TWRA Weekly Fishing Forecast
TWRA Weekly Fishing Forecast
NOTE – The TWRA wants to build a comprehensive report each week of the state’s lakes. If you do not see a report for your favorite lake and you are someone who can provide a report, please contact us at Ask.TWRA@tn.gov and provide us with your contact information.
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Boone Reservoir – 9-20-23
Forecast Contributor – Richard Markland, Region 4 Fisheries Technician
Reservoir Conditions– Reservoir elevation is 1379.52. The water temperature is 75.1* degrees. Water clarity 10’ visibility.
Bass– Fishing is good – As the water cools the bite should pick up. Largemouth, Spots and Smallmouth are being caught on small shad like baits, spinnerbaits, Ned rigs, plastic finesse worms, soft jerk baits, creature baits, jigs by fishing along rocky points, standing brush or around docks. Topwater early morning and late evening. Some LMB are being caught trolling plugs and live bait.
Crappie– No Report
Trout– No report
Striped Bass/Hybrid Bass– Fishing is slow. Most of the fish are being caught around Davis Dock up to Bluff City area on Holston side and Watauga Flats area using spoons or trolling live shad or trout 20’ and using chicken livers fishing from the bank.
Sunfish– Fishing is good – Fishing from fishing piers at Wingdeer Park using crickets, worms. Fishing around laydowns is always a good place to fish.
Chickamauga Lake – 10-4-23
Forecast Contributor – Billy Wheat, Follow on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/
The water is on a constant fall maybe it will stall at this level for a few days because stability is good thing in the fall. The mats are great in places finding the zone is key which requires much trial and error unless you see blow holes in a continuous line. That tells you that is the depth and type of grass you need to cover. The frog and toad are it. The other part of mat fishing is punching and flipping. 1oz to 1-3/4 oz punch weight is key for reaction bites through the mat.
The scattered more open grass requires a 1/2 to 3/4 bigger bulkier bait like a D Bomb or wide creature bait. The heavy mats require a more narrow bait to get in and out quickly to cover water. The buzz bait and Pop-Rs are on when the minnow munchers are on the loose! The Chatterbait and Swim Jig and Swimbait are the shell beds and flats killers. The water levels are getting low be careful use your electronics. Always wear your kill switch and life jacket. Water level is 679. Water temperature is varying from 68-71.
Dale Hollow – 10-11-23
Forecast Contributor – Will Schibig, Region III Creel Clerk.
Reservoir Conditions
Lake elevation is at winter pool at 639’. Dale Hollow Dam is generating, on average, 800 cfs per day. Water clarity has an average visibility of 8-12’ on the main lake. Surface water temperatures has dropped to an average of 74 degrees during the day. The cool nights are dropping the surface temps which will improve the fishing. After a week of cool nights, the fish will get used to the drop-in temperature and start becoming more active in chasing baitfish and moving shallow in the creeks.
Bass- Fishing is slow. The bass are still suspended near bait in deep water. One of the only ways to access these fish is utilizing front-facing sonar with a Damiki rig or spoon. The fish are either 10’ down or 40’ down it depends on the time of day. You can also troll crankbaits in 20’. As the water cools, the suspended fish will start pushing bait to the bank or shallow flats and can be caught a lot easier.
Crappie- Fishing is good. Crappie on the upper end are being caught near the channel in creeks or the main lake in 20-25’ near structure. You can utilize front-facing sonar with these fish in the brush or pick off the larger fish suspended in the channel.
Sunfish-Fishing is good. Anglers are catching redear and bluegill on main lake gravel points with worms on the bottom. If the points have stumps or grass, even better.
Douglas Lake – 10-12-23
Forecast Contributor Brad Burkhart – Follow on Facebook
Hello everyone. Hope all is well. The weekend is finally here, and I bet a lot of y’all are headed fishing.
Douglas has been both good and bad as of late, just like every lake every fall. But the days that are producing the best are the somewhat cloudy but always windy days. I know we can’t pick or weather, but we can pick our days…..so to ensure you have a good day, put the odds in your favor. Those cooler mornings are great for topwater which is picking up daily. And the windy afternoons are made for one thing…..a spinner bait. Add some shallow cover such as brush, docks or rocks and just burn the banks down.
