Needing help from the experts…. Recently retired and planning on relocating to Tennessee this fall. I have the ability to move anywhere but prefer central and eastern Tennessee. I fish year round and looking for a lake that has Largemouth, Smallmouth, Crappie and Walleye. I have been looking at the Dale Hollow, Center Hill, Cherokee, Douglas and Tim’s Ford but open to any and all recommendations. Appreciate any information you guys can provide to help me make this decision.
I am no expert, but we are very happy at Dale Hollow. Cookeville is the closest decent size city at 45 miles away, with Knoxville and Nashville about 120 miles away. Byrdstown has a very friendly small town feel where the auto parts guy apologizes for your old battery being bad when you go to buy a new one. The grocery store owner will offer to carry the bags to your car.
Real estate prices are stupid high still, with many properties having multiple sales over the last few years. We bought our place when we got married nearly 18 years ago and have not had a single regret about the purchase.
Thank you! We have actually looked at a home in Byrdstown and another in Albany KY. Everyone we met were super friendly.
I would look into Tullahoma, close to Woods, Tim's and Normandy. All great fishing, certain times a year and not too far from Guntersville and Nickajack. Land and home prices in middle Tennessee is going to be high. Good luck and welcome to Tennessee.
If I could pick anywhere I would move to the Chattanooga area. I'm not necessarily saying in Chattanooga just around there somewhere. You've got Chickamauga and Guntersville right there close. Watts Bar, Tim's Ford, Weiss Lake aren't far at all. Plus plenty of other fishing options as well.
This would be my thoughts as well, perhaps somewhere between Chattanooga and Knoxville.Originally Posted by west_tn
I live just down the road in NW Georgia, just across the state line south of Chattanooga and Cleveland, TN.
Byrdstown, Livingston, Celina, Sparta etc area is beautiful and would put you close to Dale Hollow however you better only want to fish. There is pretty much nothing else remotely close outside of small grocery stores, gas stations, storage buildings, discount tobacco joints and fast food. If you want some amenities I would move towards Cookeville. As stated above southern middle TN or Chattanooga area would be my choice.
Some god advice given here. Don't come to Nashville. It's full.
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How is the fishing on Tim’s Ford and Nickajack? Do the have a good number of local derbies throughout the year?
Tim's is good most of the year it's a deep lake. Most people fish at night in the summer do to pleasure boating. Nickajack is more of a river system with grass and ledges. Both can be really fun at times. Most lakes around here are going to have local Saturday tournaments and Friday night tournaments. They both have some big (charity and benefit) tournaments mostly in the spring.
Perfect and really appreciate the information. Helps a ton!
I would look at southern Tn as facebook and social media are absolutely destroying dale hollow and other lakes in the area.
"Luminous beings are we not this crude matter." Yoda
Tims Ford used to have a world class striped bass fishery with fish up to 40 pounds or so. Not sure how it is now. That is all I would do if I lived there. That lake is deeep. I can remember running a Lowrance paper graph during our winter trips and seeing the tops of fully grown trees 30 -40 feet deep. We would troll for stripers over those trees and hope that a big fish would not take us down into the tops. The backs of some of the bays would have springs that warmed the water in late winter. Large schools of threadfin shad would gather in these thermal refuges and the stripers would follow.
Last edited by csurp; 06-10-2023 at 07:59 AM.
If small town is your thing Sweetwater seems pretty nice and will give you about all the variety you could ever ask for. You can be on watts bar in 20 min, Ft Loudoun/tellico in 30, Chickamauga in 45, Douglas in about an hour and Cherokee in about an hour and 10.
Watts bar and Loudoun have a good population of TN River smallmouth to go with the largemouth as well as a ton of crappie, Cherokee is highland reservoir smallmouth, Douglas is highland largemouth and crappie, Chickamauga is Chickamauga, Tellico supposedly has good walleye fishing according to Google but I cannot confirm, and don't forget about striper fishing in pretty much all of them.
This is exactly why myself and others have been looking to relocate to Tn.
Everyone has answered questions and even recommended places in their own state.
That doesn't happen often in other states.
Tn. is full of nice people.
We are super excited and can’t wait to make the move. I am looking at a few places next week. Dayton, Spencer and Signal Mountain. Prices get much higher the closer you get to Chick and Chattanooga.
We started looking down there two years ago and are building in Soddy Daisy - will have several boat ramps within a few miles and Guntersville is only 90 minutes away. Found a builder that will build a house that will make me happy (boat garage) along with what wife wants. They started it a few weeks back and are making good progress
Signal Mtn. is higher end for housing pricing. Plus a up and down the mountain side for lake access. Dayton is growing, but added new water plant about five years ago, and expanding the sewage treatment plant. Planning for future growth. Spencer is more central to some lakes, but again access is up and down the mountains. Also limited amenities. Lived in Dayton twice,and would move back. All three are growing. Currently living in Chattanooga.
Was on Dale Saturday. As many or more boats than a holiday weekend. Every ramp was full and if there was a guard they were turning people away. Hundreds of boats on the water and it was a nightmare. I don't want to feel entitled like I own the lake or anything but man its unbearable anymore. Most of the marinas have expanded capacity which means even more boats. Not going back until the fall when most of the pleasure boats will be put away for the season.
Good luck with your search, Tn is a great place to live.
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