TWRA Fishing Reports

Fishing Reports

NOTE - TWRA wants to build a comprehensive report each week of the state’s lakes. If you do not see a report for your favorite lake and you are someone who can provide a report, please contact us at Ask.TWRA@tn.gov and provide us with your contact information.

Center Hill Tailwater (Caney Fork River) – 10/01/26

Report Contributor – Justin Spaulding, Region 3 Fish Biologist

River Conditions- Be sure to check the generation schedule the day of your trip, as forecasted flows often change: Center Hill Lake Levels

Fall is here, and the river is still fishing well. The spring drought meant we were able to retain a lot of cold water throughout the summer rather than an extended release for flood control. Compared to last year, we have significantly higher dissolved oxygen, and water temperatures are cooler. The reservoir below the thermocline is low on oxygen, but limited hydropower generation coupled with the orifice gate use has fostered conditions mostly above state standards. The use of two or three hydropower units in the late summer and fall is particularly detrimental to the fishery. We have had isolated excessive generation this summer, but overall the Army Corps has been able to balance multiple projects throughout the watershed for the betterment of the resources.

Cool air temperatures and dry conditions mean the Army Corps has been generating just a few hours each afternoon, even on weekdays. Tailwater temperature is still around 51F at the orifice and 56F during generation. As a comparison, this time last year, generation temperatures were 64°F, and the orifice was nearly 60F.

Trout- Fishing has been good. I was on the river last week cleaning water quality sensors, and most people I spoke to were catching fish. There have been a few slow days, but most trips are still excellent with 10-15 fish days. Project Healing Waters just held their annual event at the Campground, and their anglers had their best year in a long time. We have had excellent Brown Trout survival, so if you are harvesting fish, double check your catch and make sure you are legal. Brown Trout need to be 24 inches long to keep.

Spin anglers have been doing well with small jerk baits, spinners, or mousetail jigs. Fly anglers have been effective with emerger patterns or wooly buggers. Caddis have been hatching as far upstream as Lancaster, so don’t forget the dry flies on a sunny day.

We are stocking around 6,000 Rainbow Trout in October. We will be closely monitoring water quality to see if we can stock some of these near the dam or if they will need to go further downstream. Additionally, we have around 1,500 Snake River Finespot Cutthroat Trout headed to the river towards the end of October. Cutthroat have the same 14-20 inch protected slot limit and five fish creel as Rainbow Trout. Finally, we will be stocking around 30,000 fingerling Brown Trout in late November.

Center Hill 10/29/26

USCG Captain James Bond 0- 007’s Guide Service

Water Temperature: 68–70°F
Lake Level: 630 Feet

Walleye Report

Walleye fishing has been challenging lately, with changing fall conditions making consistent action difficult. Recent trips have produced some fish, but overall numbers have been lower than expected. We're continuing to work hard to find consistent action as fall progresses. Patience and persistence are key!

Bass Report – Quality Smallmouth & Topwater Action!

We've been catching some very nice smallmouth bass on crankbaits in 25–30 feet of water!

The topwater bite is also getting very good, providing some exciting action for anglers who enjoy watching bass explode on the surface. If you're looking for quality smallmouth or some exciting topwater action, Center Hill Lake is worth checking out!

Crappie Report – Giant Crappie Are Showing Up!

We've recently caught some giant crappie around the 30-foot range, along with some smaller fish up shallow. It's always exciting to see those big slabs! With crappie being caught in different parts of the water column, there's an opportunity to target both quality fish and numbers.

Fall fishing on Center Hill Lake is offering some great opportunities for crappie anglers!

Current Lake Conditions

Water temperature: 68–70°F
Lake level: 630 feet

Fall fishing is underway, with opportunities for anglers targeting walleye, bass, and crappie.

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Cordell Hull – 10/07/26

Report Contributor – Will Schibig, Region III Creel Clerk

Flow Rates-

• Cordell Hull Dam- average outflow of 5,000 cfs per day

• Wolf Creek Dam (Lake Cumberland)- average outflow of 4,000 cfs per day

• Dale Hollow Dam- average outflow of 500 cfs per day.

• Roaring River- average flow of 11.35 cfs

Reservoir Conditions-

The reservoir elevation is currently sitting at 501’ and is in the process of winter drawdown. Surface water temperatures are in the mid-to-low 60s and should be dropping into the 50s soon. Water clarity is still good, 3-5’ of visibility reservoir-wide. The moon phase as of this writing is 85% waxing, with the full moon scheduled this Sunday the 26th. Everything is feeding on baitfish up shallow. If you aren’t in an area with shad around, you probably won’t have much success.

Bass- Fishing is decent.

