• Cherokee Lake Tailwater - TN

    Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
    http://www.tnfish.org/index.html
  • Gary was raised on a farm in Scottdale, Pennsylvania and graduated from East Huntingdon High School in 1964. He is a well rounded outdoorsman in every sense of the word. He attended Penn State University studying Law Enforcement and Correction. Gary has a passion for fly fishing, fly tying, canoes, photography and anything with fur, fins or feathers on it.

  • Cherokee Lake Tailwater - TN

    Tail water elevation was 921.08 feet as of May 1, 2014 at 7 AM. Next day release schedules and data on Cherokee Dam are available here: http://www.tva.gov/lakes/crh_r.htm

    Temperatures taken on the tailrace at the dam on Sunday, April 30 was 48 degrees measured at 1:00 PM. Temperatures at 05:00 PM taken at Nance Ferry measured 54 degrees. Again, the six degree difference in temperature exists between the dam and Nance Ferry. This perfect temperature difference is interesting and hints at the possibility that the difference is maintained by underwater springs and/or the release of ice cold water from the stream that flows through Indian Cave and constantly dumps into the tailrace upstream of Nance Ferry.


    SUMMARY:

    TWRA has released 4200 brown trout on April 28 at the dam and another 4000 at Nance Ferry on the 29th. 4000 rainbows are scheduled to be stocked in early May and that stocking will be above Indian Cave and below the dam. Again, as usual, trout is the name of the game when anglers are asked what they are fishing for. It seems only right to mention that smallmouth bass as well as striped bass and a myriad of other species reside in the tailrace but trout is the primary species of fish sought by anglers.

    The temperatures are holding very well and are conducive to great trout, cold water, action. Cold water not only guarantees trout activity but stimulates many important species of insect emersions, the stone fly being one. Tiny size 22 black stoneflies have been seen along the shoreline at Nance Ferry clustering on rocks that are half submerged. These flies have not been seen when turning over rocks along the shoreline which indicates they are under rocks out in the river current. How long they last is anyone’s guess but the trout reacted to their presence by gorging on them as the flies moved to the shoreline. A stonefly nymph would be the fly of choice as these flies are crawlers.


    RAINBOW & BROWN TROUT: Good

    Some really heavy rainbows have been caught along the entire length of the tailrace over this past week and the activity is due to the enduring cold water temperatures. More than just a few rainbows measured over 18 inches and one brown trout measured in at 22 inches with a weight of ten pounds which indicates the great cold water habitat that this fishery exhibits and many more anglers enjoyed tremendous trout successes as they waded the shoals that exist throughout the length of the tailrace.

    The best time to fish is when one generator is operational. “All” the fish in the tailrace, it seems, turn on.

    Lures to use are (for the fly fisherman) size 22 Griffiths Gnat, size 20 - 22 soft hackle fished just under the film, size 22 black bead head nymph. The black nymph could be fished allowing the nymph to swing down and across the current. Assure the nymph is weighted to keep it in the water column and not necessarily on the bottom.

    Spin casters should not rely upon fly hatches but should fish for trout using spinners or flat fish lures drawn upstream along current seams or fished across currents from outside seam to outside seam. The earth worm or night crawler is a hard lure to beat.

    A final word about the fishery and a note of caution: Remember to pack out your trash. There is no one assigned to remove trash from Nance Ferry or the Indian Cave parking area. Indian Cave access is very sensitive as it is made available to anglers through the good heartedness of private owners. They can shut that access off in a heartbeat if they desire. Don’t give them a reason. Good fishing!



    BLACK BASS: No rating

    They are there in good numbers and are very large, but no one is targeting them at this time.
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