Welcome to our Lake Cumberland Fishing Home Page

Lake Cumberland is a large reservoir with a shoreline that measures over 1,200 miles and is found in Clinton, Pulaski, Russell, Wayne, and Laurel counties of Kentucky.  Because of its temperate climate, Lake Cumberland has a very long recreational season that thousands of visitors take advantage of every year.  This lake has become a major tourism destination for people that enjoy boating, swimming, fishing and just relaxing by the lake.

Fishing is very popular for a variety of species, however, most people come here for the tremendous striped bass fishery.  If you know what you’re doing or you decide to fish with a guide, you have a good chance to catch good numbers of striped bass with some big fish mixed in too.

Primary Species of Fish

Striped Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Largemouth Bass & Catfish

Lake Cumberland is definitely a bass lake.  It is known for its striped bass fishery, however, it also has a good fishing for largemouth bass and smallmouth bass.  During the warmer months, largemouth bass and striped bass usually take priority here among most anglers.  When it gets colder, a lot of anglers start targeting smallmouth bass and there are some big smallmouth found in this lake.  Catfish are available in good numbers and there are some very big catfish in the lake.  Some anglers do target them, but for the most part, they are under fished compared to the other bass species.

Secondary Species of Fish

Walleye, Muskie, White Bass, Crappie, Bluegill & Other Sunfish

Anglers can fish for many different species of fish here.  You aren’t going to find a ton of walleye and muskie here, but you can fish for them and some anglers do report catching them.  You’re going to find a lot more walleye congregated in the tailwaters below the dam.  Crappie and bluegill fishing can be good if you know how to target them.  The crappie fishing can be tough in the summer with all the deep water here, but when they move shallow to spawn, anglers can do very well in the shallows.  White bass are popular in the tailwaters and in the creeks arms throughout the lake in the spring.

Lake Cumberland is Huge

Lake Cumberland is absolutely gigantic.  Even with the best boats, there’s no way you’re going to fish this entire lake unless you plan on staying here for a couple of months.  For most anglers, they will spend a lot of time learning the portion of the lake that their lodging is closest to, but the tournament anglers will fly all over this lake.  With so many miles of water and so much deep water, your best bet is to fish here during a peak fishing period for whatever species of fish you’re targeting or just hire a guide to help shorten the learning curve.

Lake Cumberland is Very Deep

Not only is Lake Cumberland huge, it is extremely deep.  In the main river channel in certain parts of the lake, there are depths close to 200 feet deep.  For most anglers, they are just going to pick a shoreline that looks good and start fishing since there’s so much deep water close to the shorelines.  Whether you’re fishing for bass, catfish or panfish, you’ll find them along the drop offs along the shorelines throughout the plate from spring through fall.  Good numbers of fish will suspend and move out over deeper water during the warmer months of the year and the coldest months of the year.  Without good electronics, this deep water bite for suspended fish is very difficult to pinpoint.

Lake Cumberland Tailwaters (Wolf Creek Dam)

Wolf Creek Dam, which holds back the waters of Lake Cumberland, provides a nice tailwater fishery for rainbow trout, brown trout, striped bass, walleye, sauger and white bass.  This tailwater fishery is best fished from a boat due to long stretches with no access points.  The waters can rise quickly and the current can be swift when they are releasing water.  During low water periods, anglers can get out here in smaller boats and do well for a variety of fish species.

Fish the Creek Arms

There are so many creek arms throughout Lake Cumberland that it would take months to fish them all.  These Creek arms are good spots for spring fishing as tons of fish move into these areas to spawn.  If you look at a good contour map of the lake, you will see that many of these Creek arms have very deep water, which means good numbers of fish do not have to go out to the main river channel to find deeper water.  This means that you can’t just eliminate the creek arms when water temperatures get warm because there can easily be schools of baitfish roaming the cool, deeper waters that are found in these areas.

Fish the Points

There are so many points throughout Lake Cumberland that you can easily fish this pattern all day long.  You have main lake points and tons of secondary points to fish as well.  With all the deep water on this lake, it won’t be difficult to find some points with access to deeper water, some rocks or wood that are home to variety of fish species.

Fish the Rocks

Lake Cumberland has tons of rocks all through the lake.  Closer to the shorelines, you’re going to be fishing a lot of rocky bottoms with lots of steep banks.

Fish the Wood

There is plenty of wood in the lake.  Anglers fish lots of laydowns and fish cribs throughout the lake.  There are also some areas with full trees in the waters as well.  You can easily just fish the rocks as a pattern, however, there is so much good wood on the lake and you’ll find largemouth bass, spotted bass, smallmouth bass, panfish and catfish around the wood.