Fish Kill on Lake Cumberland

[coombro]

Wasn't the 5" of rain the major culprit in the big fish kills last year? One August day Jamestown was dumped with some very heavy rain. With a hurricane brewing and not sure where its' going could dump a bunch of rain.

[mhall]

Wasn't the 5" of rain the major culprit in the big fish kills last year? One August day Jamestown was dumped with some very heavy rain. With a hurricane brewing and not sure where its' going could dump a bunch of rain.

NO, When Cumberland has very heavy rain in the spring time the Corp especially now since the lake is being held low is forced to dump HUGE amounts of water out of the dam. In doing so and if they can't keep up they will even open the Sluice gates on the bottom of the dam which pulls cold very oxgenated water from the bottom layers of the lake. The longer this goes on, the worse it is..

After this happens and is followed by a very hot year with little rain like last year the lake's lower depths ''WHERE STRIPERS AND WALLEYE'' want to be have very poor water to live in. Low O2 levels and warm water are a striper and walleye's nightmare. Both fish will stay in that water until they stress and eventually die. Bass and other species will move to find better water, but these two species will not. Juvenile Stripes alot of times will come up, but the mature fish are the ones usually lost, which are the ones we want not to loose. Rains especially cold ones in the summer or early fall are usually a good thing if they aren't too excessive. The rains last year came way too late and the damage was already done, they played almost no role in the die off, other than washing out some dead fish into the river and making Kendall smell really really bad. However if they did open the sluice gates it would have made matters a little worse but again according to Fish and Game the damage was already done.

This is the short version, and it's a little more complex than this but hopefully you get the idea. There are written articles and available information from the KDFWR that will explain in great detail, and they will tell you exactly what I have just typed pretty much.

[coombro]

Just wondering I remember a big walleye kill in the 90's when hurricane rains supposidly turned the lake upside down in the fall. or so it was explained to me in that manner and that was before dam repair.

[mhall]

Just wondering I remember a big walleye kill in the 90's when hurricane rains supposidly turned the lake upside down in the fall. or so it was explained to me in that manner and that was before dam repair.

Like I said, an excessive rain could cause some issues during the peak hot months or when the water is high 80's. But according to fish and game this wasn't the problem last year.

[coombro]

Like I said, an excessive rain could cause some issues during the peak hot months or when the water is high 80's. But according to fish and game this wasn't the problem last year.

Yeah I'm with you on that. i was thinking that 5" of rain that August day did it. have seen the kills before dam work began.

[stripernut]

my oldest daughter is 23 and i can remember picking up floating walleyes in september when she was a baby. the dam repair has magnified weasonal oxygen deficiency problems that have been there off and on for years and years. and like others have stated , when you pull the plug it removes valuable layers of suitable water .

i do remember the hurricane that killed tons of walleyes, i / we were afraid to eat them we thought they had been poisoned lol. (what kind of poison targets only walleye? duh )

[peter]

The sluice gates have been opened at the dam. Releasing cold water from deep in the lake into the river.

Photo here

[Duayne]

Lake Walleye have always been very stuborn when it comes to temp versus water quality.

[RICHYD4U]

Just got back from CL, and I did see an occasional "floater"...nothing to write home about though. The fish I caught were full of energy and released the same way....of course, they weren't the biggins dragged up from 60ft down.

-Rich

[peter]

Just got back from CL, and I did see an occasional "floater"...nothing to write home about though. The fish I caught were full of energy and released the same way....of course, they weren't the biggins dragged up from 60ft down.

-Rich

Fished sat and sun. Mostly at 65 feet (sinker) a short ways up from the dam. Three keepers sat. Three shorts sun with shiners sun. There may be big school(s) but only saw small groups of 3-6 fish that were fairly spread out and verry active. May have done better if we had had lines in the water more rather than riding around looking for the "pot of gold". Fish fought and looked healthy. My guess is that any floaters were released fish as everyone I caught (live bait) was hooked way down in the gut. Those little ones sure do make a mess of the other down lines. Great weather!

[RICHYD4U]

Fished sat and sun. Mostly at 65 feet (sinker) a short ways up from the dam. Three keepers sat. Three shorts sun with shiners sun. There may be big school(s) but only saw small groups of 3-6 fish that were fairly spread out and verry active. May have done better if we had had lines in the water more rather than riding around looking for the "pot of gold". Fish fought and looked healthy. My guess is that any floaters were released fish as everyone I caught (live bait) was hooked way down in the gut. Those little ones sure do make a mess of the other down lines. Great weather!

Yeah...I was marking a lot of fish in the 60-70ft range there by the dam. Figured that is where the big guys are hanging out still....but man, those schoolies are fun to catch on light tackle! I will be up there this Thurs. am...taking a buddy from L-Ville who couldn't resist going once I told him how I did, lol. Thanks again Peter.

-Rich

[apb]

Yeah...I was marking a lot of fish in the 60-70ft range there by the dam. Figured that is where the big guys are hanging out still....but man, those schoolies are fun to catch on light tackle! I will be up there this Thurs. am...taking a buddy from L-Ville who couldn't resist going once I told him how I did, lol. Thanks again Peter.

-Rich

Not to start something, but a lot of those schoolies that you are catching on light tackle, this time of year, end up dying after you release them.

Andrew