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Stripers

1K views 18 replies 7 participants last post by  afishinfool 
#1 ·
Anybody fish Lake Cumberland in latw Nov or early Dec? Just curious how you do it..20 years ago I used to night fish large cranks on points and really small coves..had alot of luck with 17lbs being the biggest for myself, 26lbs for my buddy. Are there still decent fish to catch? Thinking of making the trip day after Thanksgiving.
 
#4 ·
Winter time stripers at Cumberland are found easiest by searching for birds toward the backs of creeks. Then find the nearby schools of shad and start jerking a spoon under shad schools or throwing top water when seeing active fish on top busting shad. Happens during daytime hours - depending on day it can continue all day long and be entertaining as heck.
 
#5 ·
I fish it at night so the bird suggestions are not applicable but thanks. Was more curious about numbers and size of fish currently in Cumberland. Like I said, it has been 20yrs since I last fished it and then it was average sized fish around 8 to 9lbs with the oppertunity for bigger.
 
#10 ·
Is there a reason you fish at night? I know its a great summer time tactic but not sure about winter. I usually only striper fish in the "off" season to avoid the boat traffic and its just the striper and bass fishermen for the most part. I even try and target weekdays. If you are looking for big ones get way I mean way up the bigger creeks target deeper pools. They will make a spawning run up the creeks and the bigger fish will spend the winter there. My personal best was out of Norris last week of Oct. It was right at 50lbs.
 
#14 ·
Yeah I fish it at night cause I can cast large crankbaits and consistantly catch fish..once the water hits 55 degree or so those fish will chase shad right up on the bank. I've caught fish right against the bank..also night fishing is alot less competitive..usually have everything to myself and the morning top water can be fantastic. Also night fishing was how a guide out of Nancy showed me and my buddies how he fished for the big girls..
 
#12 ·
Probably still deep. During daytime I would look for main lake humps that come up to between 40 and 70 FOW. I don't do live bait so I would use a Hopkins short spoon or similar and jig those humps. You'll see the fish on the graph if they are there. If you use live bait you can troll same areas.
 
#16 ·
Fishin Fool.....you haven't been there in a while? The lake is now full of brush and trees along the banks that weren't there 20 years ago. Fishing at night is a pain with cranks as you'll be up on the bank every third cast tryin to get one unhooked. Maybe spend an hour or two before dark and see if you can find some banks without brush. Good luck and let us know how you do.

Rich
 
#17 ·
Yeah I usually get out an hour or so casting before dark just to get my distance down. Was hoping they would draw the level down some by Thanksgiving. I've seen Cumberland water levels fluctuate alot in Nov and Dec. I hadn't really considered the drawdown to fix the dam and the results of that. Yeah I'll post results good or bad.
 
#18 ·
Yesterday was a cloudy day here with some off and on showers.A couple of my friends went to to Badin Lake, which is a fabulous lake in fall for stripers and largemouth. They found fish schooling shad in coves, mixed schools of largemouth, stripers, even white bass, all feeding on immense shad schools. They caught seven stripers, 12 largemouth, and 12 white bass, all on Kastmaster spoons with single hooks. As a bonus, they also caught 20 white perch, which headed for a hot grease bath..lol

The stripers averaged around six or seven pounds. One largemouth was around five.
 
#19 ·
Ok...so made it down to Cumberland on Monday around 3pm..water looked great with temp at 62 and brush along banks was not too bad..almost full moon and light breezes, should be perfect...then I break my trolling motor and cant figure out how to fix it..trip was a bust..but man I love Cumberland..I'll be back later next month or next year
..here is a view of Jamestown marina as I was headed out.
 
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