how is bait at Cumberland

[Lowerider]

Been following the reports - mostly focused on jump fishing. Bringing down my two little ones this weekend so won't be concentrating on jump fish. Just wondering if alewives coming up good under dock lights right now? How deep are you guys catching fish? Assume first third of major creeks? Plan is to mostly bottom fish; the kids like skipping rocks... :-)

Thanks for any advice - will report after trip.

[HURRICANEBOB]

Low:

Something to think about. Wife and I were down last week. Banks at Bugwood Flats were productive. Straight across from Low Gap, half way between there and Governor's Cove. You got the rock banks near Governors, then the clay and pea gravel banks and little bays that start right after that. There is one slight cover there that is shallow, and has a stick up in the middle of it.

Here's why. Stripers were pushing bait up in there in the mornings from first light up thru 10-11 in morning. In evening, they seemed to be in the area 5-7 pm. So, if ya were to set up in there to bottom fish, you may have luck as the Stripers push the bait up in there to feed, and you may even be able to cast easily to some very near the banks type surface fishing. Silver/Blk Redfins, and same color Heddon Prop Baits got hook ups and are easy for kids to work. Same Color Zora Spooks never survived a retrieve :-).

Disclaimer. We were there 31 Oct to 3 Nov. It happened 2 of 4 mornings and 3 of 4 nights. And I realize the schools move, but just wanted to share.

I can't help with the bait/alewive deal. We didn't chase much bait, and when we did bottom fish I just used shiners.

Cheers!

[Mean Morone]

Good info Hbob!

[HURRICANEBOB]

A quick add on: RE fishing depth. Working those same flats trolling under the big motor or fast on the electric trolling motor we caught several Stripers pulling a 5-6 inch wide-eye shad 50-60 feet back from the boat. The way I rigged it was with a sinker slide on the main line ending at a swivel. The wide-eye swimbait (white with just the shad dot) was then attached to the sinker slides snap clip. Then I tied a 4 foot leader to the swivel, ties on the end of the leader a #4 Gamakatsu Octopus Hook, and then put a 6 inch Zoom Swimmin’ Super Fluke on the hook.

Fluke: http://zoombait.com/2010/01/zoom_swimmin_super_fluke/
Wildeye: http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Storm....html?large=PL

We trolled in as little as 6 feet of water, and as close as 20-30 feet to the bank early in the am and just as the light went down in the pm. Did get a lot, but did pick up 3 fish doing this. PS. The Stripers hit the lead swimbait each time, but 4 times, a small mouth hooked up on the rear fluke swimbait.

Next tiem I go, I'm going to try to throw this rig at the jumps and see what happens.

[peter]

Been following the reports - mostly focused on jump fishing. Bringing down my two little ones this weekend so won't be concentrating on jump fish. Just wondering if alewives coming up good under dock lights right now? How deep are you guys catching fish? Assume first third of major creeks? Plan is to mostly bottom fish; the kids like skipping rocks... :-)

Thanks for any advice - will report after trip.

I have been netting bait under my light before first light since oct 13. Not sure about the dock light situation.
In main lake 60' -70' of water got mostly alewives. Lots of 3.5 inchers which are usable and will catch fish with a small no 1 gamu hook. Got some five inchers and 4 inchers. But had to throw a lot to get those. My net is absolutey terrible with holes, a cheap bps special and I have a hard time opening it with the windshield and all the stuff on my boat. In pumpkin between ramp and state dock got some real nice threadfins two weeks ago. Fat ones. I would imagine up in a creek like greasy in 60' of water anywhere it would be super easy and with a good net and operator a bonanza. I saw them before sunrise on the surface a few weeks ago about a third of the way up. Im going for the fat threadfins sun am. More meat on the hook, less work and they vibrate a lot. The hydraglo 4' LED light I paid an arm and a leg for was worth it. Highly recomended. Highly.

Tuck the tykes away under some blankets on the boat while you wait for the bait to come up but don't tell their mother I suggested that! Ha. My kids often slept while I pulled bait in the early morning. Its a nice place to sleep as you probably know.

Good luck.

[campinman]

Peter,

Are you netting bait that is 60 feet deep? I have never tried that.

[peter]

Peter,

Are you netting bait that is 60 feet deep? I have never tried that.

No. The water depth was 60. Net is going down 30-40.
Netted in greasy up by the first pump station this am. Got a few nice ones but mainly small ones. It wasnt real good.

[campinman]

Thanks Peter,
Do you find the bait on your depth finder and then throw your net or do you see the bait at the surface first?

Planning on going out today if the wind will lay down a little.

[Lowerider]

Brought down a tank full gizzards just to be safe. Real windy this weekend made it tough to fish where I wanted. My 3 yr old daughter reeled in a smallie pushing 6 lbs. That was it for us. Great trip anyway with my girls.

[Mean Morone]

Wow, thats a nice smallie. My buddy and I used to get them that big back when we used to fish for stripers at night.

[alycat]

We were there from the 2nd to the 5th. The jumps were few and far between. But there were some nice ones in Aligator. Also lots of baitfish were up in there. We were also catching smallies on main lake cuts. Most of the graph readings suggested the bait was suspending in about 20' of water. Spots were the most agressive in shallow coves and around private docks. Since your not allowed to fish around any of the public docks I don't know how it was there. There are signs stateing not to fish within 150' of any public dock. Which I think is totally bogus since it's sitting on state owned water you should be able to fish them.Do be careful though there was accouple of places where there are rock humps just under the water one was clearly marked but there was another coming out of aligator just out from a small marina in a small cove that isn't marked you can only see a small rock sticking out of the water about six inches but the is a large rock hump 50 ft around it. And it's only about a foot deep then drops off. Have fun and be safe!!

[peter]

Thanks Peter,
Do you find the bait on your depth finder and then throw your net or do you see the bait at the surface first?

Planning on going out today if the wind will lay down a little.

At night I sort of look for bait in a dark part of the lake (where I suspect bait will be) on the graph even if it is scattered bait. Seems like mostly you could do this just about anywhere keeping in mind seasonal differences on where bait locates. Then I put light in. On the graph over time you will see the bait getting thicker and thicker under the light, you will see the bait move up over time and yo will start seeing it and hearing it flip on the surface. This works for alewives and thread-fins. Takes anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour. If it is going to happen you should see very tiney living things down there after ten minutes.

When there is a lot of bait there you turn the light off and throw your net immediately after light goes off. Then once you start raising the net turn your light back on so bait will collect again.

In the mornings this time of you you might be able to net threadfins near sunrise and after in the last half of the creeks. You will see the threadfins flipping on the surface. Just throw at them. If they are flipping at the very head of the creek it is easier to net them there.