Did anyone fish Lake Cumberland this weekend?

[FlyLie]

Planning on going out on Wednesday/Thursday and would appreciate any reports and advise. Will be launching out of the dam (Halcombs) and will fish main lake and either/or Indian, Otter or Beaver Creeks. Not sure if I want to troll for Stripers or cast for Bass? Any advise/recommendations on the above choices? Thanks much!

[know1]

I may be down there the same time. Might go Tuesday instead, though. I think we'll probably try for striper if I can figure out where they might be. I'll let you know how we do if we go Tuesday.

[PRO V LE]

The stripers have been on fire the last few day's alot of short 20-22 inch fish with some 24 to 28". I know of one boat that had over 50 yesterday afternoon and the son had around 25 this morning. Anywhere from the heads of the creeks to mainlake points and cuts.
With the front coming on Monday I hope they hold on. It may take a few day's to get them going again.

[stripernut]

50 and 25....on fire? if you have to go through 75 fish to get a limit at 2 per person i hardly call it "on fire"....i call it "troubling". its good to see conservation is alive and well.

[PRO V LE]

50 and 25....on fire? if you have to go through 75 fish to get a limit at 2 per person i hardly call it "on fire"....i call it "troubling". its good to see conservation is alive and well.

Striper nut, I never said those fish were kept they were all released. The water temp is still low enough to release these smaller fish from shallow water.
The boat with the 50 fish came from one of the best guides on the lake who I know would not harm the fishery.
I do not want to start a Pzzz match, I have studied and fished for stripers near 40 years and when 1st. timers can catch fish like that it is a good thing, including my 4yr. grand daughter with her first fish a 22" striper.

[stripernut]

hey pro, no pz match, just good discussion. i think you misunderstood....what im trying to say is this- if it takes 50 fish to limit out the numbers and age class are a little out of whack??
now, if the contention is that the age classes are not out of whack....then youre fishing in the wrong spot. even if those fish are released they still have elevated stress and disorientation levels and sometimes result in delayed mortality. this was from the us fish and wildlife service fisheries biologist that i worked with.
i too have a little striper history, i caught my first striper in 1975, i have fished the NSBA circuit in multiple states , and i have worked for the "OTHER" best guide service on the lake for a long time. this doesnt make me an expert by any means, and i dont totally disagree with you regarding the increased chance of survival in cooler water temperatures. but if i start getting into small fish i move, i dont want to use all my bait on short fish??
our opinions on "on fire" just differ slightly. on fire to me means all the rods going down at one time and they have healthy mature representatives of the fishery.
AND..congratulations to the young lady that caught her first fish, thats awesome!

[Les Young]

No doubt the grand daughter had a ball. It sure is fun watching a young first timer. I've saw grown men that you thought were going to hyper ventilate. lol Good job getting the grand daughter on them.

[LeFaive]

Fished both Saturday and Sunday morning taking off from Conley Bottom and had good luck with both the bass and mixed in a couple smaller striper as well. I had my best luck with chartreuse... didn't matter if it was jigs or spinners or crankbaits... chartreuse did the trick. I found the bass (both lm and sm) in 5-15 of water and usually suspended about midway in the water column. The stripers came about 25 feet down in about 40 feet of water. Water temperature ranged from 55-58 and there was still plenty of debris floating around so be careful in low-light situations!

[Jbyrd]

Glad someone caught something this weekend. WE fished to sum it up it SU#&ed !!! Three tourneys and 8 and change won 2 5lb won one with 2.95 being 3rd. Some of the best locals in these events and most BLANKED. What was caught looked like they where starving. And this is going to stir the pot but the affects of those 50 -70 stiper days MOST under 20 inches is show up in the bass population. TOO many stripers and not enough forage. The bass can't compete

[fishincreek]

Spend a night in May or early June on black shale banks and listen to all the alewives. Might change your thoughts about "lack of forage".

[smalleychaser]

I heard the alewives aren't very nutritious. Very low in protein. Filling but no calories. Just what I heard.

[Jbyrd]

Spend a night in May or early June on black shale banks and listen to all the alewives. Might change your thoughts about "lack of forage".

Can't wait until May and june maybe the bass will be biting ______________