Chickamauga Reservoir January 26th-31st 2024
Forecast Contributor – Nathan Rogers, Region III Creel Clerk
The weather was oddly warm on Friday with rough storms with heavy rain and winds coming in late that night and Saturday. Temperatures were around the mid to upper 40’s’s at night and reaching as high as 51. After the storms moved out, the weather got much cooler the rest of the weekend. Water temperatures are cool throughout the lake with lots of current from the storms and increased pool level; latest depth I recorded is below. For any discharge or lake elevation info, check out the TVA Lake Info App.
Reservoir Conditions
Water Temp:
Tennessee River (main lake): 44.5 degrees Fahrenheit
Water Clarity:
Tennessee River (main lake): 3.5 feet
Water Level: 676.8 feet
Water Flow: (as of January 31st)
Watts Bar Dam: ~ 46200cfs
Chickamauga Dam: ~ 59700cfs (spilling)
Observed Species Information
Bass: Fishing is fair. Using live bait (shad/minnows) on bluffs and main channel banks with deep water. Some anglers had success with swimbaits and lipless crankbaits in these areas too. During some recent surveys, anglers used square bill crankbaits and A-rigs on rocky banks and flats that garnered some bites.
Crappie: Fishing is fair. Using live minnows and/or Bobby Garland jigs in mouths of creeks/sloughs around submerged brush.
Walleye: Fishing is fair. Trolling crankbaits upstream in current below dam and drifting downstream jigging.
Catfish: Fishing is fair. Cut bait on river channels was the best practice observed.
Chickamauga – 2-1-24
Forecast Contributor – Billy Wheat, Follow on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/riprapfishingadventures and www.riprapfishing.net
Water level is just below 677. Water temperature is 43-48. The current is running great through the dams which is always great the feeding activity levels are always high when this is happening. The main channel current breaks with an A-rig with 3-4.5-inch Swimbaits can get the job done. DT6 cranking or flat sides cranking will get you bit for sure. If you find any grass in the creeks or flats a Swimbait, Rat-l-trap and Chatterbait will catch them. 2-8 feet seem to be the zone when the current is running like this.
Hiwassee River below Appalachia Powerhouse – 1-31-24
Forecast Contributor- Tic Smith/Southeastern Anglers Guide Service
River Conditions –Water clarity – cloudy but not muddy
Water temps – 46 to 49 degrees
Fishing – the “shad kill” has been going on for the last week. There are 2 to 4” blue back herring coming through the turbines. It is not constant but there are enough to get the attention of some really nice tout. Several browns in the 20” range have been caught in the last few days. The smaller fish will eat them too. It’s just a great time to be out there. There are many streamer patterns that are effective. #4 white zonkers and wooly buggers are a great start.
TVA is running 2 generators around the clock so fishing from a boat is the most affective strategy. The stretch from the powerhouse boat ramp to Towee Creek is the best stretch for the shad kill.
Kentucky Lake 1-18-23
By Steve McCadams, Professional Guide/Outdoor Writer (stevemc@charter.net)
WEATHER ROLLER COASTER FOR KENTUCKY LAKE ANGLERS
Frigid weather has dealt the cards to the winter fishing scene for Kentucky Lake anglers this week. Anglers had a mean hand to play as single digit temperatures curtailed fishing for most.
Not only was ice forming in backwater bays, but it locked up several launch ramps, denying access to even die-hard fishermen and duck hunters hoping to venture out and test the elements.
Ice covered boat ramps were dangerous. It was an excellent place to jack-knife trailers, damage both trailer and boats, not to mention vehicles towing them. The fool catcher was out just waiting for opportunity.
Not to worry for too long and warm weather is in the forecast for next week as the Jan 22-27 period approaching looks to be the return of decent winter fishing weather. Temps will rebound back to normal, which is well above the freezing mark.
That should return opportunity to winter crappie anglers who have been suffering from cabin fever lately. Looks like bright days are on the horizon as boaters can return to launch ramps and their favorite fishing holes without having to battle snow, ice and bone chilling winds.
Whether or not the fish respond favorably is a wait and see approach. Odds are a shad kill could be in the picture after such cold surface temperatures descended on the Kentucky Lake region.
Anglers will be targeting deep main lake ledges once they get back out on the water. Odds are the crappie have pulled back to the deeper sides of drop-offs and ledges in pursuit of schools of shad that usually ride out the cold in deeper depths.
Kentucky Lake’s elevation this week had risen to a 355.8 level for a few short days but has been falling slowly since and was down to 355.5. Odds are the reservoir will keep falling slowly until it returns to winter pool, which is around the 354 range of elevation.
