Area lakes and rivers saw a rise this past week, most of fall and winter have seen drought conditions, but we are starting to see some rain finally move into our area. Kentucky lake at New Johnsonville was at 355.5ft on Feb. 18 with TVA predicting a fall back towards 354.7ft, with discharges averaging 60,000cfs. The Cumberland River at Dover was at 56.2ft, Clarksville was at 27.4ft and Cheatham Dam was at 385.3ft with discharges between 20-26,000cfs. The Duck River saw about a 5ft rise, but is predicted to fall back to normal if we don’t see much precipitation this week. Most areas are now seeing water surface temperatures in the mid 40’s.
We’ve seen a lot of fishermen head out in the warm weather looking for bass and crappie. With the warming water, the fishing action has seen an improvement this past week, with many finding good numbers of crappie and bass, as the fish are feeding up for the upcoming spawning season. The wind has been the largest barrier to most, with caution being advised if heading out, as it can become very difficult to navigate and fish with strong winds. The crappie are still “bunched up” as this time of year, crappie will school up and not move around as much, making it easier to fill the live-well. Bass will be close to baitfish when feeding, so always look for baitfish when looking for bass or any other fish. Rocky banks, shallow water brush piles on warm days are always worth checking this time of year. I’ve seen some good catches of Sauger this past week, with the added flows, and spring approaching, the Sauger have started gathering in the deep holes close to their spawning areas.
We are just under a month out from the re-opening of the USFW refuges de-watering areas, including Cross Creeks and the Duck river units. The refuge re-opens on March 16 each year. TWRA wants everyone to know the Waterfowl season is over, the “Light goose season” is now open through the end of March, but hunters wanting to participate in hunting Blue, Snow, and Ross’s geese, must obtain a free permit first, these permits are available free on-line at GoOutdoorsTennessee.com or at TnWildlife.org…