Thread: cherokee help

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  1. #1
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    cherokee help

    the wife and I are headed to Cherokee lake sunday for a week of fishing and chilling, just wondering how the lake is? water leveland all. we will be by bean station. where is the best spots this time of yr to fish. would really like to land a few smallies. what are the best techniques this time of yr? any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks fellow fisherman.

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    #2
    Water level is high......basically full pool although it has dropped a foot this past week and water temp was 82 this past Saturday on the upper end. If you are after smallies stay on the lower end of the lake.....German Creek to the dam for your best brown bite. Topwaters early and that bite will fade quick when the sun gets higher as water clarity on that end of the lake is a lot clearer than up towards the river. After that dies down you should be able to catch some on flukes and smaller profile swimbait up shallower and Ned/Carolina rigged baits a little deeper. Main channel banks and the mud/boulder combo is generally good.

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    #3
    Agree with the above. Definitely hit that topwater bite early and hang on! Hooked into some good ones on Sunday morning as soon as daylight started to peak the mountains, but after the sun came up it was much tougher. Still managed to get some decent bites throwing texas rigs and talked to a guy fishing a jig doing some good as well.

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    #4
    very good info, thanks guys. never been there. really looking forward to it. thank you

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    #5
    It's a good lake.....really fishes like 2 lakes. The 25E bridge is kinda like a divider to it....below the bridge is mainly wider, clearer, lot of humps/islands and predominately smallmouth. Above the bridge fishes like a more narrower river system, the water is more stained, has a lot of rock bluff sections, and has the highest population of largemouth. If you like to flip bushes for green fish there is plenty in the water to fish right now and quite a few fish still shallow.

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    #6
    where is the 25e bridge, I'm staying by the 32e I believe Dixie hwy
    Last edited by Mike Carroll; 06-17-2020 at 06:05 PM.

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    #7
    What you are calling 32E (and what shows on Google maps as that also) is highway 25E.... I don't know if they have recently renumbered it or what but it has always been 25E. You mentioned staying in Bean Station, that road from Bean Station to Morristown crosses the lake at what is known as 25 Bridge. There is a ramp at the bridge, another as you cross the bridge and take the first left to Cherokee Park, and another at Lakeside Marina about a 1/4 mile before you cross the bridge.

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    #8
    roger , thanks the house we are renting has their own ramp, greatly appreciate the info, hopefully it is easier to fish than dale hollow. I just want to land a few smallies , I'll give em back. lol

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    #9
    Ramp at the house is sweet.....PM'ing you to not clutter your thread up anymore.

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    #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Tyler882 View Post
    Agree with the above. Definitely hit that topwater bite early and hang on! Hooked into some good ones on Sunday morning as soon as daylight started to peak the mountains, but after the sun came up it was much tougher. Still managed to get some decent bites throwing texas rigs and talked to a guy fishing a jig doing some good as well.
    do strippers hit topwater there? if so where is the the best spot for that?

  11. Member Tyler882's Avatar
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    #11
    I personally have not caught any stripers on top (granted I haven't been fishing for them either lol) but I have heard from some people that do fish them, that get in the right school that's up enough you should be able to hook into one. Follow the birds they say, and you will find the striper!

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    #12
    ok update on Cherokee trip, got there sunday afternoon, then that freaking storm hit. good god was it bad. put boat in went to the big island I believe around mile marker 17 maybe, not sure. it has alot of bolders on 1 side, caught 2 large mouth right off the bat, lost 2, 1 big smallie. then went everywhere all the way to the dam. couldn't get nothing to bite anywhere else except that first spot. all on a 5"ned rig. did get 1 dink on a square bill. water temp was 80-84, 76 down by dam. beautiful lake, would like to come back in march for prespawn.

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    #13
    couldn't really even find any schools on top water, I'm not real good at open water fishing, have no idea where the smallies go when water is that warm. I trolled looking for humps, boulders on flats that I thought they might be hanging around. we don't have a whole lot of smallies in Indiana in comparison t other states, or lake I fish. so my knowledge of how to find them and where is limited. over all a very relaxing time.

