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Tims Ford Lake Fishing Report

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

Tennessee’s clear highland lake: Tims Ford holds smallmouth, stripers and crappie under limestone bluffs.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Water temp
~84 F est.
Air / High
96 / 96 F
Wind
NE 1 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.

Tims Ford Lake serves up more heat: the productive hours are the dim ones. Today brings clear skies, wind NE around 1 mph, rising pressure near 1014 hPa and a high of 96. 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 98 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 / Low96 / 72 F
WindNE 1-4 mph
Pressure1013.5 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain4% cloud, 24%
Sunrise / Sunset06:19 / 19:07
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 · Overcast, 96/72 F, wind 14 mph, rain 24%

Fair or better. A 14 mph breeze puts a working chop on the banks it hits: fish the wind-blown side.

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.

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 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
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 Tims Ford 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 5 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 94 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 plus trout stamp for the tailwater. Bass and striper limits per current TWRA regulations.

Access

Tims Ford State Park ramps and marina; additional public ramps around the lake; Elk River tailwater below the dam.

About this water

A 10,700-acre TVA reservoir on the Elk River in Franklin and Moore counties, Tennessee.

Fishing Tims Ford Lake: the full guide

A TVA lake on the Elk

Tims Ford Lake covers 10,700 acres on the Elk River in south-central Tennessee, a TVA reservoir with clear water, limestone bluffs and 240 miles of shoreline. It has a strong reputation for smallmouth bass, joined by largemouth and spotted bass, striped bass that grow large on the shad base, crappie, catfish and bream. The tailwater below holds trout.

Smallmouth and stripers

Smallmouth work the bluff ends, rocky points and gravel: tubes, jerkbaits and drop-shots in the clear water, with dawn, dusk and overcast days far better than bright midday. Striped bass school over the main lake and along the channel, taking live shad down-lined in summer and topwater when they push bait up in fall.

Bass, crappie and the tailwater

Largemouth hold the brushier coves, docks and any grass. Crappie stack the brush piles and bridge structure at 10-25 feet, with strong spring and fall bites. Below Tims Ford Dam, the Elk River is a stocked trout tailwater with a growing reputation, offering a completely different fishery within minutes of the lake ramps.

Franklin County logistics

Tims Ford State Park provides ramps, cabins, camping and a marina, with additional public access around the lake. Winchester and Tullahoma are the nearby towns, and the lake sits within easy reach of Chattanooga and Huntsville. Summer weekends bring recreational traffic to the main lake: the creek arms stay quieter.

Common questions

Is the smallmouth fishing good?

It is the lake’s strongest reputation: clear water over rock and gravel produces quality fish, best in low light.

Are there trout?

In the tailwater below the dam: the Elk River is stocked and fishes well year-round in the cold releases.

When do stripers surface?

Fall, when schools push shad to the top on the main lake: topwater plugs get destroyed.

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: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Nearby waters

Nickajack Lake38 miDuck River52 miCenter Hill Lake53 miLake Guntersville56 miWheeler Lake59 miPercy Priest Lake60 mi
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