Striper Report: Cumberland

[JimDi]

We fished Friday through Sunday.

Friday: Caught 8 stripers off shiners using down lines(40ft to 50 ft) and planer boards(20ft to 30ft). All fish were caught between the two water intake stations in Greasey Creek. All fish were between 5 lbs to 7 lbs.

Saturday: Caught three in the area and used the methods above.

Sunday: Caught two in the area and used the methods above. Caught one more all the way back in Greasey using free line, swivel used in line, no weight. Weighed about 10 lbs.

Water clarity was good.
Was kind of dissapointed in the size of the fish. Where are all the bigger fish?? Are they dead??

[Duayne]

The larger classes have suffered greatly in the 2010 and 2009 late summer die offs. It's allowed the smaller classes to thrive. Lots of fish, just short. They will be keepers next year..

[Technonorb]

Jim... Do you go with a guide or are you Freestyling.

If a guide let me know what Guide. Am off before and after Christmas and going to try to get down to fish and look at a few Cabins. Thanks T R

We fished Friday through Sunday.

Friday: Caught 8 stripers off shiners using down lines(40ft to 50 ft) and planer boards(20ft to 30ft). All fish were caught between the two water intake stations in Greasey Creek. All fish were between 5 lbs to 7 lbs.

Saturday: Caught three in the area and used the methods above.

Sunday: Caught two in the area and used the methods above. Caught one more all the way back in Greasey using free line, swivel used in line, no weight. Weighed about 10 lbs.

Water clarity was good.
Was kind of dissapointed in the size of the fish. Where are all the bigger fish?? Are they dead??

[JimDi]

We do it on our own..... Smallest fish I have ever caught. They need to finish the dam and get things back to normal. That fish kill off really had an effect.....

[bill28wagner]

We used to have a ball down there. We were going down every other weekend. After the fish kill we just noticed the fishing was awful. So we are selling our center console boat and broke out the ranger and go to Dale every other weekend now

[JUSTINHALL]

There are plenty of big ones still left you just have to find them. Most larger fish are not as close to the dam this time a year. I am catching my larger fish farther up river. On a good note most smaller ones 20"-23" fish have been putting up a really good fight, more than normal, so they do seem to be healthy.
I do see less big ones, but they are no doubt still there. If you are only catching small ones or only see small ones in the jumps go find another school. The 20"-23" fish seem to roam in much bigger schools which makes them easier to find, but not many big ones with them.

It's hard to leave fish to find fish but if you want bigger ones just keep moving until you find them.
IMO

[striperjoe]

We used to have a ball down there. We were going down every other weekend. After the fish kill we just noticed the fishing was awful. So we are selling our center console boat and broke out the ranger and go to Dale every other weekend now

The fishing may never be the same. Per State Biologist ( I heard this) Stripers were mature in 3 yrs and now it will take 6 yrs ? Time will tell.
We sold our home this Summer , I just lost interest in the fishing with all the problems the lake has had the past several years.

[JimDi]

When is the dam scheduled to be complete and lake return to normal operation??

We will continue to fish for the stripers. Didn't see any other people striper fishing. When you say mature, what does that mean??

[Flipping stick]

We were down there Sunday fishing a bass tournament we caught three on one point, they were mixed in with the bass feeding on shad. My buddy was in the head of a creek that was covered in shad and they got into the stripers big time, they landed over thirty, caught all of them on crank baits. We have been the last three or four weeks and have caught a few every time, overall they are real shallow for us. We were fishing close to dam.

[JimDi]

JUSTINHALL: what area of the lake are you fishing ?? Just curious. How big have you caught?

[JUSTINHALL]

I move all over, I do a lot of scouting for fish vs just go fishing and stay in one area. Even if I had a good day in an area, I still go look at others to see where they are at. The local gas station loves me
Right now Beaver is doing the best for me, there are also some at Lees Ford all the way in the back in very shallow water also like 3' of water. When water is cleared up there they will start to stack up in Lees area toward the lake a few bends out, and tend to hang there all winter but usually the most boats are there so I fish elsewhere.
15-18 lbs are the heavy ones I have not caught anything over 20lbs this fall. But those usually start showing up more in mid January though anyways.

[JimDi]

You read my mind. I was thinking that this school we were in on were just small ones. I was thinking about graphing Beaver, but we never made our way over there.

Why do the big ones take longer to show up ? Are they loner fish or just moving into the creeks?