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    #14
    I love that lake. You can run way up the river/creeks and catch largemouth and spots, or go after the smallies on the main lake bluffs, humps & ledges early. I've caught them on walking baits out in the middle of channels during August. Can't wait to go back.

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    #15
    It can for sure either be your best friend or worst enemy. Grew up fishing it and the largemouth definitely aren’t what they used to be, on the lower end especially. Still some good ones in there though. Smallies have taken over for the most part. Right now your best bet will probably be the night bite. Until the lake starts dropping the offshore stuff won’t be nearly as good.

    And as far as finding schools of smallies right now it’s pretty tough. They love to hug right against the bottom and get down in the boulders there, so a lot of times you won’t even mark fish. Plus the smallies roam so much you kind of just have to luck into a school. Small swimbaits, Carolina rigs, and jigs have always been a staple for me though. The deep crank bite used to be awesome but I haven’t got them to commit to that the past couple of years nearly as well.
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    #16
    Quote Originally Posted by BassPharmer5 View Post
    It can for sure either be your best friend or worst enemy. Grew up fishing it and the largemouth definitely aren’t what they used to be, on the lower end especially. Still some good ones in there though. Smallies have taken over for the most part. Right now your best bet will probably be the night bite. Until the lake starts dropping the offshore stuff won’t be nearly as good.

    And as far as finding schools of smallies right now it’s pretty tough. They love to hug right against the bottom and get down in the boulders there, so a lot of times you won’t even mark fish. Plus the smallies roam so much you kind of just have to luck into a school. Small swimbaits, Carolina rigs, and jigs have always been a staple for me though. The deep crank bite used to be awesome but I haven’t got them to commit to that the past couple of years nearly as well.
    what techniques are used at night? already planning a trip back next yr probably the 1st week of April and try to hit the prespawn. your thoughts?

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    #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Sokyangler View Post
    I love that lake. You can run way up the river/creeks and catch largemouth and spots, or go after the smallies on the main lake bluffs, humps & ledges early. I've caught them on walking baits out in the middle of channels during August. Can't wait to go back.
    definitely need more than a week to explore the lake, want to try above the bridge more.

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    #18
    During that time you won’t regret a wake bait at night. The good ole bone bomber long a is hard to beat. That is if you can keep the hybrid off it during the Shad spawn at night lol.

    Buzzbaits have always been a good standard on the lake at night too. Parallel the bank and hold on.

    Big Colorado blade spinnerbaits are key for the smallies. Don’t be afraid to throw white or purples for them. Usually put a big grub on the back.

    Then either a good ole jig or big worm will get bit too.

    Had a few people tell me the deep crank bite is good sometimes but haven’t really experimented with it much.
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    #19
    Quote Originally Posted by BassPharmer5 View Post
    During that time you won’t regret a wake bait at night. The good ole bone bomber long a is hard to beat. That is if you can keep the hybrid off it during the Shad spawn at night lol.

    Buzzbaits have always been a good standard on the lake at night too. Parallel the bank and hold on.

    Big Colorado blade spinnerbaits are key for the smallies. Don’t be afraid to throw white or purples for them. Usually put a big grub on the back.

    Then either a good ole jig or big worm will get bit too.

    Had a few people tell me the deep crank bite is good sometimes but haven’t really experimented with it much.
    good info thanks, will definitely keep that in mind next trip really do like the lake, might have to transfer to a work division down there. in the next few yrs.

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    #20
    Quote Originally Posted by BassPharmer5 View Post

    Had a few people tell me the deep crank bite is good sometimes but haven’t really experimented with it much.
    The best night-time deep crank bite is July-September around the full moon. Fish on Cherokee suspend around the thermocline depths (17-25 feet) a lot on bright nights in the hottest months of the year. The people that tell you a crankbait has to be deflecting off of structure to get bit are wrong this time of year.