Lake Cumberland

[thunderstorm]

Anyone been fishing lately? What should I be trying for?
Are the stripers still hitting on top at night?

[KYhunter]

Fished the main lake walls near Conley Bottom last nite. Got a late start(2:30 AM). Plenty of shad working and some stripers in them. Nabbed one 25 incher. Action finished at 4. Plenty of boat traffic too.

[thunderstorm]

Thanks KYhunter
I will be going down this evening. Will let you know how things go.

[KYhunter]

I will be there the next three night myself. I expect better fishing with less boat traffic. May also run down closer to Camp Earl Wallace. The fish being caught are right "ON" the bank. Baits range from the Redfin to the Sliver. Good luck and I will report back also.

[thunderstorm]

Gretat two nights.
Lot of blowups and strikes but only boated one keeper.
Had a couple of break offs between the 2 of us.
All strikes on the medium redfin between 1 and 4:30 AM.
We fished in Wolfe Ck.
Absolutely no boat traffic.
That is worth the trade off of fewer fish.

[KYhunter]

Fished the first two nights near Conley Bottom. More shad(and striper activity) Sunday night than Monday might. Tues night went near Camp Earl Wallace. Hardly any shad activity and only about 20 stripers heard from 1-4. Would go back to the Conley area if I went again. Other guys caught their fish on Slivers, mine came on either jointed Thunderstick or the Redfin. I averaged nearly five fish coming unbuttoned each night(am gonna change my hooks) This has been my worst June nighttime fishing ever. Unbelievable numbers of alewives. Think the water is warming too much for things to last much longer. Thanks for the report.

[thunderstorm]

We had a few fish get off after fighting them for a short while.
Could they possibly be getting hung in the body when they strike and eventually pulling loose? Seems odd that that many fish can shake those trebles. I have never seen a striper with scars on its side though. Might try again Sat. if I can work it around that dirty 4-letter word (work).

[KYhunter]

I know what you mean about "shaking off". I have even heard that they may even swat the bait with their tail stunning their prey like killer whales do to seals. Most off mine were blow-ups that just didn't get stuck, one had it nearly 15 seconds and I never set the hook trying to wait him out. Some guys are putting on those rotating Exalibur treble hooks and claim to improve the hookups. My hook-up to land ratio had always been around 50% anyways, so who knows. Let us know how you do Sat.

[yotekiller]

I've also heard that they come up and injure shad and return deeper to pick them off as they fall.Makes since why jumps usually happen for a short time.

As for excalibur hooks,they are the absolute best treble hooks made in my opinion.I still manage to lose a few and even hook myself some,but i think this is my problems and not the hooks.

Anybody know anything about the smallmouth bite?

[thunderstorm]

Thanks for the input Yote.
My nephew caught a few nice smallies a few weeks ago, but haven't heard anything since.
Once the nite bite striper fishing is over I'll need to find a different way to fish. What do you all normally do the end of June/July?
Thanks for any advice.