Good luck to everyone this week on the water and as always God bless.
Brad Burkhart
Killer Bass Pro Guide Service
@bradburkhartprofishing
Fall Creek Falls – 9-25-23
Forecast Contributor – Region 3 Fisheries Staff.
Lake Conditions– Fishing has improved for all species as we’ve moved into fall. Surface water temperature has dropped to around 75°F and water clarity is 3 ft. Ten automatic fish feeders are currently in use. Feeders are located near the dam, the lakeside cabins, the lodge, and the boat dock.
Largemouth Bass: Fishing is good. Bass fishing has improved with the cooler temperatures. Bass are being caught along the banks, but more fish are being caught offshore. Try shaky heads, soft plastics, or topwater lures along the bank. If you are fishing offshore, try to find schools of shad or target points and ledges with swimbaits and mister twisters. The thermocline is around 20 ft deep right now and Largemouth are being caught in 10-15 ft of water. Daily bass creel limit is 10 fish per day and only 1 (one) over 16 inches may be harvested.
Bluegill and Redear Sunfish: Fishing is good. Anglers are catching Bluegill and Redear on a variety of baits and tackle. Red worms and crickets are always a safe bet, but artificial flies and small jigs are also working. Try fishing near one of the fish feeders, a fish habitat structure, or natural brush in the lake. Daily Bluegill/Redear (in combination) creel limit is 10 per day, no length limit.
Catfish: Fishing is good. Fishing for Catfish is best during the low light periods of the morning and the evening. Fishing is especially good in the evening. Chicken livers, nightcrawlers, and Bluegill are all producing catfish (The Bluegill creel limit still applies when using Bluegill as bait). Catfish can be caught around the fish feeders and the boat dock, but other underwater flats and ditches can be productive. Daily catfish creel limit is 5 per day, 16-inch minimum length limit.
Crappie: Fishing is good. Crappie are being caught from the fishing piers and around fish habitat structures. Live minnows are working best, but jigging can also work. Anglers have reported catching some nice size Crappie in the past several weeks. There is no creel or length limit on crappie at Fall Creek Falls Lake.
Hiwassee River below Appalachia Powerhouse – 10-5-23
Forecast Contributor- Tic Smith/Southeastern Anglers Guide Service
Water temp – 68
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– delayed harvest season has begun! The cooler weather coming this weekend is really going to Kickstart the fishing for trout. Until we a frost or two, terrestrials on the banks will be productive. Caddis and blue wing olives will be out during the during the day. October
Caddis larvae and soft hackles are going to be good flies to throw for the next few weeks. Lake turnover upstream will happen soon and that can slow the fishing for a few days but after that flushes out, we will have great fishing.
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
Spin fishing is productive with 1/8 and 1/16th gold bladed spinners. Small Rapalas are productive during the higher flows.
Kentucky Lake 10-11-23
By Steve McCadams, Professional Guide/Outdoor Writer (stevemc@charter.net)
IT’S GREAT OUT ON THE LAKE…AUTUMN INVITES YOU
Waiting for nice weather before heading out on the lake? Wait no longer. Autumn is in full swing and invites you to partake of this wonderful season of transition. Mild temperatures are the norm. Light winds too. Jacket mornings and shirt sleeve afternoons are here. Last weekend’s cool snap sort of helped jump start a sluggish fall that had gotten hung in the summer mode position. A long stretch of hot and dry weather had folks wondering if fall had passed us by. Not to worry. It’s alive and well on Kentucky Lake.
Since last week surface temperatures have cooled slightly and another weekend cold front is in the forecast. An extended spell of chilly weather is expected to hang around next week too. It appears adding another log to the fire is about to enter the picture. Surface temps this week have been in the 77-to-78-degree range. That will likely fall a few degrees in the days ahead.
