Cumberland River Report

[MarkHansen]

Fished the Cumberland on Saturday.

Conditions: With one generator running, the river is still higher than normal. Some of the gravel bars are starting to show. There was a pretty good current – that is not out of the ordinary for a river of that size. If you planned on wading, it would be harder, not impossible, but harder. There were a few boats on the water, not that many for a weekend day. Water color was green with some debris (top) in the water. Some floating logs, leaves, and sticks. Water temps were around 61’ degrees. It felt good to get out of the boat on the 90+ degree day. There were a few pale dunns coming off all day, but not many, and not that many rising fish – a few.

Results: Not good. 3 fish and I missed a few. Threw a bunch of different stuff. We mostly nymph and streamer fish on the Cumberland. Threw some top water as well. All the fish caught were on larger stone-fly patterns. Big or small patterns did not entice the fish. Even with streamer fishing, we usually have fish that follow them back to the boat. Not on Saturday. The fish where close to the banks on the drifts.

Ran into Gerald McDaniel on the river - for all that know Gerald. Had a good chat about the conditions over the last month and fishing results. He was fishing. His buddy was spin fishing and he was throwing a dry/dropper combination. Spinning gear was catching a few fish. Not much better that fly patterns.

Spoke to a group of guys from KY and IN – fly fishing club – about 10 of them. They were down for 3 days. Friday and Saturday were bad for all of them. I’m guessing Sunday would have been the same.

Oh well . . . it’s still my favorite river in this area. So a low number fish day is still OK with me. I love to get up there and have a chance at those BIG BROWNS!!!

Mark

[MarkHansen]

Anyone else been fishing here? Other reports?

[MadisonBoats]

Great report Mark! Thanks for taking the time to share and inform others on the forum. I have never fished the Cumberland. Hopefully, some can post some pics to see what it looks like...

[waterwolf]

According to the KY biologists the river is in horrendous shape, combine that with some local folks here in Knoxville reporting the same, and the guy I bought my new boat from...all saying it was worse then bad. Basically no fish, last year pretty much was the nail in the coffin for the Cumberland, sadly.

It is depressing to know what that river was like up until 3 years ago. Folks who never fished it, missed some of the finest trout fishing in this country, maybe in the world.

Hopefully one day it will return, but that is not likely looking at the plans for the dam.

[Streamhound]

I caught part of a news report that said there were more cracks showing in the dam etc. Not good news. As a wader I don't bother anymore. But I do enjoy reading when the boat guys are having a good day

[MarkHansen]

With all the dam work, I agree. Per speaking with the locals, they are waiting to see how the river fishes over the next 2-3 weeks. Plus, there will be more striper fishermen with reports. Those guys also catch a good amount of the big browns while trolling.

I hope we are ALL wrong . . . once upon a time (not many years ago), that river was well worth the drive from Knoxville.

As you drift, you can look up into the trees and see all the garbage and debris. It's weird on a river of that size and amount of generators to see how high the water CAN get.

M-

[silvercreek]

The news I read said they were having cracks in the road over the dam widening. They are hoping it is due to temperatures and not slippage, although they stopped work in March when sensors indicated the earth was moving in the area they were grouting. None of this sounds good. If they cannot stabilize that dam, they will have to drain it. Seems anywhere they are doing this major work on a dam the trout fishing suffers. The Caney Fork below Center Hill being the other. Silvercreek

[kentuckytroutbum]

Originally Posted by MarkHansen

With all the dam work, I agree. Per speaking with the locals, they are waiting to see how the river fishes over the next 2-3 weeks. Plus, there will be more striper fishermen with reports. Those guys also catch a good amount of the big browns while trolling.

I hope we are ALL wrong . . . once upon a time (not many years ago), that river was well worth the drive from Knoxville.

As you drift, you can look up into the trees and see all the garbage and debris. It's weird on a river of that size and amount of generators to see how high the water CAN get.

M-

Earlier this year, they were releasing 26K+ CFS, and the water was up to the parking lot at Helm's Landing. I keep watching the release reports hoping that it will drop below 3300 CFS, or 1 generator. I don't think it will happen anytime soon if we keep getting more rain. That's why my wife & I are fishing the Clinch, Holston, SoHo, etc.

The Cumberland is an easy river to fish in the past. Maybe things will change, but I'm just not sure for a while. IMHO.

[MarkHansen]

Cracks in Wolf Creek Dam highway prompt evaluation

June 24, 2010

THE TENNESSEAN

The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers is evaluating the significance of widening cracks on a highway that stretches across a massive dam across the Cumberland River in south-central Kentucky.

Allison Jarrett, spokeswoman for the Corps of Engineers' Nashville District, said repair work on a 600-foot section of Wolf Creek Dam won't resume until after test results are back in August. The Corps stopped work in March after movement was detected near where the concrete dam attaches to an earthen embankment.

Jarrett told The Commonwealth Journal of Somerset, Ky., that the cracks could be caused by something as harmless as the weather or as significant as movement of the embankment.

The nearly mile-long structure impounds Lake Cumberland. Federal officials announced the repair project in 2007, noting that if Wolf Creek Dam fails, it could flood towns and cities down the Cumberland River as far as Nashville.

— ASSOCIATED PRESS

[kentuckytroutbum]

Mark-

Thanks for the update. We can only hope that the cracks are minor in nature, and not indicative of even bigger problems with the dam!

Here is the latest news on the dam from the Lake Cumberland website.

http://lakecumberland.com/news.php?n...tion=printable