fishing at nickajack dam

[ccook850]

I'm a college student at Sewanee and was wondering if anyone had been catching any fish at Nickajack Dam or any other lakes in the Franklin County, Marion County area...if so what were yall using and any other tips would be gratefully appreciated...I have a 13 ft gheenoe with a 6 hp on the back and a trolling motor motor on the bow...would love to hear from anyone who has fished these lakes as I am new to the area (from Florida)....thanks for your help

 

[polo-dog]

Great to have you on the forum ccook850! If you look on some earlier threads you can find out about some recent tailwater fishing below Nickajack and Chickamauga dams. DHaun and JerDog seem to fish the tailwaters more than anyone on the forum so far and they seem to like to talk fishing with anyone interested. The tailwaters area won't be too far from you on Nickajack. I think that Tims Ford lake may be closer and has lots of good fishing and I think that it's a big smallmouth lake too. The info on a Tims Ford site says it's only 16 miles from Sewanee. There is a cryptic topo map of Tims Ford Lake at this site: http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=35.197&lon=-86.2786&size=s&symshow=n&datum=nad83&layer=DRG25

I think that it's a deep clear lake and I would expect that it would be well stratified at this time of year. I think that there are some good walleye in the lake too. I have never fished it but if you have a depthfinder that will show you the thermocline I would fish at that depth on main lake points with whatever you can fish at that depth. I would also expect that out on the main lake points that there would be some schooling activity from time to time and so if you fished on the points for any period of time that you could just follow the "jumps". Anybody else have any info on Tims Ford or any other lakes in that area?

 

[ccook850]

I've never caught a smallmouth or walleye as florida doesnt have any...we catch bass, redfish, and seatrout....thanks for all the info...anyways, more tips on how to catch largemouth would be appreciated as i am new to the area...also interested in anyone that has a boat more stable and larger than a 13 ft gheenoe...thanks yall

 

[DHaun]

Welcome ccook850! If you go to the search page and type in Nickajack you should get a lot of good posts related to that area.

http://www.ChattanoogaFishingForum.com/search/query.asp

I think that Tims Ford is going to be closer to you though and it is a great lake from what i recall. I fished it twice years ago catching a few rockfish and smallies and I know there are also some great trout areas nearby.

My buddy in FL has a 13 or 15 gheenoe with a 5hp. They are cool little boats. I used to own a 13 ft canoe and 2 hp honda and before I sold it I could see some advantages to having a small boat like that, but I needed something bigger to take the family out on. Are you looking to sell yours?

 

[ccook850]

Not right now, this gheenoe is all i really need up here as its convenient, easy for one person to load/unload, and can get me to most places i need to go...i was just asking if anyone that fishes on lake nickajack was looking for someone to fish with...my class schedule this semester is really awesome as i dont have classes on fridays, so im excited about possibly getting to fish every friday-saturday-sunday and even a few days during the week...

 

[JerDog]

Welcome,

Nickajack in the fall can really be a productive place. I know that fishing a new body of water can be difficult but if you are below a dam, fishing success can come much quicker.

Everything from smallmouth, drum, catfish, world record carp, largemouth, sauger, crappie, stripers, hybrids, and white bass can be caught througout the year. Not sure how close you are to Nickajack but it is my personal favorite of places to fish.

Lots of info has been put out on this forum so let us know if you need any other info.