Watts Bar Lake, TN - two thumbs up!

[kroppe]

Fished with my dad today on Watts Bar Lake, west of Knoxville, TN. Watts Bar is one of many lakes created by the Tennessee Valley Authority dam system. It is very big, 39,000 acres according to the TVA. Very beautiful, with bluffs and mountains everywhere you look. We fished out of my boat, launching from Spring City, TN at Rhea Harbor Marina. Dad caught a nice bass on the first cast; it was 14" and almost three pounds, on a jig with pumpkin sparkle grub. That was at 8:30 a.m. Things slowed down and we didn't catch anymore fish until about 6:00 p.m., when I got into some nice hand-sized bluegills, caught with crickets (the world's best bait BTW) under a bobber with a split shot. During the day we had a great time trying different spots all over the lake, and stopping for lunch at Spring City Boat Dock restaurant for some excellent down home country food. Weather was great - 80 degrees and no clouds (may have affected the fishing) and light breezes. Pulled the boat out at 7:30 p.m. and headed back to the place we ate lunch. They had the best BBQ ribs I have ever had, together with cole slaw and sweet tea. Doesn't get any better than that! :)

Overall, Watts Bar Lake is beautiful for boating, and the fishing was pretty good, in spite of the sparse catching for us. The lake has many marina/restaurants, places to rent house boats or cottages and several RV parks. It is quiet and laid back, and the Tennessee people are the best. I would highly recommend Watts Bar, or any other TVA lake based on the great time we had today.

p.s. Sorry no pics, forgot the camera at home.

[catfishhoge]

BJ,

Sounds like a very positive and uplifting trip for you and your father. It is sometimes not all about the catching! Hope the boat worked well and maybe some day you can get back over this way with it!

Rick

[stinger63]

I fished Watts bar lake when I lived in TN a few years ago.Its very beautiful large impoundment which offers tremendous fishing oppurtunities.You get a chance theres some beautiful Gems of lakes near the Cookville area which offer both cold water and warm water fishing oppurtinities.Center Hill lake is south and west of Cookville which is home to over 90 different resturaunts.Theres another impoundment on the Clinch river North of cookville which has superb water clarity and excellant smallmouth bass and trout fishing.

[kroppe]

Rick, yes it was some quality time spent with my dad.

Stinger, there are quite a few excellent fishing opportunities in Tennessee. I don't think us current and former Michiganders are aware of what is available there.

Day after we fished Watts Bar, I fished a small private lake in my dad's development. Caught a ton of good sized bluegills on crickets, fishing under docks. On one cast, my bobber went down, down and still further down. I thought, "Great, finally a bass!" I set the hook and realized I had more than a bluegill on the line. Lots of head shaking and bottom hugging ensued for the next 10 minutes. I was using a 5 foot ultralight with 4 lb line, and a size 12 hook, so I wanted to be careful. I eased the drag on the cheapie real I had and did my best to wear the fish out. As I brought it up, I saw that it was a big, fat catfish! I netted it and it seemed to be around 8lbs. Not a bad fish on such light tackle. Another boat of good ole TN boys was near me and I gave them the fish, which they appreciated. Great night of fishing!

[jimbobway]

I bet your decked out Yankie Lund looked sweet on those southern waters .

[quest32a]

Sounds like a nice time in a warmer climate!

[tangleknot]

I'm glad to hear you guys had such a nice time. Great weather, fishing, family, and food, what a combo! :) Nice job on the cat. :fish:

Is Watts Bar Lake like many of those kinds of lakes(dam) in TN and KY in regards to shore? Namely, there is no shore due to the rocks and cliffs? The shore edge just goes straight down and can be extremely deep.

I saw you mentioned house boats and we'd like to do a trip with the kids. I've been on Lake Cumberland a couple of times with friends but it would not work well with our kids. It would be nice to find a lake with houseboats that also had beaches.

[wapanocca]

I am suprised to see all this interest in my area. I have felt like an intruder into the MI board on the upland section. Today I looked at other MI sites and found all this interest in hog hunting and fishing in TN. Quite a shock. I live outside Knoxville. Just to the south we have a series of finger lakes in the mtns. The hold everything from brookies to largemouth bass. Except for Tellico they are never crowded. Stripers, walleyes and even lake trout abound. Last year I found three guys from MI in my honeyhole camping site......glad they found it. They were here for a week on Cheoha L. and had a ball. Same day found another MI'er with a popup on one of my favorite streams nearby. Y'all know how to 'cipher maps!!!! The finger lakes are worth the effort. I fish in a deep V G-3 rigged like a northern boat. The dealer said it was the first sold in the area. Now they are everywhere.......and I was always told Yankees didn't know much;)
Come on down, Eddy

[stinger63]

I lived in the middle Tennessee area for about 6 months and spent some time fishing Tims Ford,Wood resivor and normandy lake.Myself I would recogmend Tims Ford Lake for people to fish.Stripers,whitebass,crappy,small mouths and large mouths abound plentyful there.You got trout below the dam which is where I spent most of time fishing.Theres trout and crappy below Normandy lake also on muddy duck creek.
I stayed in cookville for a couple of weeks and fished on the river below center hill dam where I limited out almost everytime on stocker bows.Theres alot of lakes north of Knoxville and to the east also.The lakes on the Clinch river system hold excellant fishing for stripers,bass,and trout.Theres also some lakes on the Holsten river which offer good stripers and other warm water species.I never realy got much of chance to explore and fish them while I was there.I got up to the smokies a couple of times and fished some streams up that way and caught some small trout.There was a stream I used to fish alot by myself outside of some small mountain town just off of 1-40 called Newport and east of knoxville where I slaughtered the brookies.I never had any company and discovered the stream by accident one day just explorering the area and noticed trout rising and hitting something on the top of the water.I thought hemm trout rising and sure enough.From Tennessee I went north to Lake Cumberland in kentucky and stayed there for about 3 days.Huge Clear lake with many steep dropoffs and very deep crystal clear water and a trout fishermans paridise below the dam.That water coming off the bottom is about 43*-45*was great to feel refreshed in on a hot summer day.Anyways enough of my ramblings about the south,Its a very beautiful area which offers many outdoor recreational oppurtunities and you dont freeze to death during the winter :p

[tangleknot]

IFrom Tennessee I went north to Lake Cumberland in kentucky and stayed there for about 3 days.Huge Clear lake with many steep dropoffs and very deep crystal clear water and a trout fishermans paridise below the dam.

We fished for trout below the dam during the summer of 2003. Great fishing. Just be prepared when they blow the horn at the dam. :yikes: ;)

[stinger63]

Yeah those horns mean that that water levels are either going to rise or fall because of power generation.Either water is going to come out of the turbines or they are shutting them off.Water levels rise fast when this happens and they give you about 5 -10 minutes after you hear them to get out.I also forgot to mention that Lake Cumberland is houseboat capital of the south.

[kroppe]

Sarah, yes the banks are very steep, some of them straight down. There are no beaches to speak of, but at all of the marinas there were houseboats to rent. You can lock up and lock down to get to several lakes, which opens up the available territory.

What I have heard some people do is rent a houseboat and tow their fishing boat behind. That way you can tube/ski/fish with the kids to change the pace from being on the houseboat.

I agree with wapanocca that the lakes are not crowded. We were out on a beautiful sunny, 80 degree Saturday and never felt like there was much boat traffic. Great place. You can't underestimate the hospitality of the TN people at the marinas and restaurants, it's wonderful.