lake cumberland dead fish floating everywhere

[bassmanshawn]

buddie said he went in guffey creek down bt the dam and indian creek said strippers floating every where makes me sick the way fishing has been this year i belive the bass are dyeing also and ky bass on cumberland has gone

[FlyLie]

Anyone have first hand knowledge about current conditions on the lake? How bad is the die off and does it include walleye, mussels, etc., as well as the stripers?

Saw several nice walleye floating below the dam on Thursday, and assume they died up on the lake and then went through the dam??

[Les Young]

Was above dam Thursday night. Fished from above Beaver to dam & it literally stunk in a lot of places & Striper were floating everywhere. It's a pitiful sight to see for sure. I myself have wondered where all the Spots have went. That used to be our tourney strategy was to catch a big fish & in a have to case finish our limit with Spots. Usually always monied & had big fish a very big part of the time. Loved catching spots as they were always something you could at least put a limit togeter with.

[bassmanshawn]

yes i dont no if they died or what its like they dissappered vanished gone the ky bass you to be studs like 2 ilb plus use to like 3 years ago it was nothing to catch a 12 to 14 bag of ky bass we need fish and wild life to stock cumberland back cumberland is hurting relly bad less all band together see if we cant get them to spend some money we have paid them to give us a gre
at lake like we did have 10 15 years ago

[stripernut]

been on the lake the last three mornings and it stinks! bad! there are so many stripers floating its sickening, weve only seen one walleye, it was 14.5 inches so maybe a throwback from a fisherman. there are a few walleye floating below the dam but i believ gary is right that theycame through the sluice gates, they are bloated and stiff so theyve been dead awhile. spoke with the biologist each morning and they were testing at different depths for oxygen and temperature and said the best they could find from rowena to the dam was 1.2 parts per million saturated oxygen , they explained this was well below what the fish need to survive and even further below what they need to be active and feed etc. the areas where stripers have been observed dying due to stress go for approximately 20 miles from the dam. when i asked just how bad is bad....they shook their heads and said "bad" doesnt come close to describing the situation. the unofficial forecast hints that stocking efforts will not resume until the dam repair project is complete and water levels return to normal, this is to avoid this situation from repeating itself every year. my take on it....it may be years for the striper fishing to return to the somewhat poor state it has been in for the last few years, if ever.

[FlyLie]

Thanks Stripernut for the update. Hate to hear it! Also, just read Phil's (Conley Bottom Striper Guide Service) September 3 Striper Fishing Report and he ballparks the number of stripers which have died over the past few days at around 1,000.. Link below:
http://conleystriper.com/report.html

[stripernut]

hey boone we were goofing around three mornings ago and tried a crude (dont laugh) way of counting the floaters out in front of beaver creek. with the gps on the graph we traveled approximately 1000 feet in one direction, turned left and traveled 1000 feet, turned left traveled 1000 ft and again until we had made a perfect out of whack square. while making this square there were 2 people watching /counting and one person driving/watching the gps. we counted 190 floaters, take maybe 25 or so away for double count...add maybe that many back for missed count, add or subtract whichever you like for wind etc.....you get the point....and the point is thats a bunch of dead fish in an a relatively small area considering the size of the lake. for some reason the last 2 days there have been fewer...is this good or bad? is the mortality slowing, OR have most of them died?!?! i dont know im not an expert , heck i cant even make a good square lol

[Tim_T]

yes i dont no if they died or what its like they dissappered vanished gone the ky bass you to be studs like 2 ilb plus use to like 3 years ago it was nothing to catch a 12 to 14 bag of ky bass we need fish and wild life to stock cumberland back cumberland is hurting relly bad less all band together see if we cant get them to spend some money we have paid them to give us a gre
at lake like we did have 10 15 years ago

If you want to address something with KDFWR you should talk to the fishery biologist who manages the lake, which is John Williams and if you want regulations changed you need to talk to your KDFWR comissioner, they are the one's who set the rules.

All that being said, I doubt they are going to do much of anything on bass until after the dam repairs are finished.

