East Tennessee fishing reports

Douglas Lake The creel clerk will be working on Cherokee Lake during 2006. Fishing reports for Douglas will resume in 2007. Cherokee Reservoir Water level is rising some with surface temperature reaching up to 50 degrees up in the day. The water is a light stain color. Largemouth and smallmouth bass are hitting spinner baits, silver buddy’s, jigs, or shad raps. Fish the flats, points, and near creeks. Fish 1 to 15 feet deep. Striped bass and Cherokee bass can be found at Point 17 on up to Point 24 and can be caught with live shad or large jigs tipped with twister tail grubs. Most are being caught trolling 5 to 25 feet deep. For crappie, fish the creeks and brush piles along bluffs. Early morning fishing with minnows or dark colored flies 2 to 8 feet under a float is most productive. A few keeper size walleye are being caught on the upper end of the lake from Fall Creek to Caney Creek. Fish a rooster tail jig or live minnows close to the bottom. Some catfish are being caught around rock structures and creek channels. Norris Reservoir The lake elevation dropped about 7-inches over the past week. The current lake elevation is 999.3-feet and is predicted to remain steady over the next two days. Water surface temperatures have warmed a bit on the lower end where the temperature is now in the high 40’s to 50 degrees. In some locations on the lower end, the water temperature exceeds 50 degrees. The temperature of the upper end water warmed significantly from last week’s mid-40’s, and is now 50 degrees. The lake water is clear in all locations, but end-of-week rains are expected and may change that. TWRA’s Reservoir Data Collection web site, www.tnfish.org, has other useful information on TWRA’s Norris fishery, fish identification photos, map links and fishing reports on other lakes in east Tennessee. South Holston Reservoir Surface temperatures are in the upper 40’s at 7:00 a.m. in mornings this week. Water clarity is clear. The lake level as of 4 p.m. Wednesday was 1,711.92 feet above sea level. Bass fishing has been good this week. The Smallmouth bass are especially active right now. The cloudy cooler days with a slight breeze blowing seems to be the best days. Largemouth bass numbers are starting to dwindle some, but a few fishermen throwing Long A ’s or flukes are picking up a few. Fish continue to be taken on three basic lures along with live bait. Smallmouth have been taken on three basic baits the past couple of weeks; float and fly, bone color “Long A”, and a white or chartreuse fluke. Spoons and Silver Buddies are other good ones also to try. The fluke has been especially good early in the mornings, or throughout the day on cloudy days. Fishing the fluke in about 3-8 feet of water off shallow dirt points has been working the best. The float and fly action has really picked up this past week in particular. The float and fly has been another good method for catching quality fish and good numbers in the middle of the day, especially a float and fly with a minnow about 15-20 feet deep off bluffs and walls. Blue or grey flies seem to be the colors of choice. From the 421 Access toward the dam has been where the majority of the bass are being taken. Crappie fishing continues to pick up. The best numbers of fish can be found in the creek channels and coves where brush or treetops are located. Most of these fish are being caught on live minnows in about 5-8 feet of water. Blue or Chartreuse jigs and flies have been somewhat successful. Big or Little Jacob’s creeks, Little Oak, or Painter Creek are good areas to look for crappie now. Boone Reservoir Surface temperatures continue to be in the upper 40’s to low 50’s at 7:00 a.m. this week. The lakes water clarity continues to be fairly clear for most parts of the lake. The lake level as of 4 p.m. Wednesday was 1,367.06 feet above sea level. Bass fishing continues to be fair. Crankbaits have been doing fairly well the last week or so. If you want to catch largemouth and smallmouth, the crankbait is what to use right now. The South Holston end is especially good right now for smallmouth, while producing some good largemouth too. The Watauga end is also putting out good numbers, but not the smallmouth that the Holston end is right now. Any crankbait seems to be working as long as it is chartreuse or red. The small Bandit seems to be the crankbait of choice for most anglers though. The Fat Free Shad, Rapala, or Normans are other good choices to use. The float and fly is still effective on most days. Look for it to start to slow down in the next two or three weeks due to warmer water temperatures. Blue or grey duck feather flies seem to be working the best. They have been especially effective tipped with a minnow. Fishermen have been having the most success with the float and fly in about 8-10 feet of water on four-pound test mono line along shady rock walls or bluffs. Mostly smallmouth have been hitting the fly. Silver Buddies and spoons have also been producing good fish off these bluffs. Spinnerbaits have been doing well around any treetops or stumps that can be located. The best spinnerbait action seems to be in the mornings on cloudy days. Striper and hybrid action has picked up some. Closer to the rivers you get the better they seem to be hitting. These fish seem to be best right at first sunrise or about an hour to 30 minutes before dark. The best action on the Holston side is around Sugar Hollow while Deer Lick has been doing well on the Watauga side. Most of the fish caught in either end of the lake are being taken shallow in about 15-20 feet of water late in the evening or on topwater early in the mornings. Shad seems to be the best bait for both stripers and hybrids. White hair jigs and Zara Spooks would also be worth trying. Tellico Reservoir Water surface temperatures averaging the mid to upper 40’s. Water temp. is starting to slowly rise. Bass are starting to hit pretty good due to the rising water temperatures. Melton Hill Reservoir Water surface temperatures are averaging the mid 40’s. The water temp. is rising slowly. The temperature at the steam plant is the same as the main lake, because of maintenance being done at the plant. Warm days have helped the fish start biting better. Crappies and bluegills are hitting pretty good, mostly in the deeper water on the fallen trees.