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Cumberland River Trout Fishing Photos
by Photographer
Ron Castle
The Cumberland River below Cumberland Lake near
Burkesville, Kentucky is one of the best kept trout
fishing secrets in the Southeast. The trout
fishing photographs shown here were taken in late
September 2005 on the same weekend that Hurricane
Katrina made landfall. The river is challenging to
fish without a boat because it is wide, fast when TVA is
generating, and surprisingly, the local folks have not
done a very good job of marking public access points.
We spent a lot of time every morning trying to figure
out where we could put in and take out. For good
information about Cumberland River access, visit Captain
Gar Wicker's website
Traces on the Cumberland and order his book
Fishing the Lower Cumberland River. If you see a
Cumberland River KY photograph you like, want to use it
online or want a print, please contact me for permission
and credit details, thanks.
If you are a professional
photographer and want good search engine rankings,
read this.
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Our first day put in was from a private ramp in the middle of a cow
pasture a day's float above Burkesville on a day when there was little
generation flow from Wolf Creek Dam. Our put in was in Irish
Bottom, river mile marker 443 approximately.
Cumberland River trout fishing photographs by Ron Castle
My fishing buddy for many years, Mike
Arlt, is getting his Water Strider raft ready to launch. These
inflatable fishing rafts are absolutely the best way to fish a
river. We did a wilderness float in British Columbia on the
Dean River year before last. My client in Montana, Dave Inks,
sells these boats. Visit
www.waterstrider.com
for more information.
Cumberland River trout fishing photographs by Ron Castle
Mike and a nice Cumberland River rainbow trout.
I hate to admit it, but he out fished me on size this trip, but I
caught more trout than he did. This was a catch and release
trip. We are trout exercisers.
Cumberland River trout fishing
photographs by Ron Castle
Even if we hadn't caught any trout, the scenery
was terrific. Any day on the river is a good day.
Cumberland River trout fishing
photographs by Ron Castle
I caught this nice brown trout which
is displaying Fall breeding colors.
Cumberland River trout fishing photographs by Ron Castle
Our timing on our
first day float trip worked out just about right. As we came
floating into the outskirts of Burkesville early Thursday evening,
we could hear the high school band practicing. We took out at
our motel, the Riverside, just at dusk. Mike is putting the
gear away in preparation for Friday morning. Our takeout was
just above the Highway 90 bridge at mile marker 427 approximately.
We floated about 16 miles this day.
Cumberland River trout fishing photographs by Ron Castle
Friday morning we put in at the launching ramp just below Wolf Creek
Dam on Lake Cumberland. They were not generating at the time.
Cumberland River trout fishing photographs by Ron Castle
Mike landed this fat rainbow female. We both fly fished and
spin fished. Spin fishing on this trip turned out to be much
more productive.
Cumberland River trout fishing
photographs by Ron Castle
About an hour after we put in below the dam they started generating
and the river came up quickly and we were soon cruising along at 3-4
miles per hour.
Cumberland River trout fishing photographs by Ron Castle
Mike and his Water Strider. We had several folks tell us along
the way that our Water Strider rafts are too small for this river.
Not so. We have navigated some serious Class 3 rapids carrying
several hundred pounds of gear on wilderness river trips without a
hitch. These are serious boats. I would take mine
anywhere.
Cumberland River trout fishing photographs by Ron Castle
We took a lunch break along the right bank. This view is
upstream.
Cumberland River trout fishing photographs by Mike Arlt
Mike passed the camera back to me and I took this photo looking
downstream.
Cumberland River trout fishing photographs by Ron Castle
We aren't sure why
these turkey vultures were hanging out with the cattle river left.
Cumberland River trout fishing photographs by Ron Castle
We passed the Rock
House, a natural bridge cut into the bluff river right heading
downstream.
Cumberland River trout fishing photographs by Ron Castle
Mike is cruising and casting.
Cumberland River trout fishing photographs by Ron Castle
Hurricane Katrina started affecting the weather in Kentucky late
Friday afternoon. The air was warm and humid, surface winds
calm, the river was cold from high volume flows from generation and
the river started fogging over.
Cumberland River trout fishing photographs by Ron Castle
Floating into the clouds, the fog was stratifying at just about the
top of my head sitting on the seat of my Water Strider.
Cumberland River trout fishing photographs by Ron Castle
Fog is covering the
river left bank.
Cumberland River trout fishing photographs by Ron Castle
You can see Mike's
head, the small dot center frame, downstream from me. Our
takeout is on the right, we are beginning to wonder if we missed it
in the dense fog and if we are going to get to float all night back
to Burkesville.
Cumberland River trout fishing photographs by Ron Castle
We always take
flashlights and a good LED headlamp when floating. We were
prepared! Fortunately, we did not miss our ramp. We took
out at Winfrey's Ferry Ramp, which is 14 miles below the dam.
Cumberland River trout fishing photographs by Ron Castle
We found the
takeout AOK on Friday evening. Saturday morning was a much
better day. Generation was down and the river was glassy calm.
Cumberland River trout fishing photographs by Ron Castle
Some Fall colors are starting to show. Weather was warm, sun
was hot, trout were biting.
Cumberland River trout fishing photographs by Ron Castle
Hey, hey! Ron catches a nice rainbow about 14 inches.
Cumberland River trout fishing photographs by Ron Castle
Saturday is a great day on the river. We put in at Traces on
the Cumberland below Burkesville where the Highway 61 bridge crosses
the river at mile marker 422.5 approximately.
Cumberland River trout fishing photographs by Ron Castle
Mike lands a nice brown trout.
Cumberland River trout fishing photographs by Ron Castle
We stopped for
lunch on a gravel bar.
Cumberland River trout fishing photographs by Ron Castle
Our takeout was at
Cloyd's Ferry Landing at mile marker 409.5 approximately. We
floated about 13 miles the last day. Since the river was slow,
the float took longer than we thought. We ended up rowing in
the dark for about 2 hours. As noted in Captain Gar Whicker's
book (link top of the page) we were able to see our takeout from the
overhead wire that crosses the river just before the ramp.
Gar's description was perfect.
In three days we
landed about a hundred fish and floated about 43 miles. We
would like to fish the stretch between Burkesville and Traces on the
Cumberland. The most productive part of the river was from
Traces on the Cumberland down to Cloyd's Ferry. If I only had
one day to fish, that's where I would go.
We are ready to go
back. Call us if you need some fishing buddies. Get your
Water Strider and let's go!
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