Dale Hollow lake?

[higdon21xrd]

The girlfriend it wanting to go fish a different lake besides Watts Bar so I thought i'd use this as an excuse to go up to Dale Hollow. Ive never been up there before so I was wondering what info you guys might be willing to share to steer me towards some smallies up there. Thanks in advance.

 

[jenko157]

John. It's best at night this time of year. Jigs in 15-20 foot of water will produce all night long. Right at daylight the top water bite is incredible. It is a beautiful lake almost desolate with no docks and lights. Enjoy the trip. Check out Horse Creek marina. They have modest affordable accommodations with access to great fishing close by.

 

[bullet02]

^^ this horse creek marina. Ask for Thomas. He will take good care of you. And like stated it will be mostly night fishing. Good luck.

 

[thegman]

I have on fished in Winter and early spring but have had best luck around Willow Grove area. I've heard they will smash a spinnerbait at night.

 

[Kman]

I was at Dale Hollow this past weekend. I fished Friday afternoon and Sat morning till about 2:00pm. Fishing is tough during the day. I did manage to catch a 4lb smallmouth on Friday and a 3lb largemouth on Sat, both on plastics. I never got another bite after 9:00am on Sat. Night fishing seems to be the best option now. As I was coming in on Friday about 8:00pm, there were numerous bass boats launching.

 

[kevo615]

Spinnerbait and jigs at night will be best right now. While I normally recommend Horse Creek as a good place to stay for fisherman, I don't know any women who would want to sleep there. If I bring my wife, we stay at Willow Grove or Mitchell Creek marinas. They are much nicer.

 

[higdon21xrd]

yeah from what you guys said, we ended up just spending the day on chickamauga. Don't really have time this week for a night trip and staying somewhere like that. Thank you guys for the input. I really appreciate it.

 

[Silverfish]

Most days and nights there are little to no bites and small fish if any.... wait and see if I'm wrong, you have to fish that lake a long time for any good results, just saying

 

[kevo615]

Silverfish - 6/7/2018 7:27 AM

Most days and nights there are little to no bites and small fish if any.... wait and see if I'm wrong, you have to fish that lake a long time for any good results, just saying

I agree the lake has a large learning curve, but I disagree saying most days there are little to no bites and small fish. If there was no slot limit, you could easily have a 20# + limit of smallies in tournaments every week at dale hollow. Nowhere else in TN are you going to find the consistent population of 3-5 lbs smallies like Dale Hollow. Not to mention the largemouth, that are largely overlooked there. 20-25 lbs bags of LM are common. Chick may be the #1 lake in TN because of the big fish it puts out, but I say Dale Hollow would be a close 2nd esp. now that KY lake is going down hill with the carp. As is fishing, it also depends on the time of year your fishing the lake. Summer is my least favorite time to fish Dale Hollow, since I don't really care for night fishing but June is best night fishing month IMO. December to May is the best time to fish, there may not be a better lake to fish in the dead of winter too.

 

[GRR884]

I Fish DH a lot especially in the winter. kevo615 is pretty much spot on.