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Posts: 544
Location: Alsip, Il | It looks like I am going to have a house built, but will need a place to stay for a month or two for me and my four legged fishing buddy. I am thinking about spending on Cave Run, think it would worth spending all of March there? Thanks, Al  |
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Posts: 126
| Nope Cave Run sucks. |
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Posts: 1237
Location: South Portsmouth, KY | Um, you really dont want my honest opinion so i will tell ya an opinion that might be halfway positive. That lake has more cold days than hot days. Most of the times the hot days are only once or twice a week if that. The lake gets tons and tons of pressure. Just try and go up scotts creek on a march morning, its crazy. You gotta dodge rattletraps!! When i have been on the water I have talked to a lot of people who have been there a whole week and not even came into contact with a fish. You have to put your time in thats for sure!! Maybe i am just spoiled from fishing in canada and streams!lol But that rattle bait bite can be awsome when its on! Most of the time in the spring your success will depend on the right water temp and water level which can be up and down a lot which makes fishing tough. Dont be afraid to check out green river lake too. I have never been to green but i hear it has less pressure than the cave.
Edited by muskie_man 1/31/2007 11:04 AM
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Posts: 571
Location: Williamstown, WV | Come to West Virgina...our lakes have hardly any musky fishing pressure and some pretty good fish.
Shawn |
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Posts: 551
Location: Columbus, Georgia | I moved last spring from New Jersey to Morehead, KY to fish Cave Run Lake. Without question, there are monsters lurking in that lake. I saw multiple 50"+ fish caught on consecutive days last October, and some very large fish are also caught every spring (during late February and March). However, I will admit that I am disappointed in the fishing pressure that the lake receives, and if I could do it over again I would have moved to Green River Lake a few hours away (with about 80% less fishing pressure and still 5,000+ acres).
I can attest to the fact that Cave Run is NOT a lake that is easy to fish for someone unfamiliar with the lake, and I can say without hesitation that the majority of legal fish caught on this lake are caught by the guides. They know the lake well, and a number of them consistently put fish in the boat. I am confident that this is true of any guide knowing his home waters.
I will soon be partaking in my first March Madness season on Cave Run and do look forward to some numbers of fish. I am in complete agreement with muskie_man that this lake is cold much more often than it is hot. Of course we all know that we have to work hard for these fish, but after all of the hours that I have spent on the lake in the past 9 months I can easily admit that I was expecting more fish out of Cave Run than I would have from Greenwood Lake, Lake Hopatcong, or Monskville Reservoir (all strong Muskie fisheries) in New Jersey. This (for me) has not proved to be the case.
Cave Run is a beautiful lake and an above average Musky fishery. It's an open season and can be fished year-round.
It's also overrated.
Of course anyone with 20+ years of Musky fishing experience on any body of water is going to catch more fish than someone who is in their first season on any body of water.
It's just a little annoying to read Cave Run posts by guys that make this lake out to be the Promised Land. That viewpoint (at least in my own personal opinion) more resembles Fantasy Land.