Normandy Lake – 11-30-23
Forecast Contributor Captain Jake Davis – midsouthbassguide.com– Follow on Facebook
Normandy is producing some good fish and is about to get a lot better as TVA pulls the water down. Current water levels are at 865.46 and headed down. Crankbaits, Texas Rigs or Tightline Jigs have been our go to. We found several really nice bass using Crankbaits at the end of points in 4 to 10 feet of water. Walleye can be caught trolling crankbaits or drifting minnows/crawler harnesses on flats and in the river. I’m being told the Crappie are doing good, you can catch them around brush in the river and standing timber. Keep an eye on the habitat that TWRA and TN Bass Nation put out the last couple years Water temperatures range from 55 to 59 degrees. Please wear your life vest all the time while on the water. Give me a call to book your trip, Capt. Jake 615-613-2382 or msbassguide@comcast.net.
Norris Lake – 11-29-23
Forecast Contributor – Paul Shaw, Norris Creel Clerk.
Water Surface Temperature: 53 to 58 in the afternoon. The upper end is running in cooler.
Water Clarity: 4 to 6 feet, good color.
Water Elevation: 1,000.2 feet (midnight) The lake level continues to drop for the Fall drawdown. Check the free TVA Lake Info app for daily elevations, predictions, and flow rates.
Summary: Catches have been slow to come in. Periods of discharge through the dam and the resultant drawdown will increase bass and other predatory species’ movement and feeding. The daily discharge schedule is being determined by the work on the weir dam in the tailwater. During the day, the work requires very little outflow. Reservoir species which are influenced by water movement caused by water going through the dam will have their locations a bit disrupted by the drawdown schedule. On calm mornings and late afternoons, schools of baitfish are seen in the river sections and around some of the lower end channels.
Largemouth Bass: Slow. Pig ‘n jigs, tube jigs, medium running crankbaits along the main channels. Some on topwater buzz baits on the rocky main channels and in the coves in the early morning hours. Senkos and similar soft jerk baits worked in brush and main channel wood structure.
Smallmouth Bass: Moderate. Cooler water temperatures are helping these catches. Catches are coming in at a couple of depths – surface to about 10 feet and as deep as 30 feet depending on the time of day and sunlight. Shallower at night. Midday has been slow. Medium-running crankbaits in blood red or crawfish colors are doing well down to 10 feet on steep, broken rock banks. Deep crankbaits are doing ok at the 20–25-foot depth. Very few have been caught between about 12 feet and 20 feet. If you don’t want to work crankbaits, the standard drop shot type rigs and any assortment of pig ‘n jigs are catching some. 3/8 lead heads tipped with any curly-tail type plastic grubs (pick your brand), cedar tree green or grey colors, are catching some along the bottom on more moderately sloped shorelines.
Walleye: Very slow. Daylight trolling with Bill Normans, Thunder sticks, or Redfins to 35 or 40 feet in the Loyston area and Cove Creek shorelines. Troll very close to steep, rocky shorelines at the recommended depth. Norris’ walleye are notoriously hard to locate from November through mid-February when the river runs begin.
Bluegill: Fair. Tightline crickets with a split shot and use no float to various depths, move along the shoreline until these fish are located. If you’re getting small ones on the steep, rocky banks, drop your cricket lower, often as deep as 30 feet if on the main channel rocky shorelines. Move along the shoreline until you find them.
Shellcrackers: Slow. Locating them is a challenge at this time of year, with most catches being coincidental by anglers fishing for something else. Night fishermen targeting other species have picked some up near the Loyston area island on sandy, bottoms at less than ten feet (bottom depth). Some are on points, next to wood structure in the daytime, but those catches are not dependable. Red worms, night crawlers, wax worms, small minnows, small spinners.
Crappie: Moderate. Tuffy minnows, Bobby Garlands, small Popeye hair jigs fished in shoreline timber in the early morning hours before the sun hits the water. As the morning progresses and sunlight hits the brush, these fish drop deeper. Fish in the standard locations where there are flats and brush: Sycamore Creek, the back of Lost Creek, the upper reaches of Cove Creek, and upper Davis Creek in the coves near the cemetery access boat ramp and in Doaks Creek. Don’t ignore stained water where you can find it. Crappie will be shallower where the visibility is lower, especially after sunrise.
Striped Bass: Moderate. 30 to 40 feet in mid-channel on clear afternoons, shallower in the early mornings. The fall movement to the upper creeks and the upper end of the river arms is underway. Finding them will become more difficult, as these fish will be on the move for the next two months. Most catches have been of fish ten pounds or less. The Loyston Sea area has been slow with only occasional breaks seen and few birds. The lower end of Davis Creek has had a bit of action, as has Lost Creek, Black Fox Creek to the trestle at the mouth of Sycamore Creek. Shad or alewife, umbrella rigs, or large swimbaits trolled to depths as deep as 40 feet in those sections. Schools of baitfish can be seen near the surface in the morning and afternoon hours. as is the seasonal norm. Keep a Zara Spook or large hair jig or soft jerk bait handy in case you see stripers breaking into the baitfish surface activity.
