Cumberland report

[Chubminnow]

So here we sit, another spring, another year, talking about how we wish KDFWR would change some things around at Cumberland....but you know what? Not to paint an ugly doom and gloom picture for everyone but the truth of the matter is, even if they DID make size and creel regulation changes there would be plenty of folks who ignore the law. It happens all the time on every lake, more often than any of us are aware of. Plus there are a heck of a lot more fisherman out there now on all of our lakes than there ever was before. The fishing pressure has been an issue for a while now, ain't much anyone can do about that, everyone who buys a license should be able to fish any lake in Kentucky whenever they want to, twelve months out of the year. Some people have mentioned placing Cumberland Stripers as an off limits fish during the summer months, heck that sounds good to me, let's go with it. Of course I'm not a wildlife biologists so who knows what the answer is.

More so than not, Cumberland is more of a boaters lake than a sportsman's lake. Dale on the other hand still seems to me to be a sportsman's lake (in my opinion)...granted Dale has it's fair share of cruisers, houseboats, jet ski's, etc....and (correct me if I'm wrong), Dale doesn't seem to cater to the Cruiser's and the jet ski crowd as much as Cumberland does. If I could put a percentile ratio to each lake, I'd say Cumberland is 70% for boaters and 30% for sportsman whereas Dale seems to be 50/50....or...maybe even 60% sportsman and 40% boaters.

Another thing too...Cumberland marina's completely wear me out with all of their so called events they put on. State Dock and Grider seem to be the worst of the bunch but they all have their hands in it....cause of the money it helps generate. They're all the time mentioning what party at what dock, how many bands, Poker Run this and Poker Run that, it just wears me out. All that entertainment is a dime per dozen off the lake so why would I want to go to the lake to see that stuff and have someone else's music piped into my ears?

Didn't mean to get off topic on this thread so to get back to the original subject matter, nice report Mark, you gave general conditions without giving up any particular honey holes. Why anyone would give out information for all the world to see in regards to an exact area of any lake is beyond me.

[fishincreek]

I cannot blame the Dept for anything on Cumberland. The last two springs the water has shot up feet in just a matter of days. The water temps would go from 65 to 57 in two days, then a cold front(or two) more rain, then PRESTO summer arrives and no spring fishing like I was used too. Are those good ol' days gone forever? I won't know until I get a stable spring. Even with the dam issues, 4 years ago I could sit in front of the Boys camp from midnight to 4am and hear shad working the banks for what seemed like miles, with stripers in them. Where did those shad go? If they spawned like in previous years there should be trillions of them. Also it seems that large stripers are in short supply as well. Perhaps next year will be better, or a late spring bite will ease my crazed mind.