Fly Fishing Cumberland River

[peter]

PM Tim_T on this forum
He is a writer also and maybe if you write about him in your article he'll give you some good information. Not that he is seeking that sort of thing.

[FlyLie]

Just my 2 bits: If you want to write about fly fishing the Cumberland, then consider getting some first hand knowledge and experience on the river. Your article would be much the better for it. There are several guides for hire if you need a jump start. It takes several years to learn that river, so careful is the byword. Not many take in/out points between Wolf Creek and TN if you get in trouble. Carry a dry pack, compass and topo map and GPS. Note: Cell phone coverage is ???? As an example, currently, Wolf Creek Dam is discharging at the rate of 23,000 cubic feet per second. Trust me, you don't want to hang a boat on a log jam with that kind of current. It will spin it lake a top and take it down in seconds.

[timmbur22]

Yes, Crocus Creek is a great place to wade providing the water is low enough. Parking on the other side of the small bridge over Crocus Creek. I had a great outing here in October back in the 90s. Large gravel bar. Not sure what it's like now, because things change, but the current was too deep and swift on the far side for wading, but fishing right from the gravel bar on the west side was just fine. I was able to wade just above the bar and hooked some really nice browns. Below the bar can be good also.

Another place is called Big Rennox Creek. It's on the way to Crocus out of Burkesville. You pull in a picnic area and park. Take a the path through the woods or wade/follow the creek bed back to the river. Be careful on the path. Some steep and slippery and hard to navigate places. Another gravel bar here at low water. Had to wade out quite a ways here because it was shallow, but there's fish even in the shallows. Deep, swift channel on far bank. Good fishing below bar as well.

I'm not an expert fly fisherman by any means, but the Cumberland is known as mostly a nymph river. Princes, Copper Johns, Brassies and Zebra midges work well. You might try combinations with a midge dropper. Brandon Wade is a nice guy and could offer more advice.

I have waded at Winfreys and an area above Winfrey's Rocks that was shallow, and I hear they have a new area open around Snow Island, but I really don't have much info on those. They are near the Rainbow Run area I think, where a lot of big fish have been caught. There can be some limited wading at the Rock House as well at low water. Of course, there's Helm's Landing as well, but that place is a bit too popular and crowded at times. There is some wading at the 2cd gravel ramp downstream from the campground at the dam also. Not sure about the areas below Burkesville. My best day on the river was fishing off the gravel bars just upstream from Helm's Landing at Swan's Bottom in July just after they started working on the dam. I accessed these bars by paddling upstream from Helms in a kayak. I hooked my biggest rainbow ever here, but lost him in the shallows. He was a true "monster". I'll probably never hook one that big again in my lifetime. As you may already know, wading is limited on the Cumberland and the levels depend totally on how much water is being released, so I hope this helps. These are just my experiences, not the gospel.

I see you are in Utah now. Have you fished below Powell Dam in Southern Utah? I hear it has more trout per mile than any water in America. I was in Kanab, Utah back around 2000 and wanted to check it out, but there just wasn't enough time.

Enjoy your posts!

[FlyLie]

Timmur, great post Thinking you should write the article? Have had some great times on the the Cumberland wade fishhing the gravel beds. Some day (in the far distant furture), my family will toss my ashes from Woff Creek dam into me river.