Dale Hollow Lake is known for its tremendous smallmouth bass fishery. Home of the world record smallmouth bass, Dale Hollow Lake still holds its own for putting out trophy bass year after year. When the weather is too cold to fish the lakes up north, anglers can experience a tremendous fall and early winter destination for catching smallmouth bass. You can catch them year round, but the best bite is in the spring, later fall and early winter. It’s a good numbers lake if you know how to fish clear water and some big fish are here too.
Deep Water Fishing
Dale Hollow Lake is a very deep lake with clear water. In the spring, anglers have good success fishing shallow water for a variety of fish since they move into spawn. However, from summer through winter, anglers are going to have to fish deeper water to have more success. Use your electronics and don’t be afraid to fish away from the shorelines as many schools of smallmouth bass will suspend 20 to 30 feet down over deeper water.
Use Light Line in the Clear Water
Using lighter line is key here to get more bites. The clear water makes it easy for fish to see to see your line, so try downsizing your line and you can also use fluorocarbon leaders. Anglers that have success here will usually be fishing with 6 to 8 pound line.
Catch Big Smallmouth Bass
Dale Hollow Lake has good numbers of bass, but it is known for producing some very large smallmouth bass. When you combine the longer growing season with special smallmouth bass regulations, plus lots of baitfish, you get a trophy smallmouth bass fishery. The world record smallmouth bass was caught here and it weighed 11 lb and 15 oz. It is not uncommon to hear of smallmouth bass in the 5 to 7 pound range and there are bigger bass swimming in this lake too.
Current Plays a Major Factor Here
The current can play a big role in how well you do when fishing on Dale Hollow Lake. When the dam is releasing water, there will be more current up in the lake. While you may not see a lot of current back in some of the creek arms, you will be able to notice some current if you are fishing out on the main lake. Smallmouth bass love having some current and they will usually stack up on current breaks where baitfish are present. You can still catch a lot of fish when the lake is low and the current is minimal, however, when you have some current, it can really help position the smallmouth bass, which gives anglers a chance to target bigger schools of active fish.
Fish the Creeks
There are so many creek arms on Dale Hollow Lake. While the creek arms are usually best in the spring when fish move shallower to spawn, there is plenty of deep water in these creek arms to hold fish in the summer and fall too. Fish the cover in these creek arms such as rocks and wood in the spring. Target the deeper water with schools of baitfish in the summer through winter.
Fish the Main Lake
Good numbers of fish will transition to the main lake after the spawn. From the summer through winter, anglers usually do well by targeting suspended bass off the main lake points. Don’t rule out some of these main lake shorelines in the spring in the fall either. When the fish go deep though, it can be a challenge to find the schools of suspended fish out on the main lake without good electronics. Find the schools of baitfish and you should be able to find some quality smallmouth bass in deeper water out on the main lake.
Fish the Points
Dale Hollow Lake has tons of main lake points and secondary points in the backs of the creek arms. If you just want to fish points, you can easily run and gun and target points all day long. There will be some fish relating to points here year round, so water temperature will play a big role in whether or not you’re in the back of the creeks or out on the main lake. Because this lake has so much deep water, it won’t be hard to find points that drop off quickly into deeper water. There are so many good points to fish.
Fish the Rocks
Dale hollow lake has lots of rocks, so plan on fishing plenty of rocky bottom while here. Smallmouth bass love the rocks, but because there is not a ton of vegetation here, you’ll find plenty of largemouth bass around the rocks too.
Fish the Shorelines
The shorelines look great around the lake. You’re going to find a lot of rock, some wood and nice drop offs. Because the lake is so deep, most anglers will just go along a shoreline and start fishing. In the spring and fall, anglers do usually report much better fishing up against the shorelines. If you like targeting the banks, fish the shorelines with steeper drop-offs during the summer months.
Fish the Wood
There is plenty of wood to fish on Dale Hollow Lake. From the down trees to the flooded bushes to the brush piles, you have lots of options. If you find some lay downs down a steep bank, you will most likely find some smallmouth bass.
Learn More About Smallmouth Bass
Our smallmouth bass section is huge with information on the best live baits, lures, where to catch them and how to catch them. Visit our smallmouth bass page to learn more.