[Barry2780]

The bass fishing is fine on cumberland, the smallmouth is just staying deep. The largemouths and the spots are fine also. There hasnt been any reported dead as of yet, but i believe they will be fine. I say the striper fishing will be done for a long time. But if your a bass fisherman you should be fine on cumberland because there still being caught.

[MagikSmallie]

You know maybe these striper just aren't supposed to be in our lakes. They aren't natural, and I for one will be glad to see them go on Cumberland, even if its just temporary. I know alot of you like them, I know there are guides that make a livin with them, and I admit they are fun to catch, but really they shouldn't be in KY waters, they're a lab made fish. They out compete bass for food resources and they feed directly on small bass as well. I for one am glad, maybe the bass fishing will pick up a cumberland since no more stocking will be done with the stripers. I know my stance isn't popular, but I don't care, it will be nice to see the bass pick up at cumberland. which with the absence of stripers you can bet the bass will pick up!

[Ky Trophy Fish]

Stripers are not a lab made fish.They are a salt water fish that moves into coastal river in spring/early summer to spawn.Not going to get into a peeing contest on pro/con of stripers in Lake Cumberland.

There are a bunch of factors as to "supposed decline" in bass fishing on Lake Cumberland.This post pertains to smallmouth,can't speak much about largemouth.

USACE controls water level,lake was impounded for flood control/power generation.Fishing is NOT high up on their list of priorities!Dropping water during spawn has an effect on spawn success.

Cumberland is always compared to Dale for smallies .Cumberland will never be the smallie fishery that Dale is !While both lakes have some similar traits,Dale has more varied habitat for smallies-deep water,grass beds everywhere,gravel flats,islands all over lake.

Some have commented on the effect of alewives in Cumberland.They are in Dale also.Haven't hurt smallies in Dale.A lot of anglers don't realize that in summer months a lot of bass will move off shore and follow schools of shad/alewives out into middle of lake feeding on them.

Fishing pressure--Been fishing both lakes for over 40 + years.I can remember in 70's/80's fishing even on weekends,hardly every seeing over a dozen boats.Now you can't fish anytime of year and not see a bunch of boats.Lots more of us competing for a piece of the fish pie.With the advent of internet,information is much eaiser to obtain to become a better angler.With the vast array of electronics available,anyone can locate structure that in early years it took lots of trips to find.All these factors make it easier for us to locate structure/fish.Result-hugh increase in pressure on the resource.

I believe KDFWR needs to make some regulation changes on bass in Cumberland.Possible size increase/creel reduction.Be very carefull what you wish for-If striper population declines past a certain point,people that normally only fish stripers will switch to bass/whatever that will bite!



I make my living off stripers/smallies in Cumberland,smallies on Dale,trout and stripers in Cumberland River.Does it have an impact on fishery?YES.If you fish bass tournements,does it have an impact?YES.If you are a casual angler does it have an impact?YES.Do recreational boaters have an impact on bass fishery? YES.Any time you are on Cumberland you have an impact.No,I an not a tree hugger,just stating an honest fact!

Lots of factors effect the quality of bass fishing in Cumberland beside stripers,just keep an open /objective mind to the problem and for possible solutions.

[mhall]

Ky Trophy, Randall, awesome post and dead on the money in my opinion. I have been preaching some stiffer Regs on the bass especially smallmouth for several years now. I usually get called out and told I'm way off base, it's good to see a well known guide ''IN THE KNOW'', feel like something might need to be done as well.

Also I have read many many articles pertaining to stripers and their eating habits. According to everything published by Biologists, their main diet consists off of baitfish. I have also had three different guides on Cumberland who fish for these fish everyday and clean them almost every day tell me they only see shad in their bellies. A study conducted on Sante Cooper by fishery biologist one year involves capture and harvest of alot of stripers. They also got the public involved and local fisherman and discovered it was quite rare to find bass in the bellies of stripers.

Do some research online it's out there and see that most states agree that the diet of a striper is 90% plus baitfish and not other gamefish.