The water level has dropped a few feet, and most of the matted grass is just a few feet deep at the most. There are still some fishable mats, including the mats on the main channel around the mouth of Martin’s Creek. Some nice fish have been caught the last few days fishing the edge of the grass. Throwing a spinnerbait, topwater spook, swimbait, or something baitfish oriented on the sharp edges of the grass can produce a big bite if there is wind or baitfish in the grass. You can still get plenty of bites while fishing the main channel, rock banks with jigs or finesse baits if there is current on them.

Crappie- Fishing is decent.

Some crappie have been caught while fishing TWRA structures in 7-12’ on flats near a channel. Others have reported catching crappie “shallow” around isolated wood on flats. Lots of crappie have been reported to be caught this year on our TWRA deployed artificial structure in these creek arms. You can find fish attractors on the TWRA On The Go app under “Where To Fish” or search “Fish Attractors” to access the interactive map on tnwildlife.org

Sauger/Walleye- Fishing is slow. 

People are starting to target sauger and walleye around the mid-to-lower lake area again. Trolling deep plugs or jigging the channel near creek mouths. The bite should pick up more in late fall.

Striped Bass- Fishing is slow. Haven’t seen many anglers targeting striper. There are still some striper to be had in the Celina area, but the fall transition is under way where most of the fish are heading down-lake. Mid-lake areas from Martin’s to Wartrace Creek would be the best places to target.  

Whitebass- Fishing is good. A lot of good sized whitebass are being caught on shallow flats with baitfish present. Trolling crankbaits on the shallow flats near the main channel in 5-10 FOW have produced the best results. Look for big bends in the river and target the flats near those points.  You can also fancast lures on any flat near a creek channel in the same depth zones. Any shad imitation bait like spinners, spoons, crankbaits, or small topwater will do fine.

Catfish- Fishing is good. I have had some consistent reports of all three species of catfish being caught this past week with noodles or rod and reel. Anglers are targeting creek channels in the back of creek arms. They are fishing baits like live bluegill, shrimp, or Vienna sausage near the bottom in 5-10’ around the drops of creek channels with a shallow flat and baitfish present. The best bite windows are in the morning and evening. .   

Hiwassee River – 10/01/2026

Forecast Contributor – Justin Spaulding, Region 3 Trout Biologist

River Conditions- Summer drought operations from TVA led to some of the coolest tailwater conditions we have seen in several years. We are still warmer than back in the 1990s before rec flows and reservoir improvements were made, but it was encouraging to see cold water so late into the summer. TVA is still drawing down upstream reservoirs, so expect near constant generation for the next few weeks. Weekend mornings should still have minimum flow, but always check the TVA website before you leave the house.

Water temperatures have been hovering around 68F near the Powerhouse in late September. In early September, we had temperatures near 65F. Most years, we top 68F by late August.  The rain and cold front moving in this weekend might make fishing soggy but will go a long way to turn over upstream reservoirs and bring about the cooler conditions we need.

Trout- We did stock ~4,000 Rainbow Trout to kick off the Delayed-Harvest season, but marginal temperatures will keep the fish somewhat tight-lipped. We did holdover more trout than normal this summer, but overall very few compared to most tailwaters. Try shady areas or the first 1-2 hours after daylight to take advantage of the coolest water available. Once temperatures finally break, we have tens of thousands of Brown and Rainbow Trout scheduled for October and November.

Currently, the Delayed-Harvest goes from Apalachia Powerhouse downstream to L&N Railroad Bridge from October 1 through the end of February. During the catch-and-release season, only artificial lures are permitted, and the use or possession of bait is prohibited. Downstream of Reliance, trout are managed with statewide regulations of seven trout per day and bait is allowed year-round.

Kentucky Lake - 10/27/26

By Steve McCadams, Professional Guide/Outdoor Writer (stevemc@charter.net)

ANGLERS ENJOY MARATHON OF GREAT WEATHER

An extended spell of wonderful fall weather has greeted Kentucky Lake’s fishing scene for the last week or two. It has been nice to be out on the lake with jacket mornings and shirt sleeve afternoons. Light winds teamed up with mild temperatures to provide excellent fishing conditions for bass and crappie anglers as October faded away and passed the torch on to November.

Stability has been the story and the pumpkin month lived up to its reputation. Known for nice weather free of gale winds and changing weather patterns, October has been good for fishermen all across the reservoir. Lake levels have remained near the low ebb of winter pool as below average rainfall has been the story for quite some time. Elevation was in the 354.7 range as this report was formulated. Very little fluctuation has occurred.

Watercolor remains clear. Surface temperatures have been in the 64-to-65-degree range. Low flows have been the story too as not much current has been present in the Tennessee River. TVA was discharging only 14,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) this past week through Kentucky Dam. The weekend forecast indicates a slight chance of rain and the fishing scene and everywhere else is thirsty. Rainfall is long overdue.

