It’s going to be hard for anglers to cast anywhere in about any direction, and not be in or near some type of cover for bass in this reservoir. There are stakebeds, brushpiles, old roadbeds, standing timber, fallen timber, rockpiles, gravel beds and submerged ponds. Of course, one of the best structures is the old U.S. Route 150 bridge and roadway. What’s particularly good is that a great deal of cover that will hold bass is easily visible.

One thing that makes bass fishing tougher in older lakes is that habitat eventually disappears, and sometimes a reservoir can have little natural cover remaining after a couple of decades. That makes it harder to fish, and requires anglers to develop new tactics besides just casting to visible shoreline cover. Cedar Creek won’t likely have a shortage of cover for most of our lifetimes. You could say it is literally “covered up” with cover.

In areas where standing timber and stumps were left, boat lanes were cut beneath the surface to allow access to the cover without fear of wrecking lower units and for easier navigation. Anglers looking for that 20-inch-plus bass this spring, some of which should be showing up in 2005, will be able to get into the spots where the big ones like to hide. By the way, you can keep one 20-inch or better bass per day if you want to, but returning legal keepers will help maintain quality fishing just like releasing the sub-legal sizes.

For a while, the lake will have some algae cover typical of new lakes. The nutrient load is usually high in new waters, which helps create explosive vegetative growth. The location of the lake, between Stanford and Crab Orchard, is in the Knobs Region of the Bluegrass. This is primarily a forested watershed.

Cedar Creek isn’t expected to be a tremendously fertile lake in the future because forest run-off isn’t as rich as agricultural land run-off. It will also likely mean clearer water conditions as time passes. Eventually, the heavier algae volume is expected to decrease, but algae cover does have some benefit as a good source of food for smaller aquatic organisms, baitfish and small game fish.

If you’re looking for a bass “hotspot” amid all the cover this lake offers, one such place is the old pond that was built up and then had trees cabled in around its banks. This structure is in the northeastern end of the lake, along the old Route 150 roadbed that runs out into the lake.

The KDFWR also took the foundations of some of the old farmhouses left in the basin and constructed a rock and debris underwater hump and reef out from the boat ramp near old Cowan Road. A great deal of what was usable in the area that is now flooded was put to good use for fish habitat and with anglers in mind. Just flip on your electronics and watch your graph to locate what’s below the surface, and the contour changes on the bottom that bass like to relate to at almost any time of the year.

A map of the lake and all the fish- attracting structure is currently in production. It will show stakebed locations out from the ramp at the dam, one near the center of the lake along the old Route 150 roadbed; there’s more structure to find up from the 150 ramp along the old Cowan Road submerged roadbed. Anglers will also want to check out stakebeds and gravel spawning beds where state Route (SR) 1770 crosses the upper reaches of the lake. This is also the location of a handicap accessible fishing jetty and parking area that’s available.

In addition to the opportunities for boat fishermen, the KDFWR purchased and created a 300-foot buffer zone around the entire lake. The agency has been working to increase the amount of bank-fishing that’s available around the smaller lakes it owns and manages. On Cedar Creek, anglers on foot will be able to fish around the entire lake from the bank, without concern of property owners and permission issues, or houses, outbuildings and private docks being constructed right on the water’s edge.

Some of the habitat created to hold bass and other species has been placed right along the shoreline so it is accessible to both boat- and bank-anglers. One of those areas is a large part of the bank on both sides of the lake, just up from the ramp at the dam. A third launching ramp is available off SR 1770 and Cowan Road toward the upper end.

Kentucky bass fishermen will have a real opportunity to connect with some high-quality largemouths this spring. Cedar Creek Lake offers it all. If you like to bass fish, with the thought of catching some bigger bass, this is the place for you.