Center Hill – 8-7-24
Forecast Contributor – Will Schibig, Region III Creel Clerk.
Reservoir Conditions-
Center Hill Dam is generating, on average, 2,300 cfs per day. Water levels are stable at 640’. Surface water temperatures remain high, from 85-87 degrees reservoir wide. Water clarity is 4-7’ reservoir wide. Baitfish are close to the surface, 5-15’ down in the channel. Please practice good fish care during warm water conditions.
Bass- Fishing is good. Anglers are getting a bit of a shallow bite flipping the channel swing walls in the backs of major creek arms in 5-10 FOW. Anglers on the main lake are getting bit dragging bottom contact baits like Ned rigs, jigs, or shaky heads in 14-16 FOW around chunk rock banks. Gravel rounds in the same depth range with the same baits are producing as well.
Walleye- Fishing is good. Trolling worm harness rigs or crankbaits around offshore structure or just off gravel banks is producing fish in 18-25 FOW.
Catfish- Fishing is good. Catfish are still being caught in open water either suspended 10-15’ down or off a gravel bottom in 20-25 FOW. Worms has been the best bait.
Chickamauga Reservoir July 26th – July 29th, 2024
Forecast Contributor – Nathan Rogers, Region III Creel Clerk
The weather has been cloudy and rainy most of the weekend with thunderstorms hitting nearly every afternoon. This has caused water temps to cool slightly throughout the lake. Current has begun to increase due to the influx of rain in the area. The water levels are about half a foot above normal full pool; the 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 (Middle Section): 81.7 degrees Fahrenheit
Tennessee River (Lower Section): 83.3 degrees Fahrenheit
Water Clarity:
Tennessee River (River Channel): 3 feet
Creeks/Inlets: 2 feet
Water Level: 682.15 feet
Water Flow: (as of July 29th)
Watts Bar Dam: ~ 46200 cfs
Chickamauga Dam: ~ 47540 cfs
Observed Species Information
Bass: Fishing is fair. Anglers seemed to get more bites fishing humps/ledges off of main river and creek channels. The most successful technique observed was fishing deeper flats and humps (15-20 feet) adjacent to main channel with deep diving crankbaits and swimbaits. Many anglers are also finding success on laydowns and flats throwing spinnerbaits, chatter baits and also finesse techniques (Wacky, Texas, and Dropshot). Topwater bites are picking up over shallow grass flats as well. Live bait is the most successful method observed to catch larger fish.
Chickamauga – 8-7-24
Forecast Contributor – Billy Wheat, Follow on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/riprapfishingadventures and www.riprapfishing.net
Chickamauga is crazy right now! High water and current can make an unbelievable day. The shell beds and bluff breaks are awesome with a handful of baits from a Chatterbait to a Glide! The grass beds are fire as they pull to the edges to feed. The deep bite is a Minner or a blade bait! The big worm is definitely something to keep in hand. Remember stay light in the grass and heavy on the shell beds!
Douglas Lake 8-7-24
Forecast Contributor Brad Burkhart – Follow on Facebook
Good morning, everyone. Hope all is well. It’s HOT I mean it ain’t middle of September hot, but we are well on our way. With that being said, don’t think I’m crazy but the bass are starting to move back somewhat shallow. I’ve had good success targeting bluffs and they’re a specific reason. The distance needed to move shallow from deep back and forth is shorter than those bass that are living at the end of a break on the main channel.
Early morning try topwater and glide baits, mid-day focus on the wood with a shakey head or big worm. And lye afternoon stick to a big walking topwater like a spook around the ends of laydowns with shade. Watch your electronics, the bait will tell you the zone you need to target.
Good luck. God bless.
Message me to book a trip.
Brad Burkhart
@bradburkhartprofishing
Fall Creek Falls 8-7-24.
Forecast Contributor Casey Haston – FCF boat dock staff.
Lake Conditions – Fishing is still fair despite the hot weather. Fishing early morning and late evening, as well as cloudy/drizzly days seems to get the best results.
As the day heats up you may do better finding shaded areas to try. Surface water temperature is 84°-87°F and water clarity is about 3ft near the Boat Dock.
Ten automatic feeders are in use as well, they go off twice a day, currently at 6:00am and 7:30pm. The feeders may also be good place to try your luck!
Largemouth Bass: Fishing is slow to fair, again for bass you might have better luck early or late in the day. The topwater bite is definitely better during those times!
Some bass have been caught on weightless plastic worms, finesse worms, speed craws, also Ned rigs. Live bait like minnows is always a good option!
Bluegill and Redear Sunfish: Fishing for bluegill is actually pretty good, still catching some nice bluegill! Redear bite is kind of slow but still a few being caught.
Bluegill are mostly being caught on crickets and red worms, redear seem to like night crawlers or red worms better. Some bluegill being caught near the feeders early and late in the day, maybe find the shade or deeper water as the day heats up!
Catfish: Fishing is good! There has been some really nice catfish caught on various baits like chicken liver, hot dogs, worms, crickets, stink bait and live minnows.
The feeders are a good place to try but catfish have been caught near the dam, the cabins and several different areas!
Crappie: Fishing is slow for the crappie but there have been a few caught on live minnows, sometimes Bobby Garlands, or a small grub. Deeper underwater
structures, docks, or sunken treetops might be good places to try.
Hiwassee River below Appalachia Powerhouse – 6-27-24
Forecast Contributor- Tic Smith/Southeastern Anglers Guide Service
NOTE- Mr. Smith will be guiding in KY until October and will not be able to provide Hiwassee reports until then.
