Southeastern U.S. Drought Benefiting Cumberland Tailwater Trout

Thanks to a regular and smaller number of releases from the Wolf Creek Dam, whose repair is the focus of the Army Corps of Engineers, the brown trout in this tailwater fishery are doing quite well, despite forecasts of a massive die-off. But it’s anybody’s guess what normal rains would bring; the southeast U.S. has experienced severe drought now for several months. “Conditions also are perfect for brown trout to spawn, and Dreeves says they probably have. Whether the eggs will survive to produce little trout depends largely on the weather. Heavy winter rains would restart the power-generation process, tailwater levels would jump significantly and any trout eggs probably would be lost.” Gary Garth in the Louisville Courier-Journal.