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Cherokee Lake Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Sep 4, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

East Tennessee's striper broadside: a Holston River TVA lake of bluffs and islands where winter gulls mark 30-pounders.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Water temp
~84 F est.
Air / High
96 / 97 F
Wind
NNE 2 mph

Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
4
September 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

2/5Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Cherokee Lake stays in its summer rhythm: early magic, midday siesta, evening reprieve. Today brings clear skies, wind NNE around 2 mph, rising pressure near 1014 hPa and a high of 97. Water sits around 84 F for the season (estimated). With the last quarter, the solunar majors run 5:39 AM-7:39 AM and 5:39 PM-7:39 PM: plan around them and beat the heat.

The plan, species by species

Striped bassGood

Deep and early: live bait on downlines over the river channel at first light, or downriggers along thermocline depth.

Catfish (blue, channel)Good

Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

Largemouth bassFair

Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

CrappieSlow

Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

Tomorrow: Similar at 99 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Sep 5, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Water and weather

Live readings.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~84 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp96 F
High / Low97 / 71 F
WindNNE 2-4 mph
Pressure1013.9 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain8% cloud, 2%
Sunrise / Sunset07:08 / 19:57
MoonLast Quarter, 50%
Water temp (seasonal)~84 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Next 7 days

Tap a day for the detailed outlook.

Fri Sep 4 · Showers, 97/71 F, wind 4 mph, rain 2%

Fair or better. Calm and stable: plan around the solunar majors at dawn and dusk.

Species guide

The species that matter on Cherokee Lake: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: spring and fall

The headline act on most American reservoirs. Relates to cover: docks, brush, grass edges and points. Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

Striped bass illustration

Striped bass

Best: spring and fall

The reservoir heavyweight. Follows shad and herring schools in open water year-round. Deep and early: live bait on downlines over the river channel at first light, or downriggers along thermocline depth.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Good year-round

The most reliable bite on most southern waters. Blues run big; channels fill the cooler. Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: Nov-Mar

Brush piles, bridge pilings and standing timber. The fish fry favorite. Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

When to come: the Cherokee Lake calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Largemouth bass
Striped bass
Catfish (blue, channel)
Crappie
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 84 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~84 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Cherokee Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Sep 3

3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Striped bass led the card at good. High of 97 F, wind to 4 mph.

Wed, Sep 2

3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Striped bass led the card at good. High of 95 F, wind to 5 mph.

Tue, Sep 1

3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Striped bass led the card at good. High of 93 F, wind to 4 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used to send you this water's report each week. No spam, ever.

Before you go

License

Tennessee requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Tennessee license. Striper: 2/day over 15 inches typical: check TWRA region 4. Winter drawdown affects ramps.

Access

Cherokee Dam, Grainger County Park, Fall Creek, German Creek ramps: verify winter usability.

About this water

28,780 acres (full pool) on the Holston River, Grainger/Hamblen/Jefferson counties, TN. Knoxville's striper water.

Fishing Cherokee Lake: the full guide

The Holston's big water

Cherokee stretches 54 miles of TVA water northeast of Knoxville: bluff-lined, island-dotted, and thermally split: a warm fertile upper end and a cooler lower lake that holds the striper program. The fishery headlines stripers and crappie with a bass supporting cast: and winter, not summer, is its trophy season.

Striper winters

December-March, gulls over shad give away the game: stripers to 30-plus pounds herding bait on the lower lake's flats and points. Live shad on planer boards and freelines, umbrella rigs between shows: the German Creek-to-dam reach is the signature beat. Summer pushes fish to the oxygen band at the dam: downlines at 25-40 ft in the cool water TVA leaves them.

Crappie towns

Cherokee's crappie culture works the standing timber and man-made piles: spring in the flooded buck brush of the upper arms, summer schools at 15-25 ft off the channel swings. The lake's drawdown (30-plus winter feet) concentrates December fish into the creek channels: locals fill freezers while the ramps sit quiet.

Drawdown geometry

TVA's deep winter drawdown redraws Cherokee annually: launch options shrink (check ramp status), islands grow, and the exposed structure maps the year ahead. Spring's refill floods fresh cover and lights the bass-and-crappie shallows: the lake breathes in feet, and its anglers plan by the curve.

Common questions

When is striper season on Cherokee?

Winter: December-March under the birds is the trophy window. Summer survives at the dam's cool band: but the gull weeks are why the lake is famous.

How far down does Cherokee drop in winter?

Commonly 30-plus feet: TVA flood storage. Check ramp reports before towing: and treat the drawdown as scouting season for the refill bite.

Is fishing good at Cherokee Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Nearby waters

Douglas Lake21 miNorris Lake23 miClinch River47 miBoone Lake63 miTellico River63 miWatts Bar Lake68 mi
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