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Tims Ford Lake Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Middle Tennessee’s best reservoir smallmouth fishery by TWRA’s account, with stocked stripers and a trout tailwater below the dam.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~74 F est.
Air / High
74 / 74 F
Wind
ENE 1 mph

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

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 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.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Tims Ford Lake offers the kind of conditions this water was made for. Today brings clear skies, wind ENE around 1 mph, steady pressure near 1021 hPa and a high of 74. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:21 AM-11:21 AM and 9:48 PM-11:48 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Striped bassExcellent

Use electronics to find shad schools in open water, and watch for birds working over bait.

Rainbow troutExcellent

The top of this band is already stressful. In rivers fish mornings and evenings; in lakes WDFW notes rainbows turn sluggish and go deeper, so troll or suspend bait near the bottom.

Smallmouth bassGood

Post-spawn and summer feeding: cover rock, wood and current breaks with crankbaits, jigs and tubes, and use live crayfish, minnows or hellgrammites where bait is the plan.

CrappieFair

Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

Tomorrow: Similar at 73 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Before you go

Tennessee requires a fishing licence from age 13, from $33.00 for residents. What a Tennessee licence costs and where to buy it →

Chasing striped bass here? Check the size and bag limits with TWRA before you keep anything. The season dates for Tennessee, read off the agency, are on the Tennessee seasons page.

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.

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp74 F
High / Low74 / 40 F
WindENE 1-3 mph
Pressure1020.8 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset06:58 / 17:59
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~74 F est.

Bite planner

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

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Tims Ford Lake this week

The best day on Tims Ford Lake this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 5 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 — excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 — Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
9:21 AM-11:21 AM and 9:48 PM-11:48 PM
Minor period
3:42 AM-4:42 AM
Sun
06:58 to 17:59
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Partly cloudy, 5 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

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

Striped bass illustration

Striped bass

Best: spring and fall inland; on the coast, during the seasonal migrations

The largest of the temperate basses, a sea-run fish of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts that now also lives in reservoirs across much of the country after hatchery stocking. Inland, it follows schools of shad and herring through open water. Use electronics to find shad schools in open water, and watch for birds working over bait.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: the spring spawn; summer around docks, brush and the thermocline

Two slab-sided panfish, the white crappie and the black crappie, that gather around submerged timber, brush piles, docks and bridge pilings in lakes, reservoirs and slow river backwaters. Texas Parks and Wildlife counts crappie as the state's most popular panfish. Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

Smallmouth bass illustration

Smallmouth bass

Best: spring and fall, when bigger fish come shallow

A bronze-brown black bass of clear, cool streams and rocky lakes, with dark vertical bars instead of a side stripe. Michigan DNR says its southeastern coast, from Port Huron to Lake Erie, is known nationally for both the size and the number of its smallmouth. Post-spawn and summer feeding: cover rock, wood and current breaks with crankbaits, jigs and tubes, and use live crayfish, minnows or hellgrammites where bait is the plan.

Rainbow trout illustration

Rainbow trout

Spring and fall in most lakes; rivers fish year-round while the water stays cool

A cold-water trout native to Pacific drainages from Alaska to Baja California, now stocked in most states and fished in rivers, tailwaters and lakes. The top of this band is already stressful. In rivers fish mornings and evenings; in lakes WDFW notes rainbows turn sluggish and go deeper, so troll or suspend bait near the bottom.

When to come: the Tims Ford 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
Striped bass
Crappie
Smallmouth bass
Rainbow trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 74 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 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 Tims Ford Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Striped bass led the card at excellent. High of 75 F, wind to 7 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Striped bass led the card at excellent. High of 75 F, wind to 5 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Striped bass led the card at excellent. High of 74 F, wind to 7 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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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 fishing license. TWRA rules for Tims Ford: black bass 5 per day combined, largemouth 15-inch minimum, smallmouth 18-inch minimum, spotted bass no length limit; crappie 15 per day, 10-inch minimum; striped and hybrid striped bass 2 per day combined, 15-inch minimum; walleye 5 per day, 16-inch minimum. The Elk River tailwater is under TWRA special trout regulations.

Access

Fourteen free TWRA-listed access sites, including Tims Ford State Park, Tims Ford Marina, Holiday Marina, Rock Creek, Winchester City Park, Devils Step, Pleasant Grove, Turkey Creek, Neals Bridge, Anderton Branch, Lost Creek and Tims Ford Dam; canoe and kayak launches at Beth Page Bridge and Estill Springs Park.

About this water

A 10,600-acre TVA reservoir on the Elk River in south-central Tennessee, mostly in Franklin County; dam completed in 1970.

Fishing Tims Ford Lake: the full guide

A TVA lake on the Elk River

Tims Ford Reservoir is a 10,600-acre TVA impoundment in south-central Tennessee, mostly in Franklin County; the dam was completed in 1970. Full pool is 888 feet above sea level and winter pool 873 feet, and TWRA maintains 20 fish attractor sites on the lake.

Smallmouth

TWRA considers Tims Ford the best reservoir smallmouth fishery in middle Tennessee: cobble and boulder bottom over much of the middle and lower lake, plus clear water, make ideal habitat, and an 18-inch smallmouth here averages 7 years old. TWRA names late winter and early spring as excellent periods. Its standard approach is a three-inch shad-pattern swimbait on a ¼- to ½-ounce jig along cobble banks on the main channel of Hurricane, Little Hurricane and Lost creeks, switching to windblown points in fall.

Stripers and hybrids

TWRA stocks striped bass and hybrid fingerlings each year. In July and August they gather in the lower lake from Tims Ford State Park down to Lost Creek and the dam, usually around 18 to 19 feet, over humps, points and ledges near the river channel; live 4- to 5-inch shad on a down-line is the agency’s recommended bait. In early spring they move upstream from Estill Springs Park toward Woods Reservoir Dam.

Crappie and the tailwater

Blacknose black crappie stocked by Normandy Fish Hatchery make up about 80 percent of the crappie catch; fish attractors in 6 to 12 feet produce from October through May, along with docks, bridge pylons, the back of Little Hurricane Creek and the area near the Rock Creek ramp. Below Tims Ford Dam, TWRA stocks the Elk River with brook, brown, cutthroat and rainbow trout from March through December under special trout regulations.

Common questions

Is the smallmouth fishing good?

TWRA rates Tims Ford the best reservoir smallmouth fishery in middle Tennessee, and names late winter and early spring as excellent times to fish for them. Smallmouth must be 18 inches to keep.

Are there trout below the dam?

Yes. TWRA stocks brook, brown, cutthroat and rainbow trout in the Elk River below Tims Ford Dam from March through December.

Where are stripers in summer?

In the lower lake from Tims Ford State Park to Lost Creek and the dam, usually around 18 to 19 feet in July and August, according to TWRA.

Is fishing good at Tims Ford Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Nickajack Lake39 miDuck River52 miLake Guntersville56 miCenter Hill Lake57 miWheeler Lake59 miPercy Priest Lake60 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 35.2200, -86.2500 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 5, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 5, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.