Thread: Watts Bar Lake

I used to fish Watts Bar a lot years ago and catch lots of nice crappie. Is it still a good crappie lake? I don't see much talk on here about it. Would like to go fish it again if fishing is still good. If not what is a good lake in that part of the state?

.... well, HBH, I see you're having about as much luck finding out anything about Watts Bar as I have had in the past.

I've fished it for about 30 years, starting with Smallmouth & graduating to Crappie. Mostly fished it in April & Oct/Nov. Seems to have declined somewhat on Crappie size/numbers in the last few years, so I haven't made any trips down there in the last couple of years.

I have several ideas on why that has happened, but not sure which one(s) are most responsible :

Ash spill ... decline seems to have started the year following
Natural cycle ... weather may have had a add-on effect in lengthening the cycle
Water level changes ... they changed the timing of raising & lowering the pool levels

Last reputable report I heard was from the Fall of 2012 ... and lots of undersized fish were being caught, with the occasional good fish or two. The decline in my catches was the main reason I started going to Green more often, over the last couple of years. But ... like you, if I could get some reputable reports of decent size/numbers catches, I'd make the trip back there. I really do enjoy shooting docks, and that seems to be the primary productive method on WB.

... cp