Fishing
The Tennessee River lakes are home to more than 100 main species of fish, about 20 of which are caught regularly. These lakes, especially Kentucky Lake, are justifiably famous for crappie, bluegill, catfish, stripers, sauger, and largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass.
Artificial fish attractors - everything from old tires to great brush piles to stake beds - have been constructed in nearly all major creeks holding at least 10 feet of water. The attractors create a habitat for small fish; the small fish in turn lure the larger ones. A study conducted in Kentucky Lake by fishery biologists revealed that one acre of brush in a fish attractor averaged nearly 3,000 bluegill, 1,500 crappie, 580 catfish, and two largemouth bass.
These lakes house fish of extraordinary size, including a blue cat from Fort Loundon Lake weighing in at 130 pounds, a 37-pound freshwater drum, a 7 1/2 pound sauger, and a 5-pound white bass from Pickwick Dam, and a striper, or rockfish, from Norris Lake that weighed just under 52 pounds.
Probably one of the most productive fishing areas in the region is a dam and powerhouse tailrace. Sauger are often caught here in the cold winter months, and during the rest of the year there is a fine area for catfish, stripers, all kinds of bass, and crappie.
Kentucky Lake hosts three excellent areas; the Pickwick Dam, the bend at the mouth of the Duck River at TRM 111.0 and at the mouth of the serene Birdsong Creek at TRM 103.5.
TN Fishing License Information
Kentucky Fishing License Information