Did anyone fish Lake Cumberland this weekend?

[pct]

I will be at Cumberland May 12 - 15th, night time fishing for Stripers. I can't wait either!!!

[peter]

Caught one short and one keeper on shinners Sunday about half way up Greasy Creek. Did not mark much of anything. 8' to surface seemed to get most bites. Had quite a few pull downs which were probably even smaller fish.

Talked to a fellow with a bunch of people in his pontoon boat and he said he had caught several in the high twenties to low thirties, pretty much just randomly trolling down the bank. He also had caught quite a few small fish.

[Big Foot]

There was a local tourney this weekend two days it took 25 lbs to win mostly large mouth and Ky's not many small mouths weighed in, just cant figure were the brownies are should be bitting this time of yr.

[KR]

They are...they just won't bump the line on the board!

[FlyLie]

Thanks guys for the input. As a side comment, seems not many fished the weekend or don't want to talk about it....Hee....He.. Your information is much appreciated. All information is always GOOD INFO!

Well, think I will give it a try on Thursday . Weather forecast looks good and just hoping Monday/Tuesday's rains didn't pull a lot of trash off the shore line. (In the last 24 hours, we received 2 1/4" inches here on the West end of the lake (Rowena), and the Headwaters (Sterns) received 1 1/4 " .)

[gizzard shad]

Pro V,
I concurr with your report, I do have a question for you. Do you think the walleye suffered more than the stripers from last years fish kill. I heard that walleye are a little more stubborn when it comes to moving to more oxygenated waters. I use to fish for them all time up MI, but I really never tried to hard for them on LC. I know you have caught more walleyes on the LC than most people on this board and thought I would ask the question. Also I commend you for taking kids fishing, there is nothing better than getting the young ones involved in the great outdoors.

[FlyLie]

Update, fished on Thursday, 17th; trolling shiners for stripers, but only boated a few short fish. Fished from twilight till about 10:30 am then gave it up. Did catch a few crappie on the boards; now that was not expected

Going to give it another try in the morning (Monday 18th). Plans is to start out early pulling boards for stripes, the switch off to tossing top water or plastics for bass, then jigs for crappie. Something has to give!!! Could be me, if the wind gust are as forecast!!!!

[know1]

How did you do?

[FlyLie]

How did you do?

Sad,...Sad....story..., should have slept in!!!. Water was full of WOOD and all manor of TRASH . Launched the boat but stayed at the ramp until GOOD LIGHT!!!

OK, now here's the fishing story...based upon my sonar, would have thought you were on the DEAD SEA...Nothing....I mean nothing, from the main lake to the head of the creeK...nothing..., did I say nothing...,OK, may once an hour, a single fish suspended around 20 FT . Then there was the wind . Between no fish, the trash collecting on my boards and the wind crossing my lines, I had a great day.....Good thing I brought along a SHARP KINIFE to cut away all the tangled lines!!! Other than that, GREAT MORNING ON THE LAKE..

[know1]

Yikes! Sorry I asked.

I was wanting to go one day this week, but looks like the rain starts tonight and won't let up much until the weekend.

[peter]

Saturday windy, rainy. Most folks I saw were bottom fishing. I did so for 30 minutes and decided to troll in a small area out of the wind. Nothing. Same thing as another commented here... did not mark much. Sunday more debris but the lake was definitely navigable in day light - one 16 incher on a shinner. Did not mark much then either. By noon some of the debris had cleared due to the wind and wakes. Water had a brown tint. As I remember from last year many folks bottom fish this time of the year.

I did hit a six inch log going about 25 mph as I was taking in the scenery..broke it in half. Immediately checked for leaks and scaned for a place to beach the boat. I guess the new old aluminum boat is pretty sturdy, no dents..relief!

My problem with bottom fishing is when I pull up my bait half of them are gone. When you throw them out there that's a good blow to the bait. How do you keep them on the hook. Been hooking them between the dorsal and tail. It seems like a great way to fish when it's windy.

[Duayne]

Saturday windy, rainy. Most folks I saw were bottom fishing. I did so for 30 minutes and decided to troll in a small area out of the wind. Nothing. Same thing as another commented here... did not mark much. Sunday more debris but the lake was definitely navigable in day light - one 16 incher on a shinner. Did not mark much then either. By noon some of the debris had cleared due to the wind and wakes. Water had a brown tint. As I remember from last year many folks bottom fish this time of the year.

I did hit a six inch log going about 25 mph as I was taking in the scenery..broke it in half. Immediately checked for leaks and scaned for a place to beach the boat. I guess the new old aluminum boat is pretty sturdy, no dents..relief!

My problem with bottom fishing is when I pull up my bait half of them are gone. When you throw them out there that's a good blow to the bait. How do you keep them on the hook. Been hooking them between the dorsal and tail. It seems like a great way to fish when it's windy.

I don't bottom fish with shiners myself. They tend to want to dig into some cover on the bottom instead of swim up like the shads do. If I were, it would be in the tail. A better way to, "bottom fish" shiners, or even lake bait if you don't have much, is to go with a three way rig with a one oz sinker on the bottom of a i ft leader and a slightly shorter leader off the back for the bait. You fish it in the same places as you bottom fish, only you SLOW troll, and I mean SLOW always keeping the baits on the bottom. Of course it's hard to do in the wind. Oh, you only put two of the out off the back of the boat. It's a fantastic way to fish shiners. They struggle to get to the bottom and can't, so they are very very active (for shiners).

If you are slinging them off, you might be casting too hard. Saying it's casting is a stretch anyway. It's really more of a lob. I do all my lobbing with the rod and bait out of the side of the boat and I start out really low. I start very slow with the upward movement and never make any fast or quick pulls on the bait. If you can't get the distance you want, go up in weight. The reels make a difference too. I've got some old old cheap 29 dollar Shakespear reels and those things are the absolute best at casting a one oz bottom fishing rig.

Shiners are escape artists. You can do everything right and they can still get off. If you wanna make sure they stay on, take a wide rubber band and cut it into equal 3/8 " squares. You can make a bunch of them at one time or cut as needed. If that doesn't make sense, take a rubber band, then cut it. take and end and cut 3/8" off. the result will be a square piece of rubber band. You can do this over and over for the full length of the band. Now, take a RB square and push the center on your hook. Put your bait on, then put another RB square on the hook so that the bait has a rubber band square on both sides. Now the bait can't slide around the hook and foul hook it's self and it will have a hard time getting off. Some people also use material similar to coffee can lids. Advantage with the coffee can lid being it's clear, but the rubber band seals around the hook better to prevent slipping.