After a couple of weeks at home, and some quality time on the ice, I’m back in the boat this week down south at Lake Cumberland.
Located in Kentucky, Cumberland is the ninth-largest lake in the United States but it has not held very many high-level bass tournaments. So for many of us fishing there this week, we don’t know a whole lot about it.
What I did learn before I got here earlier this week was that Cumberland has populations of smallmouth, largemouth, and spotted bass, which is nice because it gives us options on what species we want to fish for.
It has clear water at one end but gets more coloured as you go up the river. When I say river, this lake is like a river and stretches more than 100 miles long from end to end, with a bunch of creek arms coming off of the main channel.
It is a man-made lake that was created when a dam was built, resulting in a lot of water to fish at this place!
When I heard this lake had smallmouths, and good numbers of them at that, I was excited because I have so much experience catching smallmouths around home. Most of the places that we visit for these FLW Tour events, where I get the chance to fish for smallmouths, I usually do and it has paid off a few times.
The problem at Cumberland is that smallmouths must be 18 inches long to keep, so it creates a problem because it can be hard to catch “keepers.”
Through a couple of days of practice, I’ve seen only one “keeper” smallmouth and several in the 17-inch range, which are three-pound fish here, that must be released. That is tough!
I’ve kind of given up focusing on smallmouth fishing because it is too much of a gamble. I think if an angler caught 20 “keeper” smallmouths in this tournament, they likely would win the $100,000 first-place prize.
But I would be surprised if anybody brought in five smallmouths in a single day, just based on talking to some of my buddies who also are fishing. That being said, these guys that I fish against in these tournaments are the best in the world so nothing really surprises me.
Somebody always catches big bass.
It has been a fun week so far because my Dad made the trek down to join me for the three-day practice that we get. It’s his first time being in a boat since last fall so he is enjoying the warm weather and just being on the water.
I’m glad that he is here!
So far the fishing has been tough for me, but we did better on the second day than we did the first one. We have fished a couple of different parts of the lake and my plan for the last day of practice is so sample another area, so hopefully I will have a few options come tournament time.
I am focusing my efforts on fishing for largemouths, but have been catching some spotted bass and smallmouths mixed in with them, which is good. Hopefully, I can get a good game plan together and have a decent tournament.
The tournament starts tomorrow (April 6) and runs through Sunday down here at Lake Cumberland and you can follow the results online at flwfishing.com
Look for the report on the tournament in next week’s column.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