Crappie fishing has been good lately and some hefty stringers have been taken. Depths of 12 to 15 feet were producing but several anglers have reported success from the 9 to 12-foot range at times. Up Big Sandy and into West Sandy some crappie have been caught in 6-to-8-foot depths at times. However, the shallow bite has been slow to get going this fall as most fish are opting to hold out a bit deeper.

A few cloudy rainy days would likely stimulate more crappie to move up to shallower depths as would lower surface temps. Tipping jigs with minnows has paid dividends. Some days delivered stagnant winds and crappie were finicky at times, especially at midday when bright clear skies had the sun bearing down. The best bite has been in the early morning and late after hours for most fishermen.

Popular jig skirt colors have ranged from Monkey’s Milk, threadfin shad, chartreuse/blue and yellow/chartreuse just to name a few. Just a plain live minnow presentation had worked too. Most fishermen were vertical fishing jigs or live minnows over manmade structure. However, casting jigs has produced at times. Backing off and tossing twister tail grubs or tube jigs had accounted for some good stringers at times. Seems there’s always a few boats slow trolling the open water areas or spider rigging a multiple pole presentation with a buffet of baits.

Bass fishing has been fair but even some veteran tournament anglers are having to work hard to earn a limit lately. Those high skies and no wind days have resulted in a lethargic mood swing for midday bass activity. Still, some have connected the dots and found topwater, suspending jerk baits and even spinnerbaits working at times around shallow stickups.

Gravel points have given up a few fish for anglers tossing chrome colored Rattle Traps and pearl or bone-colored crankbaits. A few smallmouth were showing up in the creel of anglers backing off the banks and targeting main lake sandbars were schooling shad were present. Roadbeds and rip-rap banks were also worthy of consideration during the low lake levels times.

Low lake elevation in normal on Kentucky Lake during the late fall and approaching winter months so use caution out there and pay close attention to the channel markers.

Norris Tailwater – 10/27/26

Report Contributor – Scott Dalton, Wildlife Tech 

Fishing has been phenomenal the past couple weeks with lots of slot rainbow and brown trout being caught along the tailwater. People have been throwing 18 to 22 sizes flies for the Rainbows and streamers for the Browns. Please watch your TVA app for the flows.

Make sure to check TVA's website https://www.tva.com/environment/lake-levels/norris for generation schedule, and flow rates on the river. 

Watts Bar Reservoir - 10/16/26 - 10/19/26

Forecast Contributor – Nathan Rogers, Region III Creel Clerk

Reservoir Conditions and Weather:

The weather was cooler with lows in the lower 40s and highs throughout the day warming up to 70. A cold front impacted the area over the weekend bringing much colder temps and once it passed, clear fall weather is here. Water temps are dropping throughout the reservoir. The water temps throughout the lake are now around 71 degrees. Water clarity is still around 3-4 feet and fluctuates with precipitation events. The water levels are still at full pool; average discharges for dams are recorded below. For any discharge or elevation info, check out the TVA Lake Info App. Wear life jackets if planning to go out during high water and heavy current conditions.

Average Discharges: (as of October 19^th)

-  Ft. Loudoun Dam: ~ 21900 cfs

-  Melton Hill Dam: ~ 8200 cfs

-  Watts Bar Dam: ~ 28700 cfs

Observed Species Information

Striped Bass: Fishing for stripers has been slow. These fish have started to congregate below dams in current, these areas have a higher concentration of baitfish for these fish to target. Early morning bites are reported to be good in these areas, as well as when dams are generating. Recently, there has been a decline in the amount of current, which could explain the fishing being tougher. Anglers found the most success using live bait (shad/skipjack) on or adjacent to the current below the dams. Large swimbaits and large spoons were some of the artificial lures observed as well.

Bass: Many anglers targeting any Black Bass species are finding better success in the lacustrine (Middle and Lower) areas of the reservoir. Anglers are finding more success in earlier morning hours using Texas rig, wacky rig, ned rigs, and topwater baits up shallow around woody debris or rocky structure. Once the sun gets high, many anglers convert to offshore fishing. Areas like offshore flats/humps and channel ledges are mostly targeted.

Crappie: Fishing for crappie is starting to pick up with anglers finding success over deeper brush structures in creeks/inlets off the main lake. Baits used are small jigging minnows (Bobby Garland, Kietech, etc.) or small live minnows. Lower water temperatures and shortened day length have signaled crappie to start their fall feed in preparation for winter.  In the fall, baitfish like Threadfin Shad start to push back into creeks to find warmer water and zooplankton.  Crappie are following this food source making them easier to target. 

Trout Reports

TWRA biologists recently completed annual electrofishing surveys on Tennessee’s tailwater trout fisheries. You can read the TWRA summaries of individual lakes below.  For more information about the great trout fishing opportunities, tips, and techniques to ensure a great fishing trip, check out the TWRA Trout Fishing Stocking and Forecast.

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