Center Hill Lake Trip

[thirtysixit]

Welp! I'm headed out to Tennessee in two weeks to camp and fish on Center Hill Lake.  I'm not finding much online as far as reports go and was hoping a kind soul would share with me some general information about how the lake fishes this time of year.  Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Surpriser]

It's mostly rock/bluffs. Grass and wood is minimal at Center Hill. Expect deep, clearer water.  Pleasure boats will take over on the weekends and make the water a bite stained in areas. 

I'd stick to 15ft+ water depth this time of year. There will be opportunities for a shallow/top water bite at dusk & dawn. I wouldn't stray from main points during the day unless you just find a lot of bait in the backs of pockets, or a rare lay-down that falls into deeper water.

 

Shakey head, jig, and drop shot will be your best bet through most of the day. Use any moving baits during low light hours. 

 

Youll stand and just about equal chances catching a largemouth, smallmouth, or spotted bass.

 

Good luck!

[fishnkamp]

Okay first understand this about the lake there are like 4 rivers that feed into the lake and two enter over waterfalls. Also he main river enters the lake from the south and leaves out the north through a dam.  So you go south to go up river. It took me a bit to get used to it.  That s okay the fish in my avatar is a 7 pound Kentucky from Center Hill Lake. God I love that lake.  I  am not sure where on the lake you are camping but locate the Hurricane Bridge on route 56. Just before you cross that bridge, driving south from route 40, you will find the Corp of Engineers has a public launch. If you boat up to that area or launch there look directly across from that ramp. There is a terrific bluff wall fish that section. I will load a couple of pictures . The bluff is a stair step wall. Also fish the bridge abutments, sides, front and back current breaks. The Kentuckies love vertical structures and will set up quite a bit in front and all around behind the pilings.  Use rattle traps, reaction Innovation Skinny Dippers with swimbait jig heads in 1/4, 3/8, or 1/2 ounce. They liked the Houdini and White Trash. Also the baits like Berkley Powerbait Swim shads in 7/16 ounce.  Go check out Taylor Creek. Fancher Falls is an 80 foot waterfall, now you may not be able to baot all the way up to it but that waterfall should add oxygen so the fish may be more active there. That would also go for Burgess Falls, which is located on the Falling Water River. That waterfall is a series of falls dropping down 250 feet so again that part of the river may provide better water temps and oxygen levels.  One last note fish tight to any red clay banks you see. During the summer crayfish spawn on red clay banks so in the evenings I would be throwing a jig/craw around those banks. One area to try would be between the mouth of Mine Lick Creek go through the s bends, try the shore opposite Mine Lick right where the hook is just before you get to Camp Relax. I would also go on down to the Narrows, down toward Eagle Creek and all around Davies island. Man good Luck I love that lake.  Make sure you throw shakey head worms, swimbaits tx rigged worms, and add Ned Rigs from ZMan. I got introduced to those critters this spring on Dale Hollow and those do nothing looking rigs caught more big  5 to 7 pounders during that week. They were the most incredible finesse bait for finicky fish.  Check out some pics from that bluff by the bridge.

[thirtysixit]

Just got back! Awesome trip. We will be back for sure.

 

 

[Moorfred]

Looking to to Center Hill over Easter Weekend.  I will be bringing a boat and will need to find a place to stay as well as safely dock my boat.  Years ago we used to stay at Hurricane Dock.  Any suggestions?

[Chris Catignani]

On 8/8/2016 at 3:28 AM, fishnkamp said:

That s okay the fish in my avatar is a 7 pound Kentucky from Center Hill Lake.

You should have had fish checked with TWRA.

The current TN state record for a Kentucky bass is 6lb 1oz.

[Leotis]

Thinking about popping down to Center Hill Lake in a coupla weeks. I was wondering if anyone would know how Center Hill fishes compared to Percy Priest? I have a slip at Priest, so I wind up fishing there most of the time out of convenience but Priest can reeeeally be a grind sometimes...especially in the hottest part of the summer. Not to mention all the boat traffic...fishing Priest on a summer weekend is kinda like trying to fish I-65 at rush hour. Anyways...was wanting to get out on some other bodies of water just to change things up a bit, so I thought Center Hill might be a good one to hit.