Percy Priest – 2-1-24
Forecast Contributor Brian Carper – briancarper.com – Follow on Facebook
A lot of changes on Percy Price Lake. The water level after the recent floods came up over 5ft and has since dropped over a foot. Currently the lake level is at 486.24 and the dam is open 24/7. The clarity is getting better as the mud flushes down the lake. The upper end is starting to have better clarity at one to two feet visibility. Mid-lake has the dingiest water until you pass Hobson Pike bridge. Once passed the bridge the water is clear with 3 to 4ft visibility and cooler in the low 40s. Mid-lake and on the upper end the temperature ranges from 45 to 52.
The last few days the crappie have been biting fair around standing timber. The timber outside of the main channel is the most productive where there is not as much current. Crappie Magnets in black/ chartreuse and live minnows have been successful. The bass are being caught both deep in winter patterns with Alabama rigs on points, humps and ledges, but also shallow in two to six feet of water on crawfish square bill crankbaits. The warmer water has pulled many bass up. As the water continues to drop and the cooler temperatures settle back in these fish will move back out.
For more information or Book your trip today at www.briancarper.com
Pickwick – 2-1-24
Forecast Contributor Tyler Finley – Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tyler.finley.750
High waters and heavy current flows are making the fish bite. Up river seems to be productive in current breaks and gravel bars. These fish can be caught on a swim bait and Alabama rig. When setting up on these places it is important to fish the seam line created by the current as they will use this area to feed. Down the river fish are still being caught on an Alabama rig and rattle trap out of the grass and gravel points. With the amount of current flowing through Pickwick right now it is important to focus on the areas where there are current breaks and key in on the bite. Good luck!
Tims Ford – 11-30-23
Forecast Contributor Captain Jake Davis – Follow on Facebook
Please use caution as the lake levels have dropped for the winter drawdown. The water temps between 57 and 60 degrees depending on area of the lake. Good news is it’s making for some great early winter fishing. Our better fish came on a ½ ounce Tightline Green Tequila Jig this week work around brush piles in 4 to 12 foot of water. Sped Craws, Crankbaits, and Finesse worms around cover are good as well. Best times have moved to the mid-day and late afternoons.
Best lures have been Tightline Mussel Crawler jigs tipped with Twin Tail grub. Texas Rigged creature baits, produced as well. Stripe and rock fish are still can be found off points, on river channel bends with bucktail jigs, swimbaits and live bait. Lake temperatures are between 62 and 66 degrees and the lake level is 877.61 which puts the lake about 11 feet below summer pool and some ramps will be usable. Best ramps are Rock Creek, Lost Creek, Turkey Creek and Devils Step. Please wear your life vest all the time while on the water and watch for floating logs. Give me a call to book your trip, Capt. Jake 615-613-2382 or msbassguide@comcast.net
Wilbur Tailwater – 1-10-24
Forecast Contributor – Richard Markland, Region 4 Fisheries Technician
Tailwater Conditions– Tailwaters elevation 1585.75. Avg discharge is 240 cfm. The water temperature is 40-45* on the upper end of the tailwater. Water clarity is clear top to bottom. The fishing conditions change throughout the length of the tailwaters with flow rates and temperature.
Trout- Fishing is good. The most productive areas are Wilbur Dam downstream to Hunter area, not a lot of big fish but if you are looking for numbers the upper end is the place to be. Trout are being caught using Rapalas, Night crawler, Rooster tails, Small Flies.
Woods Reservoir 11-30-23
Forecast Contributor Captain Jake Davis – Follow on Facebook
Its Duck Season, please be mindful of hunters and as a reminder the lower end of the lake is off limits for all. Grass remains the name of the game, Bass and Crappie all can be found along grass edges and on deeper cover. Best numbers are still coming on a shaky head rigged finesse worm. We found our better fish in 6 to 10 foot of water using Texas Rigged D-Bombs from Missile Baits and Tightline Mussel Crawler jigs tipped with Twin Tail grubs, soft plastics, spinnerbaits and A-Rigs.
Our best fish all came on a Golden Flash Jig from Tightline Jigs. Drifting/trolling with spider rigs for Crappie is picking up some nice slabs but you have to weed through the short fish. Water temperatures range from 58 and 60 degrees. Please wear your life vest all the time while on the water. Give me a call to book your trip, Capt. Jake 615-613-2382 or msbassguide@comcast.net