Watercolor remains clear. Very little rain has fallen in the region lately. Lake levels are sleeping around the low elevation of 354.9, which is on the threshold of the low ebb of winter pool. The reservoir has been stable these last few weeks. Discharge rates out of Kentucky Dam have been in the 25,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) range.
The fall crappie bite has improved somewhat as a few more fish are moving up and showing more interest. Some decent stringers have been taken recently by anglers vertical fishing live minnows and jigs around the 8-to-13-foot depth range. Some anglers reported some good size crappie taken from the deeper depth range of 16 to 18 feet at times. Up Big Sandy there were fish taken in the midrange depths of 5 to 8 feet.
It’s not uncommon for the shallow bite to turn on somewhat quicker in the upper end of Big Sandy and throughout West Sandy. Fall crappie fishing is often overlooked and underrated. You can fight fish without having to fight the crowd.
These next few weeks will see cooler surface temperatures entering the fishing scene. Transition time is indeed underway out on the lake and up on the hillsides. Fall colors are fading fast but peak is a couple of weeks away. Watch for that shallow bite to improve all across the reservoir, especially on cloudy or rainy days that help filter out the bright sunlight.
Catfish have still been hitting for those who know how to find them out on the main river areas as they follow the balls of baitfish. Shad schooling in huge balls will usually have the catfish in hot pursuit. Depths can vary from 25 to 45 feet at times, but the blue cats have been hitting pretty good at times. Meanwhile, several nice channel catfish are showing up in midrange depths of 10 to 15 feet as crappie anglers working stake beds and brush piles are tying into some on a regular basis. It’s quite a thrill to battle a 3-to-4-pound catfish on light tackle. That’s happening daily for crappie anglers too.
Bass fishermen are still finding the fall bite challenging. Clear water conditions have had shallow bass finicky as most of the better tournament stringers are coming from deeper water humps and sandbars. The best stringers taken by tournament winners are being credited to fishing swim baits out on ledges or humps inside the mouth of big bays. Several nice smallmouth are showing up too!
More shad have moved up on gravel banks this week and flicking about, feeding on midge hatches. The tiny insects hatch in lowlight conditions throughout the fall, offering some nice topwater opportunities along open gravel flats and shady banks. That shallow gravel bank topwater bite occurs in the early morning and late afternoon hours. However, sometimes it kicks in on a cloudy day even at midday.
Other patterns producing a few fish are boat docks where anglers have been tossing shallow running shad-colored crankbaits and pitching jig/pig combos and various Texas rigged worm variations or slow falling baits.
Autumn angling has definitely arrived. These next few weeks offer some great fishing and beautiful scenery so don’t that this wonderful season get away from you. Taking a pontoon cruise in the late afternoon is quite nice but all boaters best use caution and pay close attention to channel markers. That low lake level will humble you!
Normandy Lake – 10-12-23
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 872.73 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 72 to 75 degrees. Please wear your life vest all the time while on the water. Capt. Jake 615-613-2382 or msbassguide@comcast.net
Norris Lake – 10-3-23
Forecast Contributor – Paul Shaw, Norris Creel Clerk.
Water Temp: 74 to 82 degrees
Water Clarity: 4 to 6 feet, good color.
Water Elevation: 1,011.6 feet (midnight) The lake level is steadily dropping for the Fall drawdown. It has dropped a foot since last week. TVA’s Operating Guide predicts the elevation to be 1,010.2 by October 1. Check the free TVA Lake Info app for daily elevations, predictions, and flow rates.
Summary: Periods of discharge through the dam and the resultant drawdown will increase bass and other predatory species’ movement and feeding. The thermocline will drop deeper as the lake level drops. Those trolling for species such as walleye should fish deeper as the lake level drops.
Largemouth Bass: Moderate. Same pattern with more catches coming in early in the day. On sunny days, fish shade-producing structure on moderately sloped broken rock shorelines. Early morning, before the sunlight hits the water, and night catches, are being made in shallower coves and points. Drop shot rigs, pig ‘n jigs, Brush Hawgs, Carolina Rigged lizards on the points and near structure from 5 to 20 feet. Some are coming in on deep crankbaits.
