New Chickamauga article

[ETN_Bullet]

Found this on the local news app today. Anybody else have an opinion on which direction the lake is headed?

Tougher fishing might greet numerous upcoming Chickamauga bass tournaments https://newschannel9.com/sports/outd...ss-tournaments

[nightbasser]

Locals to Chickamauga have to get frustrated...

[ETN_Bullet]

Locals to Chickamauga have to get frustrated...

Like you wouldn't believe. And with COVID 50% of the locals bought boats so it's even worse now. Add in a thousand ski boats, 500 pontoon boats and half a million jet skis and it's a real party!

[SDFD29]

Like you wouldn't believe. And with COVID 50% of the locals bought boats so it's even worse now. Add in a thousand ski boats, 500 pontoon boats and half a million jet skis and it's a real party!

I agree with ETN_Bullet, the last year was a PIA. You could not find a parking spot at a lot of the amps if you got there past 10 am. The lake was extremely crowded, it was like the 4th of July during the week for a lot of the year. It did slack off some after September.

As far as fishing pressure, it is a lot higher than the past few years. All of the national tours have been here in the recent past. So now, every small and large regional tournament trail is having their tournaments here. Which in turn brings in more fishermen. Dayton has capitalized on this trend and has a very good PR program going on. It has benefited them to the tune of several million dollars per year in tourist money.

When I retired several years back, I could fish on a week day and the ramps were never over half full except the spring time rush. Now, it is difficult to park. Every cove has two, three or more boats in it with others waiting nearby.

[SDFD29]

Like you wouldn't believe. And with COVID 50% of the locals bought boats so it's even worse now. Add in a thousand ski boats, 500 pontoon boats and half a million jet skis and it's a real party!

I agree with ETN_Bullet, the last year was a PIA. You could not find a parking spot at a lot of the ramps if you got there past 10 am. The lake was extremely crowded, it was like the 4th of July during the week for a lot of the year. It did slack off some after September.

As far as fishing pressure, it is a lot higher than the past few years. All of the national tours have been here in the recent past. So now, every small and large regional tournament trail is having their tournaments here. Which in turn brings in more fishermen. Dayton has capitalized on this trend and has a very good PR program going on. It has benefited them to the tune of several million dollars per year in tourist money.

When I retired several years back, I could fish on a week day and the ramps were never over half full except the spring time rush. Now, it is difficult to park. Every cove has two, three or more boats in it with others waiting nearby.

[ETN_Bullet]

I try to be courteous whether I'm running down the lake or fishing but most days I feel like I'm the only one that does. Had a guy from Wisconsin circle within 8 inches of the bow last week at the HB dock to get there first then he tied off and went to the parking lot for 20 minutes to get his wife and dogs.
Had one cut me off earlier that day on the main lake at over 70, never knew I was there. All the newbies think when they bough the boat they got the ramp with it.
And Dayton has definitely cashed in! But when they beat the lake down it'll be over and we'll be right back where we were when they sprayed the milfoil and killed the whole lake in the 80s. It took 25 years to get it back but it won't take that long to get back there at this rate.

[nightbasser]

Dang shame for you TN natives!!! The greed of some is gonna destroy your home waters!

[PowerFish]

Very heartwarming to know how welcomed my son and I are coming down to fish next week for his Senior Graduation Trip.

[printman71]

Very heartwarming to know how welcomed my son and I are coming down to fish next week for his Senior Graduation Trip.

Respect our space on the water, launching and such, and we will respect yours.

[PowerFish]

printman71, that is all anyone can ask. We come from the land of smaller lakes, so our version of "space on the water" is probably a little different than yours. I've fished around this country for decades and have never been made to feel unwelcome in a lake/fishing community. I'm hoping this is only the vibe here and online and not the reality when we get there.

Tight lines!

[SDFD29]

PowerFish,

I don't think anyone will make you feel unwelcome here as long as you act the way you would want to be treated. Unfortunately, you will see a lot of disrespectful people on our lake. It can be locals and out of towners. Both just make fishing much less enjoyable. The COVID situation last year created a lot of issues with new inexperienced people on the lake. Out of town fisherman can be the most friendly people on the lake a lot of times, however just before all of these big tournaments you get bombarded by the GPS pirates or bent rod fishermen.

Expectations on catching the fish of your lifetime have created a lot of fishermen that have their egos crushed by this lake. Yes a lot of big fish are caught here, but it is not easy. I think this pushes some of the tournament fishermen to act a little less friendly and aggressive.

