Cumberland Generators

[troutcrazy]

Thanks for the encouraging word! I'm starting to go through withdrawls! Do you fly, or spin?

[j5coleman]

Have you been on the river, or been to see it, this week? I knew it would be high, but I was curious if it might still be fishable. Was thinking about trying it this weekend also.

Thanks.

[claylick]

I'm a long way from the river in another state so I watch the graphs pretty close. If they run It hard for the next four days it should go back to near normal generation. Now I'm no expert but I always seem to catch fish when its really cranking the water down there. I have no idea what the clarity is , but it should be clear. Maybe we can get someone who is closer to give us an update, or call down to Burkesville at Stranges tackle to see whats going on. And I fish down there with everything, fly, spin , baitcast. I just like to catch.

[troutcrazy]

It's tough to fish when it's going that fast for me, but I have caught fish when it's up. Jim Dickens said they should return to a normal schedule later this week. What graph are you referring too? I go to the TVA.com web-site for information...is there more information somewhere else?

[j5coleman]

There is a lot of info on the Nashville Corps of Engineers site, including projected generation totals for 5 days. It's on the Lake info page. Right now, they're running about 2/3 of what they were last week, so I just wasn't sure if it would still be too high to fish. For what it's worth, right now they're not projecting any reduction in water volume through Saturday.

[SSKY]

Is the sluice gate off yet? and is there anytime the generators are off in the daytime. i really like to fish with waders at this time of year up close to the dam. it thus far does not seem possible. i guess the wader guys like me will have to wait for the next drought to get to go.

[troutcrazy]

I was there last week and it was hairy. The river is really running hard and you have to fish deep while steering your boat. The main problem is having enough juice to get back up river. The river is running 6-8 mph which means you can get down stream quickly and it will take a lot more fuel to get back to your starting point. Your motor will use up to 40% more fuel running up river when it's running that strong. So I would check the TVA.com for the release schedule. Good luck...

[riverman]

I spoke with someone at Wolf Creek Dam about the current generation schedule and here's what's going on:

A few weeks ago we received a huge ammount of rain which caused dissolved oxygen levels in the lake to fall. This in turn caused the dissolved oxygen levels in the river to fall to dangerous levels. In order to bring the levels back up they're running the sluice gate along with two generators equipped with baffles to oxygenate the water.

According to the person I spoke to they plan on continuing this process for six to eight more weeks. Of course they may change it at any time but from looking at the five day forecast, it appears that they're going to stick with it through the weekend.

If any of you go be careful. The river rises 10 feet with two generators and the sluice.

[troutcrazy]

What is a sluice gate, and will it be worth going to the river if it's up that high?