The creeks, coves, and fingers of Lake Cumberland

The Fourth of July is usually busy on any lake during this holiday, but on Lake Cumberland in Kentucky there are so many creeks, coves and fingers it seems like any other day. You can fish in the morning, have burgers for lunch in a secluded cove, and enjoy fireworks from your boat that evening. It is a time to enjoy the beautiful area with friends, relatives, and family while swimming in a secluded deep water creek or in hundreds of wooded coves. Maybe the only difference during the holiday celebration is the multitude of our red, white, and blue American flags on boats or those colors on boaters themselves.

Created in the early 1950s, the 65,530-acre impoundment (the 9th largest in the U.S.) was established for flood control and production of hydroelectric power. It is estimated that the dam holding back the waters has prevented more than $500 million in flood damage since its construction. The over 100-mile-long reservoir is part of the original Cumberland River that was established by the United States Army Corps of Engineers and has approximately 1,255 miles of shoreline! That is more shoreline than the state of Florida has. All that shoreline is formed from Kentucky’s south central mountainous, rugged topography that creates and shapes the multitude of fingers and coves. There is a steep drop at the shoreline for that very reason.

The water depth averages about 90 feet with the deepest point by the Wolf Creek Dam at 280 feet. This makes for excellent fishing and delightful cruising along the undeveloped, pristine lake. You can tie up your boat at any shoreline that suits your fancy, anchor in the deep water at any cove, set your mat or tubes out and start having fun.

Celebration

Fireworks for the Fourth of July are located between the Jamestown Resort & Marina and Lake Cumberland State Dock at the Lake Cumberland State Resort Park in Russell County. Glorious fireworks illuminate the many houseboats, pontoon boats and cruisers during the enthralling spectacle. Many floating vessels are docked at both marinas while spectators enjoy beverages, food and music offered at the marina restaurants, if not at the many boats docked for the holiday or season. Hundreds of other boats are anchored and rafted up in the open lake beyond the impressive cliffs of the state park.

State Dock, a Suntex Marina at the mouth of Clifty and Pumpkin Creek, hosted several music venues last year. The 100% ANGUS rock band and the Amy Sailor Band performed over the holiday. The marina has more than 600 boat slips and one of the largest fleets of houseboats for rent in the country (60 houseboats, yes, 60 beautiful vessels of 13 different sizes and types). There are also about 40 different pontoon boats for rent of various makes and models, all impeccably clean and inviting for any number of people who wish to enjoy the water without bringing their own boat. The pontoons available include a 19-foot Premium Funtoon as well as an Aloha 32-foot triple pontoon with 150hp outboard motor, for pulling any type of water toy for the children to enjoy.

Tradition

The McNamara and Koehler families of Lexington, Ky., and Madison, Ala., respectively, rent a 20-foot Princecraft for four days each year for the holiday. They have been coming to the lake for six years with their grandchildren Finn, Riley, and Brynna, along with Max, their Papitese dog. The children love hunting for geo chondrite and tubular fossils in rocks on the steep shores or hollows. Their favorite places to go are Bill Long Hollow and Beaver Creek to swim and pull floats. The firework display is a traditional must-see for these families as well.

Marinas

There are about 10 marinas spread out along the main waterway to General Burnside Island State Park, the second state park about 37 miles away. Adjacent to the park and closer to Somerset, Ky., on the eastern section of the lake, is the Safe Harbor Burnside Marina. All the lake marinas offer boat rentals, pontoon boats and houseboat–some of the most popular types of boats to enjoy the holiday with family and friends. All have marina stores with fishing supplies and gifts, along with fishing guides available to teach how to catch the plethora of popular fish at a quicker pace. Paved parking, boat ramps, restrooms and private boat moorage, along with restaurants that serve everything from great pizza and burgers to more interesting and unusual fare, are standard amenities.

Jamestown

Across the channel from the lively State Dock, which has great breakfasts and excellent Asian cuisine, is Jamestown Marina and Resort with more than 800 marina boat slips, along with a restaurant serving pulled pork sandwiches with open deck seating to view the spectacular pyrotechnics display. This area of Russell County is probably the busiest and has the most events and activities available for the holiday. The Lake Cumberland State Resort Park itself has days of activities for children including bracelet making, miniature golf tournaments, archery, decorating a “tobacco stick” and even tomahawk throwing! All these are activities are available when you decide to take a break from being on the water.

