Fishing Cumberland River In Kentucky

The Lower Cumberland River in south central Kentucky is one of the hottest up and coming tailwater trout fisheries in the United States...  Even after living in Oregon and fishing extensively around the American West, I have not seen a virtually undiscovered tailwater  consistently fish this well.  Night owl, John Sullivan of Lexington touts the Cumberland currently most closely resembles the White River in Arkansas BEFORE it became popular and developed...  

The Cumberland flows through scenic Bluegrass bottomlands, receives light fishing pressure compared to other better-known tailwaters, and harbors a large population of brown and rainbow trout amongst other species like Striped Bass, Largemouth & Smallmouth Bass, Walleye, panfish, Buffalo Carp, Skipjack, and Spoonbill Catfish...  The current state records for both Rainbow (14lbs) and Brown trout (21lbs) have come from the Cumberland and will very likely be oken every few years for years to come...

Our staff are among the finest, if not THE finest fly fishing guides in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.  We live and eathe fishing here in Kentucky and have extensive experience fly fishing AND guiding fly fishers...  If you're looking for the quintessential misanthropic guide, our guides might not be for you...  We thrive on being personable and accommodating (you want to catch fish AND have a good time, right?.!)...  

And while we and our repeat customers believe we're the best around, we strive to be humble yet confident we know what we're doing...  We know that while we have a lot of experience - especially considering none of us are over our mid thirties - we can continually improve and learn more and better ways of serving our clientele...

The following testimonials were not solicited ...  

Attorney Bill Shroeder of Cincinnati, Ohio writes after a trip with his dad - the most energetic 87 year we've had the pleasure to be around:

...had a really great time, and so did dad.  He really likes you and told me how much fun you made the trip for him.  I think it takes a special quality for a guide to realize the limitations of someone like dad and place his interests and fun at the top of the list...  I think you have a good thing going down there...

Eli Lilly VP Greg Reynolds of Indianapolis, Indiana:


John, thanks again for a great weekend.  Both Chris and I had a great time and, as always, enjoyed our time with you both on and off the river. Hope the next day went well, you caught lots of fish, and stayed dry...

Retired Pharmacist/Pharmacy Owner Billy Harrison of Louisville, Kentucky:


Had a great time with Brandon yesterday. Caught tons of fish (literally) and many in the 14 to 18 inch range. Jon [Gudmundsson] caught most of the big ones and thanks you for putting him on to a Big Fish catching guide. We're thinking about a late fall float with two other guys (ie: two boats) for two days.  Maybe late October. Will contact you in Sept. with more detail...

Computer-meister and family man, Burt Walker of Vine Grove, Kentucky, after his first trip to the river:


...more testimonials to come...  contact us if you're interested in a receiving a list of references...

Book Now - "What the guide charges, is what you will pay and nothing extra. No middleman fees ~ book direct or contact the guide today!"
John Openshaw ~ President, WadersOn.com

$30 deposit is required to book all trips.

*Half day trips are limited to 4.5 hours unless indicated otherwise