Smallmouth Bass: Moderate to good. 25 feet on points during drawdown periods and at that depth on broken rock, moderately sloped shorelines. Shallower at night. Early mornings and late afternoons to dusk on windy or cloudy days are best. Pig ‘n jigs, drop shot rigs, Brush Hogs, live shiners have produced. Steep, broken rock banks and far out on long points at 20 to 25 feet. Slow-rolled willow leaf spinners dropped down rocky, moderately sloped shorelines are good especially at night.
Walleye: Slow. Daylight trolling with Bill Normans, Thundersticks, 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. As the drawdown continues, the thermocline will get deeper.
Bluegill: Good. Fish the coves and steep, rocky banks near wood structure with crickets tightlined from 10 feet to as deep as 20 feet, depending upon the slope. Tightline crickets with a split shot and 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. Move along the shoreline until you find them. Beetle spins, Rooster Tails are good artificials if you are afraid of a cricket or cannot find any. Popping bugs on flyrod can provide good action just after the break of day. After the sun comes up, the larger ones will drop off deep and the small, shallow water specimens will seek refuge from the sun in shoreline brush or timber.
Shellcrackers: Slow. The flurry of catches during the past couple of weeks has subsided. Fish the back of larger creeks or in shallow coves next to downed timber or flooded brush. Mill Creek, Lost Creek, Poor Land Creek, some in Sycamore Creek. Red worms, night crawlers, wax worms, small minnows, small spinners. Less than 10 feet, on the bottom.
Crappie: Moderate, improving. Fair at night under lights in Sycamore Creek, and in the early morning hours before the sun hits the water. As the morning progresses, these fish drop deeper into shoreline woody structure. 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. Shiners or tuffy minnows tightlined to 10-15 feet near brush. Popeye jigs tipped with tuffy minnows, or Bobby Garlands fished either tightlined into brush (for late morning hours) or fished under a float near brush. Daytime catches, after about 9 a.m. are extremely slow. Night, under lanterns, has produced some on tightlined tuffy minnows.
Striped Bass: Moderate. The fall movement to the upper creeks and the upper end of the river arms is just starting to get underway. Finding them will become more difficult, as these fish will be on the move for the next two months. Same as last week. Dawn to about 9:30 a.m. on sunny days. The Loyston Sea area, the mouth of Lost Creek, the islands near Hickory Star. The channel from Point 19 to Stardust Marina’s vicinity as well as a few in Big Creek near Racetrack Hollow. Cove Creek remains slow. Shad or alewife, umbrella rigs, or large swimbaits trolled to depths as deep as 40 feet in those sections, shallower in the Loyston section. 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 – 9-28-23
Forecast Contributor Brian Carper – briancarper.com – Follow on Facebook
The water temperature is finally in the 60s and with the dam opening Sunday…. solid fall fishing is just around the corner. As far as the last couple weeks, the bass fishing has been kind of tough, but getting better. You can catch several short and quality bass shallow or deep, but the bites are few and far between at times. For me I’ve been fishing crankbaits in 3 to 6ft finding keepers and short bass on the upper end and mid lake. Points and drop-offs close to deeper water where bait is present has been successful.
The early morning topwater bite has been decent for the first hour. Mid lake around Hong Kong Island has been productive near boulder rocks in 1ft – 6ft of water. Other successful baits have been red crankbaits and rattle traps. However, bluff wall transitions with boulder rocks and a 3/8oz Hoppy’s jig can dominate this time of year. As the water starts falling in the next couple days, we’ll see more fish moving shallow as the crawfish have to abandon their homes and follow the water out. This is when the red crankbaits, spinnerbaits and shad raps begin to dominate.
For more information or Book your trip today at www.briancarper.com
Pickwick – 9-7-23
Forecast Contributor Tyler Finley – Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
The lake is fishing good right now, but fish are in very small areas. They are finally starting to move towards their fall time shallow pockets and grass. Fish have just about abandoned their summer offshore holes and headed to the bank. Fish can be found in the back of pockets with a whopper plopper and buzz bait. Also, there is a lot of fish in the grass up the river. These will be caught on a buzz bait and a flipping bait. For flipping I prefer a 3/4oz weight with a craw imitating bait. Once you catch one it seems that there will be more in the same area. Goodluck and enjoy some topwater blowups!