Rowena

On the southwest side of the lake, the Rowena View Cafe has a 12-square-mile lake view from its veranda and is part of the newest marina on Cumberland that opened in 2020 during the COVID-19 outbreak. Marina @ Rowena has over 225 boat slips and is currently expanding to meet the enterprise’s needs. Exemplary service and an engaging welcoming atmosphere invite customers to see the area from their custom built 30-foot long, 10-foot wide Premier pontoon boats. (Oh, and the grouper fish basket along with brussel sprouts topped with bourbon glaze, bacon and feta cheese is not to be missed.)

Covered slips for pontoon boats and larger slips for houseboats are across the dock from the boat or PWCs rentals. The dock is as popular as it is friendlywhere everyone waves or says hi whether they know you or not. Marina @ Rowena has been more than 15 years in the making, with many environmental hurtles overcome to appease the Corps of Engineers, although the marina was envisioned in the Lake Cumberland Master Plan prepared back in 1949.

A Change Of Scenery

It is here at Rowena where families dock next to each other as is the case with Drs. David and Kelly Waespe from the Lexington area. Kelly’s mother Pam Combs, also a cardiologist and next door houseboat neighbor, enjoys a relaxing good time, a particular relief after recent years of so much social distancing.

“It had been difficult for a while during the COVID surge, but it made me choose our activities more wisely. Our children, Ryan, 7, and Ella, 5, will grow up as I did, boating and enjoying the waters of Kentucky,” Kelly explained. “We come down here whenever we can for a change of scenery from our house. We usually take the pontoon out to find a shallower cove, away from the main lake and traffic. I anchor it in the middle of the cove so the kids can swim or play on the water mat.”

Kelly said her cousins Michelle and Pete Lemmon, along with their children, Josie, 10, and Emily, 7, come down from Cincinnati, Ohio, to enjoy the holiday with them.

“We enjoy naming the various coves we stay in by seeing something special that makes it a good name for us to remember it by,” says Kelly. “For example, lots of turtles in Turtle Cove, and lots of rocks for skipping in Rocky Cove. The children all agree to this and we find that there is always a good, quiet spot to find around the fingers in the larger coves.”

What A Catch

The other big draw to the lake, even during the holiday weekend, is fishing. The Norman family certainly attest to that, as do Kentucky records of fish taken in these waters. World record catches include a 58-pound, 4-ounce striped bass (Rockfish), an 11-pound, 15-ounce smallmouth bass, and a 22-pound, 7-ounce walleye that all came from this lake!

Robert and Megan Norman, along with their enthusiastic children, Mason, 9, and Avery, 6, also know about the wonderful fishing on the lake. They do many popular water sports with the tubes or mats and swim in the warm waters of “Robert’s Cove” or “Norman Cove” not far from the marina, but it’s fishing that the whole family enjoys tremendously.

This is where their 24-foot Angler Qwest pontoon boat shines. Rob has equipped it with a powerful Minn-Kota trolling motor, a 16-rod holder tower behind the center console with six additional rod holders on the gunnels, a 50-gallon custom live bait tank, and HDS12 Lowrance electronics with a Lake Cumberland SSD card for accurate fish location. He is seriously into fishing! Happily, his wife and children are also very involved in that recreational pursuit.

The Alexandria, Ky., family has taken advantage of the sport, not only on the Fourth of July weekend, but during the initial COVID-19 outbreak. Megan is a third grade teacher who was teaching virtually, and Rob, who is in the fire protection business, took advantage of the outdoor activity. Fishing on the water with their children was a much needed stress reliever, and as Megan states, “It was crazy for a while, but it brought our family together. We were able to spend more time as a family and enjoy things doing things together that we couldn’t do before, or didn’t have time to do previously.”

Added Rob, “You get the best of everything on this boat. We also got this boat for the kids. I had a nice fishing boat before this one, but I could only take one person out at a time. Now the family can go out before dawn to catch live shad for the striper fishing later in the morning. They wrap up in blankets when not actually fishing, but easily start fishing when it’s time to reel the fish to the boat. It’s been great!”

Rob uses an Ugly Stick Striper rod to fish and he trolls with planar boards in July. He estimates that he goes anywhere from 35 to 40 feet deep with the 1-ounce weights.

“We’ve been fishing with the children since they were very young,” says Rob. “As a matter of fact, Mason caught a really big striper, about 36 inches long, when he was about 37 inches tall himself!”

Mason also stated proudly that one of the best times fishing was when he and his dad won a fishing tournament. They got to split the winning money! Now that’s fishing and having fun! It is all available to visitors on a Lake Cumberland, even during the Fourth of July weekend.