Cumberland bass future looking bright

I recently completed an article on the effects of the lake drawdown on Lake Cumberland’s bass population and while researching the article discovered that there is plenty of good news for Kentucky bass anglers.

For those who were not aware, in 2007 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lowered the lake level to 680 feet above sea level while repairs are being performed on Wolf Creek Dam. The project is expected to take a few years to complete and has worried the tourism businesses that surround the lake.

In talking to John D. Williams, fisheries biologist for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, I learned that the bass populations are doing well and the future look bright.

Williams told me there was a very good spawn in 2008 and populations of all three species of bass (largemouth, smallmouth and spots) are thriving. He expects the fishing to only improve in the next few years and that when the water level is eventually brought back to normal, there will be lots of new cover for the fish.

You can catch the entire article in the May issue of Midwest Outdoors.