Reelfoot Lake – 10-6-23
Forecast Contributor – Brent Callicott
Fishing has been slow. Some Crappie being caught only by live scope and just a few bass. Bass fishing has been fair at best. A recent local tournament of a three bass limit saw 10.5 pounds for first place and 10 for second place.
The crappie are about 70- 80% right now caught with live scope. Very few have been caught trolling minnows and such. It’s just been crazy. The bluegill bite is also slow but still a good bait for catching catfish.
Tims Ford – 10-12-23
Forecast Contributor Captain Jake Davis – Follow on Facebook
Lake levels are dropping, and water temps are head down making for some great fall topwater and spinnerbait action. 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. Speed craws, crankbaits, and finesse worms around cover are good as well. Early mornings and Late evenings are seeing some good topwater action as fish are starting to feed for the winter. 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 73 and 75 degrees and the lake level is 886.96 which puts the lake about 1.5 feet below summer pool. Next week watch for TVA to start pulling hard which should put lots of fish on the current side of the main lake points. Please wear your life vest all the time while on the water and watch for floating logs. Capt. Jake 615-613-2382 or msbassguide@comcast.net
Watts Bar Reservoir – Sept. 23rd – Sept. 27th, 2023
Forecast Contributor – Nathan Rogers, Region III Creel Clerk
The weather was fair with partial cloud cover throughout the week. Temperatures were around the mid to upper 50’s at night and reaching as high as 82. Lake visibility was great below dams but poorer on the main lake. Water temperatures were cool throughout the riverine sections of the lake and warmer in main lake areas, but water temps are dropping throughout the lake. Water level is at normal summer pool. Fort Loudon Dam was spilling on Monday 9/25/23 causing temperatures and visibility changes.
Reservoir Conditions
Water Temp:
- Tennessee River (below Fort Loudon Dam): 71.3 degrees Fahrenheit
- Tennessee River (main lake): 78.1 degrees Fahrenheit
Water Clarity:
- Tennessee River (main lake): 4.5 feet
- Tennessee River (below Fort Loudon Dam): 2 feet
Water Level: 740.4 feet
Water Flow: (as of September 27th)
- Watts Bar Dam: ~25300 cfs
- Melton Hill Dam: 0 cfs
- Fort Loudon Dam: ~22300 cfs
Observed Species Information
Bass: Fishing is slow. Topwater and walking baits around grass or rock shelf banks are good techniques for early morning. Once the sun gets up higher and gets warmer, fishing 6-8 inch straight-tail worms in 7-15 feet deep water off creek and inlet banks. Some also found success with Ned rigs and dropshots on main channel banks and structure.
Striped Bass: Fishing is fair. Most are drifting with live bait (Shad, Bluegill, Skipjack Herring) below dams with some current. Some anglers also found success trolling downstream from dams with small crankbaits. The lack of flow from Melton Hill Dam until evenings has caused anglers to show up later or fish elsewhere. Others have resourced to trolling live bait near channel ledges and found success in absence of current. Fly fishing methods have gathered bites as well
Catfish: Fishing is fair. Most anglers find success with catfishing while anchored in main river channel and sinking cut/live bait to the bottom. Others are also trolling cut/live bait and getting bites.
Crappie: Fishing is fair. Using live minnows in creeks/inlets off of main channel over structure.
Wilbur Tailwater – 9-20-23
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 10-12-23
Forecast Contributor Captain Jake Davis – Follow on Facebook
Not much change here it’s still Grass, Grass and Grass which 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 73 and 76 degrees. Please wear your life vest all the time while on the water. Give me a call to book your trip, Summer and early Fall fishing can be lots of fun on Woods. Capt. Jake 615-613-2382 or msbassguide@comcast.net
