death of the cumberland river?

[Chubminnow]

Clcoutdoors - When you all fish for Walleye in the river...what methods do you use? Drifting with night crawlers or what?

[clcoutdoors]

Clcoutdoors - When you all fish for Walleye in the river...what methods do you use? Drifting with night crawlers or what?

Well Chubminnow we usually cast jigs, pull snells, and yes we drift with the current while either pulling snell rigs or jigs. Someone I know usually drifts fantail minnows and catches eyes that way. The bait of choice is either fantail minnows, nightcrawlers, and leeches.

[RiverLew]

As most of you know I live down stream almost to the Tenn. line. I love the Cumberland River and fish it almost daily. I have always taken extreme care of the fishery and the fish. Great care has always been taken when trout were caught and returned to this great fishery. But we have the bottom lined with dead trout now wasting away. I now hope people will travel down here to catch and keep the trout. I feel it is a disservice to put the trout back into 78+ degree water.

I am however, catching largemouth bass now along with other warmwater species of fish in this warm river. Largemouth Bass on a 4 wt fly rod is quite an adventure in moving water.

I hope the trout can make a comeback when this is all over. It is hard for a catch and release trout fisherman like me to say this but, I hope some good fishermen will catch the remaining trout in this area and put food on someone's table instad of the beautiful trout wasting away on the bottom.

Your friend'
RiverLew

[troutcrazy]

Is there any word that KDFW may remove the slot since the trout are dying off?

[trent colvin]

bump

[Lowerider]

Good to hear from you Lew. A new addition to my family has kept me from the river much of this year. These reports have me borderline depressed though. Can you still launch at Cloyds? Can you get through the third run down? I'm assuming the ramp at Donaldson is still usable? Are there any trout that far downstream?

My main concern is this is just the beginning. With the draw down lasting 5-7 years things are only going to get worse. I think this will eventually devestate the trophy striper population. These effects are far reaching - I read where Cordell and Hickory currently have the lowest dissolved 02 levels in the last 25+ years. Largemouth out of the river!?! It won't be long before we hear of 50+ lbers floating belly up.

[RiverLew]

Good to hear from you Lew. A new addition to my family has kept me from the river much of this year. These reports have me borderline depressed though. Can you still launch at Cloyds? Can you get through the third run down? I'm assuming the ramp at Donaldson is still usable? Are there any trout that far downstream?

My main concern is this is just the beginning. With the draw down lasting 5-7 years things are only going to get worse. I think this will eventually devestate the trophy striper population. These effects are far reaching - I read where Cordell and Hickory currently have the lowest dissolved 02 levels in the last 25+ years. Largemouth out of the river!?! It won't be long before we hear of 50+ lbers floating belly up.

Lowerider,

Fishing was great this spring up until two weeks ago. If you are very careful you can get through but you have to know. Yes, you can launch at Cloyds the new ramp has been great!
The trout were plentiful until the water temp went above 75........ then they started to die. It is sad to see for someone who has babied them for years. Yes the o2 level can only get worse. Looks bleek. I hate to see this but I know you do also. I never thought it would be this bad. I am sure no one else did either. I hope something good can come out of it. I just don't know what it could be. Maybe TU has some answers.

Sure good to hear from you!

RiverLew

[trent colvin]

I Gt On The River Sunday Morning For About 5 Hours. Launched At Winfrey Ferry And Was Able To Go Upstream T The First Riffle. The Bite Was Very Suprisingly Good. Dozens Of Small Fish, Several Slots And Ne Keeper Brown, However I Noticed The Grass Was Brown And Dying. This Supprised Me Because The Dead Grass Was Still Underwater. Does Anyone Know What Is Killing The Grass. I Only Saw One Dead Fish, But Was Suprised At How Many Larger Rainbows I Saw Swimming, But The Only Larger Brown Was The One I Caught (sight Fishing)
I Haven't Been On The River This Spring As Much As I Wanted To Because Of Bass Fishing, But With Conditions Down There Changing, I Will Fish It More So I Can Keep Up With What Is Happening. I Noticed The Fish Are Less Inclined To Chase A Bait As Most Of Sundays Fish Hit The Lure As Soon As It Hit The Water. The Rest Were Caught By Dropping The Bait To The Bottom And Shaking It.

[clcoutdoors]

I fished the river Saturday morning and found the water was definately colder than the last few times I have been to the river. By them letting water out of the sluce gates it is helping somewhat. We ended up catching 3 keeper walleye and several short fish. Surprisingly we ended up catching several large trout. We caught one rainbow pushing 3 pounds. We usually never catch that many trout while we are walleye fishing but they were really active.