Folks, there is still plenty of life left in Lake Cumberland. Nearly written off this year because of the big drawdown to allow work on the Wolf Creek Dam, Lake Cumberland still has sufficient water to accommodate boaters and fishermen and I for one can tell you that the striper fishing is still first rate at the big Kentucky impoundment.

I was one of a four-member party last week who were guests of Capt. Phil Glass for a striper adventure and we indeed caught fish, big ole fish.

Glass is a retired educator for the Department of Fish and Wildlife who is now guiding out of Conley Bottom Marina at Lake Cumberland. Conley Bottom is near Monticello. I joined Ed Darst, who is a friend and former co-worker of Glass, Bro. David Baker, minister at the First Church of the Nazarene in Glasgow, and Bro. Baker’s father-in-law, Dwight Henderson, who was visiting from Texas.

We arrived with time to spare last Wednesday and were met at the dock at daylight by Capt. Glass who had been out catching live shad for bait. After a short trip to one of Glass’s favorite spots, we immediately began catching stripers (also known as rock fish). I happened to be the first to hook up and after a brief battle, boated a nice striper in the 20-pound range.

Capt. Glass has to be the hardest working guide on Cumberland. He kept all the lines baited, drove the boat, schooled us on striper fishing, netted our fish, and once back at the dock, filleted them. It was a real treat watching him in action.

As luck would have it, I hooked the second fish and passed the rod to Dwight who landed another keeper. Stripers must be at least 24 inches to keep.

Action moved to the back of the boat where Bro. Baker hooked the next three fish, all about an inch short of keeper size. He set the hook again but this time passed the rod to his father-in-law and Dwight had a real tussle with what turned out to be the big fish of the day, over 36 inches, which qualifies as a trophy striper.

Ed was the next to score and boated a big rocker that passed mine for second place. Meanwhile, Bro. Baker continued to have nonstop action on the back of the boat and before the bite stopped, had caught his own keeper.

It was a great day despite the heat, which we managed to avoid by staying under the canopy on Capt. Glass’s boat. Dwight took top honors for the biggest, Bro. Baker for the most, Ed took second, and I was more than satisfied with my first striper at 33 inches. We had managed to catch around a dozen fish, five of them keepers, and all in about three hours on the lake.

We were back at the dock around 10 a.m. and Capt. Glass soon had the fish filleted and packed on ice for the return trip to Glasgow.

I’m told that when properly prepared, stripers are fine eating but you have to get all the red out of the meat. Although I passed, we had nice filets to bring home. I’ll stick to crappie and bluegill.

I certainly recommend Capt. Glass if you’re planning a striper trip. He can be reached at (606) 340-2441 or if he’s on the lake, by cell at (606) 271-2247. He also has a Web site, conleystriper.com, or you can email him at striperphil@ yahoo.com.

The hot weather has been limiting action on Barren but Ranger Bob reports that largemouth are still fair on 10-inch worms fished along drops and on points 14-18 feet deep. Carolina rigged lizards and Brush Hogs are also producing some fish along channel drops. Jig and pig combinations are working in and around brush and stumps near channel drops. Night fishing is also still pretty good on 10-inch worms, jigs and on spinner baits fished along drops and points 14-18 feet deep, midnight to daybreak.

Crappie fishing is rated as poor during the day but some are trying up the creeks around brush and stumps 12-15 feet deep on minnows, tubes and tiny shad baits. Action has been better at night under lights in 10 to 12 feet of water.