Lake Chickamauga

Chickamauga is big water. It is a big lake, fishes big, and has incredible populations of big largemouth, smallmouth, and spots. It also has giant striper, if you can find them. In the warm months you have thick pleasure boat traffic to contend with (being so close to Chattanooga) but its no big deal for fishing really.

This lake has just about every kind of feature you'd ever want to fish: steep rocky bluffs, huge mud/sand flats, breaking channels, grass beds, timber, boat docks,... It's a fun lake to fish.

There was a time years ago when they sprayed the grass in the lake and destroyed the lake as a fishery. The lake owned the nickname "Slickamauga" for over a decade. Before that, it was one of the best lakes in the country for bass fishing. In fact they held the Bassmaster Classic there in the 80's.

Not too ling ago they let the grass grow back again and the lake is on a major upswing. We are now seeing tournament weights regularly in the 20's (5 fish limit). Late April, May, and sometimes June are my favorite times to go. The winter bite is excellent on the Chick, but I'll stay on Carter's! :)

The big draw on Chickamauga are the big largemouth. It's nothing to get 5 and 6 pounders up there. Spots are in there, but a 3 pounder is a giant on Chickamauga -they just don't get that big there. Smallmouth are also a draw for some, but people usually target them in the winter or in the river below the lake.

Chickamauga has a great night bite in the summer. This is a great way to escape the summer heat and enjoy the lake without the boat traffic. We get some big ones there at night. If you've never done it, or have done it but didn't get your arm ripped off, you should really spend some time there after dark. Man, is it fun.

If you like getting slimy, Chickamauga has a good population of blue cats. The average size is "big" and people pull cats over 100 pounds out of there every year. I catch them in all hours of the day --even noon in July on a sunny day, they'll be there eating.

It seems like all the lakes on the Tennessee River chain are good, and Chickamauga is no exception. It's one of my favorites.