I have been fishing this lake for almost 50 years and I can tell you that you will be welcomed, but you may experience some of these issues yourself if you are catching fish.........

By the way, I was the one who gave you the lake information a couple of months ago. I have no problem trying to be helpful and friendly.

The problem begins when the locals can not launch from the ramps that we paid for because an out of town organization has taken the ramp over. There is only one large ramp on the west side of the river and it routinely gets filled up. There are three other secure areas to launch but probably only hold 20-40 boats. Two of which are pay to launch. This has been a weekly issue, but the park departments are trying to handle this issue with requiring that the tournament boats after the first 20 park in an overflow lot and started requiring permits.

And this is not in Dayton, which is booked just about every Saturday with an event that takes over that ramp. If you are planning on using it on Saturday, check before you get there because it it booked for at least the next three to four weekends.

Last year the park patrol was turning people away because of the number of boaters due to COVID (I have never seen it this bad) during the week days. Thankfully that has not been an issue so far this year, but the water will start coming up and may change that.

Good luck on your trip, the water should be coming up the 1st of April. We have another round of storms this weekend and got between 2-4 inches of rain yesterday. So the water is high and muddy and will be drained back down to the operating guide over the next week. The bass here the last couple of weeks have been given lockjaw when the water was dropping.

[PowerFish]

Thank You and thanks for the information...

[ETN_Bullet]

Hey Powerfish,
Just like SDFD29 said, it's not the fact that someone is from out of town, I've met a lot of really great people from all over on the water. It's the combination of 300 plus boat tournaments every weekend, the newbies who now own their first boat thanks to COVID. Those in the big tournaments all think because they paid an entry fee they have rights to everything.
As far as the noobs we all had to learn once (amd should still be learning) but the most crowded areas on the lake aren't the place for that.
Between noobs, pros and wannabe pros a lot of the locals are tired of trying to fish in a combat zone. You'll definitely see some of it when you're here. In reality we shouldn't be ticked at them, we should be ticked at the local political greed and take it out on them.
Make sure to keep an eye on the graph and adjust your offset. The water is still really low and you can get in a bad situation quick.
Enjoy your trip and stick a monster!

[wentbroketryingtogopro]

i can feel the tn. guys their pain.only been on chick one time and that was last year at this time.i knew then that was going to be my last.dayton ramp was a nightmare that morning.from what i understand the other ramps are just as bad.some of my friends will not go unless they can rent a place right on the water with its own personal dock and ramp.blue water resort is probably their favorite(better have deep pockets)or they all will stay together and rent a place on the water.the people in tn. has always been very friendly to me over the last 45 years.douglas and cherokee has always been my favorite lakes.i just hope their boat ramps dont get as crowded as the chicks do.

[printman71]

printman71, that is all anyone can ask. We come from the land of smaller lakes, so our version of "space on the water" is probably a little different than yours. I've fished around this country for decades and have never been made to feel unwelcome in a lake/fishing community. I'm hoping this is only the vibe here and online and not the reality when we get there.

Tight lines!

If you are staying in the Dayton area, drive 30 minutes up Hwy 27 and go to Watts Bar. If you are staying more down the lake, you can fish Nickajack. Both are a lot less crowded. Watts Bar has been my choice this year.

[PowerFish]

We got here this afternoon, place is a zoo as expected. We will fish Watts Bar at least a day or two while we're here. Staying at an AirBNB in Dayton. Locals told us to use Blue Water and Blue Water says public ramp is closed. We'll find somewhere to launch hopefully ��

[FlippinManiac]

X2 on Watts and Nick. Watts Bar has been fire lately, and you can almost guarantee to have both to yourself.

[scott c]

What condition is watts barr in currently?

[wentbroketryingtogopro]

If you are staying in the Dayton area, drive 30 minutes up Hwy 27 and go to Watts Bar. If you are staying more down the lake, you can fish Nickajack. Both are a lot less crowded. Watts Bar has been my choice this year.

very good information.thank you sir.i have always thought that watts bar was the sleeper lake in the area.if watts bar was closer to me than cherokee and douglas it would be my go to lake.

[rlspace]

We came down to crappie fish Sunday evening and will leave in the morning. The locals we met were wonderful and offered to keep me updated on the bite and conditions should we want to come back in a few weeks when its better or even next year. I will say that I have never seen as many bass boats buzzing around in my life and way too close most of the time. For the locals that are frustrated, I get it. Beautiful area; loved our time here!