While I do understand what the Fly Fishermen want I just do not feel that we need to provide trophy trout to the State of Tennessee which would be the main beneficiary of a 100% Catch and release rule.
I too like to eat trout and find them quite good.
Could we make a section of the river Catch and Release ONLY?
Not really practical. It would have to be an extremely long section of at least 20 miles and where would you place it?
Sorry fly guys, I can not be with you on this. It just does not make economic sense. Too many people fish the river to take fish home. It also does not make sense to do it and then send all those trophy fish down stream to the guys in Tennessee. No offense to Tennessee but we already suffer from their Stripers coming up stream to fatten on trout in the summer and fall and those stripers then go back down stream for the most part in winter.
Cut the number of fish taken home or increase the slot, but NO To 100% catch and release.
Jim Dicken
The Views if Jim Dicken are not those of Fishin.com, its advertisers or its owner.
This is my opinion and no one elses...

[kygorski]

I'm with you on this one, this is a scheme by a special interest group to increase their fishing pleasure at the expense of others.Where does it go next?These are fish paid for by all trout stamp holders and from other federal monies, the corn soakers have just as much righjt to fish legally as the dry fly guys.Its the same ole crap, the guys who can afford 300 buck fly rods and costly fly fishing gear, just want the guy with the zebco 202 to just watch them enjoy themselves.

[j5coleman]

Not true, or fair. See the note below from the Secretary of Louisville TU. There are a lot of flyfishermen who use the river who fully support the right to keep some fish and couldn't care less what tackle anyone uses. By the same token, I know some non-flyfishers who would like to see catch and release only.

I only flyfish, mostly because that's what I grew up doing and I don't have other equipment, and I disagree with the Derby City Flyfishers.

[JoeB]

Somehow, this has digressed into a debate between flyrodders vs. bait fishermen. Please don't speak for me. I DO like to fly fish and I actually do have a $300.00 fly rod. You will also see me on the river drifting power bait and casting pin minnows for browns. I do NOT support "catch and release only" on the river. Personally I never keep trout, not because I'm morally opposed, but because I just don't much like trout to eat. I DO keep bass, striper, walleye, and lots of others that I fish for, but I don't like trout. However, I know that lots of other people do like them and I would never support something that would only benefit a relatively few. But, please don't speak for me just because I like to flyfish. Ya oughta try it sometime, it's a lot of fun.

[kygorski]

Been there done that, got my first fly rod when I was 15 yrs old, 55yrs ago. Yweah it was fun, but spinning rods and light tackle are just as much fun.The fly rod is limited in my humble opinion, its like playing golf with a 9 iron only

[JoeB]

I didn't say it was the only club in my bag, just one of them.:)

[Richman]

If it was a wild fishery MAYBE catch and release would make sense. However being that it is a put and take fishery when fish are put in someones freezer they are replaced by continuous stocking.

Therefore the only true issue is the size at which they may be kept. Certain groups have fought to make this more of a TROPHY fishery by pressuring KDFWR to put on the current limits......then those same people are concerned that bait fisherman are going to kill the fish they are told they must release?

C'mon guys get over the elitist attitude....this is a recreational fishery started to mitigate the fact that a dam was built over a warm water fishery.

The beauty of fishing the Cumberland is that shore fisheman, waders, and boaters all have access to quality fishing that all can enjoy at the same time.



Rich

[SSKY]

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.

[bmorris22]

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

[SSKY]

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.