Cumberland River (near Clarksville) 26 July 2013

[nomad60]

We put in at the Clarksville Marina this morning around 5:15, while it was still dark and pretty foggy out so we couldn’t really see the Cumberland River. We spent a little time in the marina lagoon itself, then as it started getting light we headed for the main river and were greeted by a horrible mess; the river was full of logs, trees, branches and so much garbage (plastic bottles, cups, even a basketball) that for a minute I had a flashback and thought I was back in Korea. The only thing we could think of was that they had opened the gates all the way at Cheatham dam and were letting go everything that had gathered at the dam during those hard rains we had about 2 weeks ago. My buddy has lived here in this area for a long, long time and said he has never seen the Cumberland as bad as it was today except for maybe that bad flood they had here back a few years ago. We slowly made our way down towards the Red River but the buildup of debris was so bad along the shore that it would have been impossible to fish, much less run with the big motor so we turned around and made our way back towards the marina, intending on fishing in the lagoon itself for a few hours or, just calling it quits and heading back home. But once we got up to the marina, it seemed like the debris wasn’t as bad further upstream so we headed up that way until we found some more rock walls where we could fish.

After a few hours the water started clearing up and the fish started biting. They wouldn’t bite early on like they usually do…and they didn’t start biting till around 9, 9:30 and they were still biting when we left around 12:30. The majority of the fish we caught were small but here are the biggest ones. I think my partner caught all his on a shaky head and all my fish today were caught on a watermelon seed-colored Ultra Vibe Speed Craw fished on a 1/8 oz. shaky head (thanks for the idea, Travis!)

Edit: Oh and I forgot to add...there were a bajillion bugs out this morning early on...I've never seen anything like it. It was like a frigging snow storm...not sure if they were gnats or what but for once, I sure was happy I wear glasses LOL. Anyone have an idea what that was all about? I mean they were everywhere and thick, all up and down the river until after the sun came up.

[agelesssone]

Great report, Nomad! Glad you finally got on some fish, kinda makes the trip worthwhile, doesn't it? As far as size goes, you never know what it's going to be when you get that "tic" on your line. That's what it's all about, that hit and the hookset.

I saw something like what you described on the Cumberland at OH dam last year. Luckily I was fishing from the bank that evening and not in my boat. COE opened all the gates wide open and let out all the debris that was gathered and it covered the river bank to bank for a few hundred yards. Anyone in a boat would have had a hard time dodging it all. There were logs and trees just coating the water. Like I said, glad I was on shore.

[Alphahawk]

Pretty fish.....glad you got into them. One of my favorite spots at Pickwick has been covered up with trash on the bank when the water went down. I can get to the water but the place was already copperhead city and now they have even more places to hide. It is a shame how much litter TN has. I asked MNfisher was it like this up in Minnesota and he told me not even close. Oh well....




Regards

[jad2t]

Great report, Nomad! Glad you finally got on some fish, kinda makes the trip worthwhile, doesn't it? As far as size goes, you never know what it's going to be when you get that "tic" on your line. That's what it's all about, that hit and the hookset.

I saw something like what you described on the Cumberland at OH dam last year. Luckily I was fishing from the bank that evening and not in my boat. COE opened all the gates wide open and let out all the debris that was gathered and it covered the river bank to bank for a few hundred yards. Anyone in a boat would have had a hard time dodging it all. There were logs and trees just coating the water. Like I said, glad I was on shore.

I wonder if they'll start doing that on purpose to boaters to spite us for winning the battle of dam fishing

[nomad60]

I wonder if they'll start doing that on purpose to boaters to spite us for winning the battle of dam fishing

I don't think so...I'm thinking that those recent rains have just washed a ton of debris into the lakes and they have to let it make its way downstream at some point. Today my friend's bass club had another open at Cheatham Lake and we saw almost the same thing there; stretches of floating logs, branches etc. In some places it was pretty bad, in others, the water was clean.

In case anyone is wondering, we didn't catch a keeper again, on Cheatham. The winning weight was 4 pounds, some odd ounces with 4 fish making up that total; biggest bass of the day was 1 pound 4 ounces. LOL Too bad my friend isn't a member of the Montgomery County "Drum" Club because he caught about a 4 pounder on a craw :D.