Tennessee holds the two poles of American bass fishing: Dale Hollow, where the world-record smallmouth has reigned since 1955, and Chickamauga, the TVA grass lake that turned Florida-strain stockings into a modern big-bass phenomenon.
Reports current for Friday, September 4
Live verdicts from this morning's reports.
The smallmouth Mecca: home of the 11-lb 15-oz world record that has stood since 1955.
Tennessee's big-bass phenomenon: TVA grass, Florida genetics and 15-pounders within sight of Chattanooga.
The Highland giant: deep, clear, and home to some of the biggest smallmouth in the South.
TVA's first lake: 34,000 clear acres of stripers, smallmouth and houseboat coves.
The crappie machine of East Tennessee, in the Smokies' shadow.
The TVA main-stem sleeper: ledges, grass and fifty-bass days between Knoxville and Chattanooga.
Nashville's home lake: hybrids under the birds, smallmouth on the rocks, ten minutes from downtown.
The Tri-Cities' comeback lake: refilled, restocked and fishing better every season.
Nashville's neighbor lake: Cumberland River current, music-money docks and a stripe-and-crappie fishery that plays every day of the year.
Tennessee's alpine imposter: a 6,400-acre mountain trough where trout troll the depths, smallmouth own the banks and the Appalachian Trail crosses the dam.
East Tennessee's striper broadside: a Holston River TVA lake of bluffs and islands where winter gulls mark 30-pounders.
The earthquake lake: cypress towers over stump-field shallows in Tennessee's crappie cathedral, born of the New Madrid quakes.
The border highlands' twin star: smallmouth over flooded bluffs, the famous tailwater below and a two-state lake wearing TVA calm.
Chattanooga's river gorge: the TVA pool where the Grand Canyon of the Tennessee narrows, bass hug the bluffs and stripers ride the dam flow.
East Tennessee’s other great tailwater: the Watauga below Wilbur Dam pairs wild browns with float-fishing ease through Elizabethton.
The Cherokee National Forest’s trout artery: Tellico pairs roadside stockers with backcountry wild water and a March hatchery parade.
Tennessee’s clear highland lake: Tims Ford holds smallmouth, stripers and crappie under limestone bluffs.
Tennessee’s trophy trout tailwater: the Clinch below Norris grows browns that draw anglers from three states.
The most biodiverse river in North America: the Duck runs smallmouth through Tennessee farm country.
Center Hill’s tailwater: the Caney Fork runs cold trout water through middle Tennessee.
Tennessee’s mountain tailwater: the Hiwassee runs trout through the Cherokee National Forest.
Species activity across the state's covered waters. Peak of the year: March.
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.
Seasonal surface curve for this state's dominant water type (estimated).
| Water | Type | County | Live gauge | Peak month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dale Hollow Lake | Reservoir | Overton | USGS | Mar |
| Chickamauga Lake | Reservoir | Meigs | USGS | Mar |
| Center Hill Lake | Reservoir | Warren | USGS | Mar |
| Norris Lake | Reservoir | Union | USGS | Mar |
| Douglas Lake | Reservoir | Jefferson | modeled | Mar |
| Watts Bar Lake | Reservoir | Roane | USGS | Mar |
| Percy Priest Lake | Reservoir | Davidson | USGS | Mar |
| Boone Lake | Reservoir | Washington | USGS | Mar |
| Old Hickory Lake | Reservoir | Sumner | modeled | Mar |
| Watauga Lake | Reservoir | Carter | modeled | May |
| Cherokee Lake | Reservoir | Grainger | modeled | Mar |
| Reelfoot Lake | Lake | Lake | modeled | Mar |
| South Holston Lake | Reservoir | Sullivan | modeled | May |
| Nickajack Lake | Reservoir | Marion | modeled | Mar |
| Watauga River | River | Carter | USGS | Apr |
| Tellico River | River | Monroe | USGS | Apr |
| Tims Ford Lake | Reservoir | Franklin | modeled | Mar |
| Clinch River | River | Anderson | USGS | Apr |
| Duck River | River | Maury | USGS | May |
| Caney Fork River | River | Smith | modeled | Apr |
| Hiwassee River | River | Polk | modeled | Apr |
Tennessee's fishing geography is vertical: the Cumberland Plateau's deep, clear highland reservoirs (Dale Hollow, Center Hill) grow record smallmouth in their depths, while the TVA main-stem lakes (Chickamauga, Kentucky's south end) run on current and grass. Below almost every dam lies a tailwater: the Caney Fork, Clinch and South Holston offer year-round trout in the shadow of bass country, and the South Holston's wild browns rival any river east of Montana.
Winter: float-and-fly season for giant smallmouth: cold, slow and worth it. Spring: Chickamauga's giants bed, crappie fill the creeks, tailwater sulphurs begin. Summer: ledge fishing on the TVA chain when generators run, trout tailwaters on the off-hours. Fall: topwater smallmouth over open water: perhaps the state's finest hour.
A Tennessee winter invention: a tiny hair jig under a float, fished glacially slow for suspended smallmouth on 45-55 F highland water. Dale Hollow is its cathedral.