Welcome to our Chattanooga, TN Home Page
Chattanooga is the 4th largest city in Tennessee. This city is located at the transition between the ridge-and-valley portion of the Appalachian Mountains and the Cumberland Plateau. The scenery is beautiful in Chattanooga with mountains and ridges surrounding the city.
Fishing is also very good in this area with the Tennessee River, Chickamauga Lake and Nickajack Lake. Anglers target largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, huge catfish, striped bass, crappie and bluegill.
Learn About the Fish
Primary Species of Fish
Smallmouth Bass, Largemouth Bass, Spotted Bass, Catfish
Fishing is very good in this area with the Tennessee River, Chickamauga Lake and Nickajack Lake. The primary species of fish are smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, spotted bass and catfish. There are good numbers here and it definitely has plenty of trophy fish potential too.
Secondary Species of Fish
Crappie, Bluegill, Striped Bass
For the anglers who want to fish for other species of fish, you have some options here. Anglers also catch striped bass, crappie and bluegill. During the spring, there are usually very good reports for the crappie and bluegill fishing here.
Chickamauga Lake
Chickamauga Lake is a reservoir in Tennessee and it is a popular fishing and boating destination. This reservoir was created in 1940 when the Tennessee Valley Authority impounded a section of the Tennessee River. Chickamauga covers more than 36,000 acres with over 800 miles of shoreline.
Chickamauga lake is loaded with so many different species of fish, however most anglers come here to target largemouth bass, catfish and panfish. The largemouth bass fishery is really good and since they started stocking the Florida strain largemouth bass, this lake has really taken off. Largemouth bass over 10 pounds are very realistic on Chickamauga Lake. Catfish are here in good numbers also with many large fish in the system. Crappie, white bass, yellow bass and bluegill are found throughout the lake as well. Try throwing some smaller baits and you should be able to get a lot of action, especially in the spring in the fall.
There are also some very nice smallmouth bass, striped bass and walleye in this system. However, this reservoir is not loaded with these fish so you’re limited to certain spots where these fish are a little more congregated. The tailwater fishery below Watts Bar Dam is a great spot to fish if you want to target all three species of these fish. Some other good spots for smallmouth bass are around Nickajack Creek and around Hiawassee Island, also known as Jollys Island and Benham Island. This island is located in Meigs County, Tennessee, at the confluence of the Tennessee and Hiwassee Rivers.
Learn more about the Chickamauga Lake
Nickajack Lake
Nickajack Lake is another good fishing and boating Lake on the Tennessee River system. While this lake does not possess the large numbers of big largemouth bass that you can find on nearby Chickamauga Lake, they did start stocking some bass with the Florida strain genetics back in 2015. Nickajack Lake is actually a reservoir impoundment of the Tennessee River. At full pool, it covers more than 10,300 acres and has over 190 miles of shoreline. For 2/3 of the lake is mostly riverine with lots of rip rap lining both sides of the lake. The lower end of the reservoir fish is more like a lake and it has good populations of largemouth bass and crappie.
Some of the other species of fish to target are catfish, smallmouth bass, bluegill and other sunfish, striped bass, spotted bass, white bass, yellow bass, walleye and sauger. Catfish are available in large numbers throughout the reservoir. Striped bass and white bass congregate in larger numbers near the moving water below Chickamauga Dam.
Learn more about Nickajack Lake
Hiwassee River
The Hiwassee River is connected to the Tennessee River on Chickamauga Lake. Some anglers fish the Hiwassee Island where these rivers converge, however, there are a lot of fishing options as you go further upstream of the river. If we follow the Hiwassee River all the way to the Appalachian Dam, there are miles of excellent fishing. You’re probably going to have to drive an hour to an hour and a half to get to this river depending on where you’re staying in Chattanooga. Anglers target rainbow trout, brown trout, smallmouth bass and striped bass in the Hiwassee River.
Learn more about the Hiwassee River
