Cumberland Tailwater Trout: Still the Best Kept Secret in the Southeast

Someday the crowds will come, but for now Kentucky抯 Cumberland Tailwater is about the best "secret" trout fishing spot on the map. Water generation improvements and some good regulations are making what was already a great fishery even better.
Last year the Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) instituted a "pulsing" of one generator anytime there will be 12 consecutive hours with no generation. Usually, at the mid-way or 6-hour mark, the ACOE will run one generator for an hour or so to keep gravel bars covered. This keeps the water from getting so low that the aquatic bugs that trout feed on are stranded. It also may help in trout reproduction by keeping eggs and fry in the gravel from drying out and dying.

Also, a limit of one brown trout over 20-inches per day per angler has caused a noticeable increase in browns of 15 - 20 inches. As the regulation continues to protect these fish, more 20+ inch browns will also continue to appear. The best days are yet ahead for the Cumberland River.



The Cumberland Tailwater flows out of Wolf Creek Dam. Lake Cumberland above the dam provides a lot of nutrients to the tailwater river below. During summer, plankton grows well in the clear waters of Lake Cumberland. As generations of plankters grow and die they sink towards the bottom. About 100 feet down, the intake for the hydropower turbines ***** this constant food supply through the dam and spits it out in the river below.



Small "filter feeders" such as midge fly and black fly larvae (you抣l see millions on rocks below the dam) and caddisfly larvae feed well on this nutrient-rich diet. They, in turn, support a very healthy trout population. Unlike most Kentucky rivers its size, the Cumberland Tailwater has few minnows. Some Alewives (shad) are sucked through the dam, especially in April and May. In downstream areas small populations of gizzard shad and various shiners roam. However, these minnows are generally located in the vicinity of warmwater streams pouring into the river. Schools of skipjack also roam the waters of the river, providing a good forage for stripers. Besides these and some small sculpin minnows, the Cumberland is minnow poor.

The trout there actually feed predominantly on bugs. This means mayflies, caddisflies, sowbugs and stoneflies. These critters can all be found by rolling over some large stones in riffles. These bugs will be underneath. Due to the lack of large forage fish populations, these insects are the main diet for trout up to 20 inches. Larger trout take advantage of a very healthy crayfish population. Mature crayfish are generally 4-6 inches long and very dark brown in coloration...almost chocolate. Smaller crawfish in the 1-2 inch range tend to be lighter brown and olive in color. Often, a large percentage of the crayfish population will molt at the same time, revealing numerous reddish-pink crayfish when the water recedes after generation. While in this "softshell" stage, crayfish are very vulnerable to predation by trout. That抯 a good time to be fishing red or bright orange shad raps and Rebel crayfish patterns.



Next time you抮e on the water, turn over some rocks and scan the riffles for crayfish to alert you to the correct size and color.