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Percy Priest Lake Fishing Report

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

Nashville's home lake: hybrids under the birds, smallmouth on the rocks, ten minutes from downtown.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Flow
5 cfs
Air / High
98 / 99 F
Wind
NE 4 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 03429498, 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.

Percy Priest Lake locks in another hot, bright day: the fish know the drill and so should you. The river is running 5 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings clear skies, wind NE around 4 mph, steady pressure near 1013 hPa and a high of 99. 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

Hybrid striped bassGood

Schooling at first light over main-lake humps and channel edges. Slabs, tail spinners and live shad once you mark bait. It is usually over by mid-morning.

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 100 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 from STEWARTS CREEK AT SMYRNA,TN.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 03429498.

30761215 cfs08/0508/1508/2509/04

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp98 F
High / Low99 / 76 F
WindNE 4-5 mph
Pressure1013.1 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain2% cloud, 11%
Sunrise / Sunset06:20 / 19:09
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 · Partly cloudy, 99/76 F, wind 5 mph, rain 11%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Percy Priest 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.

Hybrid striped bass illustration

Hybrid striped bass

Best: Jun-Sep

Stocked white bass x striper cross. Open-water shad chasers; birds and busting bait give them away. Schooling at first light over main-lake humps and channel edges. Slabs, tail spinners and live shad once you mark bait. It is usually over by mid-morning.

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 Percy Priest 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
Hybrid 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 Percy Priest Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Sep 3

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Hybrid striped bass led the card at good. High of 100 F, wind to 6 mph.

Wed, Sep 2

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

Tue, Sep 1

3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Hybrid striped bass led the card at good. High of 96 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

Hybrid/striper combined 2 over 15 inches: check TWRA. Smallmouth 18-inch protective on portions.

Access

Elm Hill Marina, Seven Points, Fate Sanders, Hurricane Creek ramps.

About this water

14,200 acres on the Stones River, Davidson/Rutherford counties, TN. Corps, impounded 1968.

Fishing Percy Priest Lake: the full guide

Music City's water

Percy Priest gives Nashville a real fishery inside the beltway: winter gulls mark hybrid schools chasing shad, smallmouth and largemouth split the rocky banks and creek flats, and night tournaments rule the summer. The Stones River arms add crappie brush and calmer water when the main lake churns with boats.

Metro rockfish mornings

Priest sits fifteen minutes from Nashville and fishes like it has something to prove: dawn hybrid-striper blitzes off Seven Points and the Hamilton Creek humps, slabs and flukes into the sprays. The bite is a commuter special: fish it before work; the schools rest by nine.

Island-hop smallmouth

The lower lake's rock islands and gravel points hold a serious smallmouth cut: float-n-fly winters, Ned rig springs, night crawlers on the deep ledges in summer heat. Tennessee's urban brown-fish program hides in plain sight.

Common questions

Best quick trip from downtown Nashville?

Elm Hill at dawn: run to the nearest hump line, watch for surface sprays, keep a fluke tied on. Two hours often fills the morning quota.

Crappie infrastructure downtown

Priest's crappie program runs on planted cover: TWRA's published brush piles and stake beds dot the Stones River arms at 10-20 ft, refreshed annually and mapped online. Spring pushes slabs into the buckbrush; summer stacks them on the piles where slow-trolled jigs convert. It is Nashville's family-limit fishery: coordinates public, results reliable.

Can you fish Percy Priest from shore?

Widely: Long Hunter State Park's shoreline, the dam's tailwater access, and Hamilton Creek's banks all produce. The park's Couchville Lake adds a no-boat family option.

Is fishing good at Percy Priest 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

Old Hickory Lake17 miCaney Fork River39 miDuck River42 miCenter Hill Lake51 miTims Ford Lake60 miBarren River Lake62 mi
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