Craig
Edited by cjrich 1/31/2007 12:48 PM
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Posts: 96
| Fishing any lake south in March for a month. I'll have some of that please. You should be able to develop some patterns. I would at first hire one of the many top notch guides at Cave Run for a few days. They can show you southern style. |
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| I would if I could but I can't so I won't, hope to make it there a weekend the end of March, maybe even fish with KY Dave this year? |
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| I don't know where to start with this one. I think it's funny how everyone thinks it overrated and fished to death when it keeps putting up big numbers every year. Yes it's true the all the guides on Cave Run catch a bunch of fish every year but it's because they spend day after day on the water FIGURING out patterns instead of typing on a computer because that is what they are paid to do.If the lake is fished out then I wonder how our guide service, Tony's, and TNT have so much business. I fish all over the country and I don't know very many places where you can catch one every 5 minutes. I know people that have went to Lake Of The Woods and fished all day without seeing one or catching one should they stop from going there too. The best advice that I could give the guy asking about Cave Run is come down and try it out for yourself. One other thing to remember is just because it's Kentucky it gets cold here to and sometimes March can be great and sometimes not until April. I don't think this brought on because the lake sucks that is just how spring early spring fishing can be. I can remember when it was a good day to just see a couple fish with a shot at catching 1 and now alot of people think they are just going to jump into boat. I don't think that I said anything that Tony, Greg, TNT would have said on this. I really hope you come down here and don't listen to negative posts. I would tell you the middle of March to the middle of April. This past fall was the best in the last 3 or 4 years on not having any pressure. So come down have fun and catch some fish. |
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| To me Cave Run is perhaps the best Muskie Lake in the County year in and year out. I would move there in a heart beat if I was able. I get to fish it about 3 days a week and have spent many full weeks fishing it daily. Last year I spent a week fishing LOTW and boated 13 musky that week with the biggest being 46 inches. It was a great time and I will go back. I spent a week on Cave Run in September of 06 after coming back from LOTW and boated 14 Musky most fish in the 36-39 inch range three nice fish a 42, 43, 45.5 and a pig at 51 inches. This is only a 2 hour drive for me and I have caught fish every month of the year except Feb only because I haven't fished in Feb. In 2006 in Jan. I fished two days a total of nine hours on the water and boated 5 musky.
As for pressure 8,200 acres is a lot of area. Yes I have seen a lot of boats in some hollows, but the most boats are usually on the weekends but even then I have never been without a good spot to fish on the lake. I have fished 100's of days in the middle of the week and didn’t hardly see another boat. I believe 2006 was the least Cave Run has been fished for a number of years and yet it produced a number of big fish in the 50 inch range. It is consistently putting out 50 inch fish year in and year out. There has been a number of weekends when I saw a lot boats on the main lake so I just made my way up the river to Pop in Rock or Bangor area and had some 5 fish days! It is a neat lake, Timber, grass, sand, some rocky points and lots of musky. Stocking program that is great. As for guides on the lake yes there is and most of them are great fishermen and you can learn a lot from them and they are free with information to help you catch fish. You can even hire a guide learn a lot about the lake in a short time and put more muskies in your boat. I have been in hollows and I have seen guides catch fish and their clients and they have seen me catch fish and we have a good time. They have even helped me take pictures when I was by myself. It is a great lake with great people. I have fished Green River and Buckhorn and they are good lakes but I don't believe they even come close to Cave Run.
There has been in the last three years 166 fish in the net in my boat not counting little fish under 30 inches that have been shook off or not landed. This is not a brag session only bragging on Cave Run, the great guides that are there and great local people. Friend listen if you look long enough at the roses you can find a thorn but I sure enjoy all the roses at Cave Run.
I thank the Lord I get to fish for Musky at Cave Run Lake Kentucky. Come on Down you won’t be sorry.
And Remember I'm not a guide and never will be!
Carl M. Eisenhart
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Posts: 551
Location: Columbus, Georgia | Justin and Carl,
Thanks for the vote of confidence. I'll see what this new season brings. I have spent guided days on Cave Run and will say that we were on fish every one of those days.
Last season was my first on the Cave. Maybe it's a freshman thing.
Craig |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | I guess the best way to answer your question would be to ask: what are your other options? Is the Cave convenient due to lodging / camping issues, what other lakes and states are you considering? The fish are there, that's for sure, and that much time on the water should produce for you. Water levels at that time of the year can be a roller coaster, but this has been a weird winter so far so will there be a big snow pack and resulting flood from the melt? Probably not. m |
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Posts: 1237
Location: South Portsmouth, KY | I didnt fish the cave as much in 06 as i did in previous years so it might have changed some. The one thing is that the handful of times that i fished it in 06 i came into contact with fish every time. The size of the followers that i had was up too. The only point that i was trying to make about the cave is that you never know what you will get with that lake. When they have lock jaw, you might as well forget about it. But when you do hit it right you could have a multiple fish day. Come on down and try out the cave and see for yourself. Odds are if you spend all of march down there you will eventally hit a hot time!
