Cabin Creek is located at mile # 403, just 4 miles upstream from Maysville.
It has easy access from Kentucky at the Maysville Ramp. This is an excellent facility with live-in caretakers, restrooms, a fine ramp, docks, and fuel, as well as plenty of parking.
Access is also convenient from Ohio; use the ramp at Aberdeen. This facility is nice with all the necessary amenities except for a caretaker. The police do patrol it from time to time, however, so there is some security.
The mouth of Cabin creek is fantastic. It holds nearly every species of fish in the River at some time during the year. The area has sharp drops with a rolling bottom. It consists of rock and sand with very little mud. As a consequence the area tends to stay clear most of the time (or at least more clear than the main River). There is almost always some current.
There are points on both the upstream and the downstream sides of the creek mouth with the downstream side generally producing the most fish. The larger fish come from the upstream side, however. This seems to hold true regardless of the species.
When there are three barges stacked at the first tie-off the stripers are almost a guarantee. They tend to hover out over the deep water at the mouth during low light times and under the barges during periods of bright sunlight or strong current. They can be taken with almost any lure that can be worked around and under the barges—jigs, crankbaits, flukes, in-line spinners, and grubs. If they are in the open water always try topwater.
This area is so reliable as a striper hangout that it was the primary location for filming the Houston Show.
The points at the mouth produce catches of black bass almost anytime except during the spawn. They are used as staging areas for the prespawn, and as feeding areas the rest of the year. My two best black bass days ever on the River came on these points and rock drops; two years apart with both over the Thanksgiving weekend. The water temperature was in the 40’s. The fish were taken on a 1/2oz. Silver Buddy bounced along the rock.
Cabin Creek is long but not nearly as long as Brush Creek, and not nearly as deep. It does, however, have sufficient depth to hold fish year-round. The banks are a mixture of sand, wood, with some rock. The banks are lined with wood (stumps and stickups) that tend to hold keeper bass year-round. There is also a respectable population of white bass in the creek from time to time. (I am unable to discern a seasonable pattern for them.)
The creek has a fair number of twists and turns that help hold fish. There are also four or five shallow flats that hold feeding fish upon occasion. All in all, the creek, though not as good as the mouth, is a fine fishery.
There is very little pleasure boat traffic in the creek itself, even at the height of the season. The scenery is rural with plenty of wildlife. Especially noteworthy is the raccoon population—they are in this area every afternoon and evening. It is a real pleasure to sit quietly in a boat and watch them feed along the rocks at the waters edge.
A few years years ago I was jigging a 3/4oz. Silver Buddy in the hole at the mouth of the creek, in about 40 feet of water, looking for a big striper. It was during the heat of the summer, in the middle of the afternoon, with a storm approaching. I was using a heavy 7-foot casting rod with 17-pound test line. Something picked up my lure and began moving off, upstream, into the River. No runs, lunges, or head shaking—just swimming upstream. It swam so fast I could not keep up with the trolling motor on high (24 volt). Eventually it stripped over 200 yards of line from my reel before I finally cut the line to avoid loosing the rod and reel. I will die wondering what it was.