River Conditions
Water temp- 60 to 72 degrees
Water clarity – clear
Water level – flows vary from 0 to 2 generators (Go to TVA.com to check flow schedules) This tailwater schedule is posted after 6pm the previous day. Click on Lake Levels then Apalachia to view info.
River Conditions- The water temps are rising to lethal levels during periods of 0 generation. The heat wave and lack of rain have combined to make the fishing very difficult. When the water is running, it is cold enough for the trout but when the generators are at 0, the temps are shutting the trout down. Fishing is not good now.
Hatches – a few Sulphurs and Isonychias
Terrestrials, such as hoppers and ants are good flies to throw. Wooly buggers in sizes 6 to 10 are always productive. Olive on sunny days and black on cloudy ones are a good rule to go by. Larger streamers are productive when 2 generators are running.
Kentucky Lake 8-8-24
By Steve McCadams, Professional Guide/Outdoor Writer (stevemc@charter.net)
CATFISH/WHITE BASS BITE DEPENDENT ON CURRENT
Decent stringers of catfish continue to show up in the creel of mid-summer anglers. Scattered sightings of surface schooling white bass have also been reported but the activity has been inconsistent. Despite hot weather a few anglers are still hitting the lake in the early morning and logging a few hours of fishing but throwing in the towel when a stubborn sun takes over and calls the shots.
Kentucky Lake’s elevation continues to fall slowly and is pretty much on schedule for TVA’s winter drawdown that began July 1. Lake levels this week were in the 357.4 range at Kentucky Dam, which is down a few inches from last week. Surface temperatures reflect the warm weather and are hanging around the 89-to-92-degree range. Some brief periods of cool weather offered a short reprieve from the hot and humid dog days of summer, but the honeymoon was short as August is living up to its hot reputation.
Current out on the main Tennessee River channel has a lot of influence on the midsummer catfish bite. There have been a few decent reports from successful anglers whenever the flow was stimulating the shad schools to move about. Other days a downright sluggish bite was the norm as a lack of current turns off the aggressive bite as balls of baitfish just don’t meander about when stagnant water takes over.
Lately TVA has been pushing some water through Kentucky Dam at a rate of 28,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) and that is enough to produce a decent bite and put ole’ whiskers on the prowl. However, when current fades away so does the bite. Catfish have been taken in the 40-to-50-foot depth range. Some even deeper at times. Watching the sonar screen and monitoring the depths and locations of schooling shad helps locate the catfish, which are usually laying right there with them. Experienced anglers have learned to pinpoint the whereabouts of larger fish too, adjusting their bait and depth presentation right in the face of finicky fish.
Nightcrawlers, cut bait, chicken livers and a host of commercial baits have paid dividends. Unfortunately, the old tried and true bait that is no longer available for most fishermen are catalpa worms.
Scattered reports of surface feeding frenzies from schooling white bass are coming in from across the reservoir. August is usually prime time for these aggressive feeders that tear up the surface once they corral a school of shad and push them over shallow sandbars. Found mostly near the main Tennessee River channel banks that rise up to shallow sandbars, white bass bust the surface on a calm day as they ambush schools of threadfin and gizzard shad. It is indeed one of fishing’s finest hours to be in the midst of a white bass jump, commonly referred to as stripes. These aggressive gamefish put up a fight. Average size is usually in the ¾ to 1-pound range, but they often grow bigger. They all fight.
About the best approach is to cruise the edges of the river channel, keeping a sharp eye out for surface activity. In the mouth of some of the large bays that empty into the main channel are likely spots.
Some bass fishermen are still working the main lake ledges tossing mostly Texas rigged worms, Carolina rigs, swim baits and huge deep diving crankbaits.
Summer crappie have been showing up too but in low numbers. Most successful anglers credit their catches to deep structure in the 18-to-25-foot depth range while using live minnows for bait.
Nickajack Lake – 7-25-24
Forecast Contributor Ethan Castle – Whitwell High School Bass Team
Fishing has been good for the most part and has not slowed down. Water temps have been ranging in the mid to high 80s. The fish seem to be biting in a bunch of different ways lately. I have still been staying offshore for the most part doing a lot of graphing trying to find big schools in 18 to 20 feet of water throwing a big crankbait in chartreuse blue back for the most part, on the slower days you can throw a big worm in plum or June bug and a big football jig in a blue craw color. There are a few good mats of grass starting to show up in the river that you can throw a frog on in the mornings and evenings especially if they have some current flowing.
Normandy Lake – 7-25-24
Forecast Contributor Captain Jake Davis – Follow on Facebook
Normandy produces some good fish and especially in the morning and late evening hours. Current water levels are at 874.08 and headed down to 873.98 by Sunday morning. Crankbaits, Texas Rigs or Tightline Jigs have been our go to. We found several really nice bass using shaky heads at the end of points in 10 to 15 feet of water. Walleye can be caught trolling crankbaits or drifting minnows/crawler harnesses on flats and in the river. Keep an eye on the habitat that TWRA and TN Bass Nation put out the last couple years Water temperatures range from 85 to 88 degrees. For more information call Jake Davis at 615.613.2382 Please wear your life vest all the time while on the water. Capt. Jake 615-613-2382 or msbassguide@comcast.net
Percy Priest – 8-8-24
Forecast Contributor Brian Carper – briancarper.com – Follow on Facebook
Although the fishing has still been a grind the bass have been a little more aggressive with the cooler temperatures last week. Continued patterns with crankbaits and plastic worms fished on 3/16oz shaky head has been the most productive. Color patterns in red or green pumpkin have been successful. Bass have been concentrating in 6 to 20 feet of water on points, humps and ledges near the main channel. The water temperature has been staying in the mid-80s and ending in the upper 80s by the end of the day.
For more information or Book your trip today at www.briancarper.com