Edited by muskie_man 1/31/2007 11:25 AM
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Posts: 136
| Best muskies lake in the county? Are you serious? What about Leech, Vermilion, Mille Lacs, LOTW, even Minnetonka? You could fit about 75 Cave Run's inside Mille Lacs. I will be honest I have never fished it but when I look in the Muskies Inc Lunge Log I don't see I single fish from Cave Run cracking the top 25. I know there are big fish but I don't know how you can compare it to the large bodies of water with native muskie populations you find up north. |
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Posts: 227
Location: Southeast Wisconsin | The best musky lake in the country is the one that your on..
The best time to fish it is the time that your there.. |
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Posts: 40
Location: Maryland | Hey common sense guy. I don't think the big V or any of those other northern lakes are in the same "county" as Cave Run |
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| i love that lake
i have actually considered moving down there myself...to the point of checking jobs and stuff like that.
lodging on the lake...2 killer pro shops within 3 miles of each other...plus Tony's lodge....
and a good network down there too....nothing is secret, from what i have seen.
Dave, Justin and Carl know.
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Posts: 126
| As far as comparing Cave Run to a LOTW or Mille Lacs, it's apples to oranges. It gives up some big fish and it gives up numbers, same as any other lake. I've caught good fish out of Cave Run and had many multiple fish days. I've had my a$$ handed to me as well. Same as every other musky lake I've ever been on. |
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Posts: 32930
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Get yer fanny to the Cave, look up Justin, Crash, Tony or one of the other fine guides on that water and get out there. I'd near pass out if I had a MONTH to fish that water. |
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Posts: 956
Location: Home of the 2016 World Series Champion Cubs | Hey its only for a month, till yer house is done right? Id say go for it. Since you'll be transient for a month or so you can always run over to GRL for a few days.
Karl |
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Posts: 724
Location: Southern W.Va. | You don't want to know what I think of Cave Run. When you see 40 boats fish a 100 acre or less area it makes me wonder if it worth it. Every cove will have 3 to 5 boat pounding the shore lines and Zilpo Flats will see more boats in a days time then the marina.
Just my $.02 worth
Mauser |
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| I'm about an hour and 20 min from the Cave, don't fish it much in the spring (hate murky water) but can comment on it's overall production. #1 , it's a beautiful place , in the spring you might have high waters which works on my confidence, may not bother yours. In the late spring , early summer and fall it's a gem. As far as the fishing----My view is if you live close and can either fish it several times a week, or have buddies that will tell you when the bite is hot it's well worth any effort. The downside IN MY OPINION ONLY is that if you don't live close by and you work 4-6 days a week and you fish when the schedule allows not when the conditions are best you decrease your chances of catching fish at the cave big time. Now and then if you go enough you can hit a hot day. But this lake is sooo hot/cold. I know most lakes are like this but the cave seems even more so. Some folks enjoy just being on the water, don't have to boat a fish a day on average to be happy. If you are like this you will be fine, if going 3,4 days without catching one to catch a hot day is allright with you then you will be fine. Hiring a guide would up your catch ratio no doubt. The guides on the cave fish their butts off. But personal preference , finances, etc will decide if you want a guide or not. Also I think the pressure was less in 06 b/c 05 was really tough. 04 was really good, brought in lots of out of state people. 05 seemed way down (MY OPINION ONLY ) and the out of state crowd did'nt pour in like in 04 . Hope you make it and have a successful trip MD |
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| Mauser ---only 3 to 5 boats a cove would be a down day ----! MD |
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Posts: 544
Location: Alsip, Il | Thanks for the advice. Al and Henry |
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