Cumberland Nightmare

Just wanted to let everyone know that due to the lowering of Lake Cumberland, all access to Cumberland River has been affected negatively. I went yesterday to the only access on north fork (upper end) and put in, the concrete ended 3ft above water level and huge gravel at/below water level, the ramp dropped immediately which made input and take-out less than ideal. 4-wheel drive is strongly recommended with heavy boats. Although I did put in and fished, I've never experienced that situation before, the river is almost in it's original bed and depth. The bottom was level throughout the 8-10 mile stretch I traveled yesterday with an average depth of 3-1/2ft !!! YES....3 and 1/2 feet average depth. My son and I caught 30 or so crappie and kept 12 eaters!!! River is running swift and the only cover is a few stumps and rocks scattered here and there. The banks are mud. Not a favorable condition to fish. If planning to fish Cumberland, I stronly suggest going closer to Wolf Creek Dam, at least where there is back-water. I don't know where the backwater is currently, but...I do know it's somewhere below London Boat Dock ( mouth of rockcastle river ) I'm having to search for a new crappie hole due to the dam(!) issues here on Cumberland. FYI....... Big South Fork of Cumberland is no better, nearest access is Burnside Marina and it's 20+ miles from there to here.

hey crappie-dude I know you said it was a long way to burnside but it might be worth it . We put in at Lees ford friday with no problem and fished fishing creek water is around 30 ft in the chanel. we caught several crappie some over 13in around cover in about 8ft of water

Two of my friends and I fished the Fishing Creek area last week also. We put in at Lee's Ford and up the creek in about 12 feet of water. We caught around 30 with 10 keepers, most around 12".