Lake Levels Recede After Flash Flooding
Written by Steve McCadams - Published on August 25, 2021
In the aftermath of recent flash flooding in our region and especially south along the Tennessee River lake levels are receding as the Tennessee Valley Authority has really pulled the plug, pushing a huge volume of water through Kentucky Dam this week.
Tragic flooding in the aftermath of some 16-plus inches of rain in the Waverly area---along with downpours throughout Houston, Dickson, Humphreys county region---saw massive flooding that swelled tributary streams such as the Duck and Buffalo Rivers which empty into the Tennessee River.
This week there has been pretty swift current in the main Tennessee River channel as TVA pulls water north, sending it through Kentucky Dam and into the Ohio River.
The main channel has been muddy and filled with floating debris. Lake levels jumped a foot or more for a few days but the reservoir is falling several inches daily at the present time.
Cresting somewhere around 358.6 range at the start of the week the reservoir is falling fast and expected to be back down to the 357.5 range by this weekend. That’s a lot of water passing through the Kentucky Lake sector this week as the reservoir has risen fast and fallen fast.
Dingy to muddy water is present on the main Tennessee River channel but the Big Sandy is in pretty good shape where relatively clear to slightly stained water is present.
Hot weather has dominated lately with an added dose of humidity. The weatherman indicates slightly cooler days are ahead with several days of rain possible although no flooding conditions are projected.
Surface temperatures are in the 86 to 89 degree range, which are the highest readings of the summer. Some shallow bays even showed midday readings reaching 90 degrees.
The catfish bite had been holding up pretty good prior to the flash flooding but the high flow of muddy water moving down the Tennessee River pretty much shut things down earlier this week. Too much current plus lots of debris was just too much or both the anglers and the fish to overcome.
Watch for the bite to resume by later this weekend or early next week once the discharge diminishes, which it is doing on a daily basis.
Crappie anglers mainly fishing the Big Sandy embayment have managed to get out early and land a few fish before the mean midday sun takes over and deals the cards.
There’s still a few crappie playing the game for anglers who are using mostly live minnows fishing over manmade fish attractors in the 13 to 16 foot depth range.
Most of the catching is taking place on cloudy mornings and from about daylight until midmorning as most fishermen are putting the boat back on the trailer and heading for cooler spots before midday arrives.
A few bass boats are working main lake ledges and humps tossing big Texas rigged worms and jig and craw combos at times plus some swim baits and big spoons. And, huge deep diving crankbaits are always a part of the summer arsenal when fishing the ledges.
Overall the bite has been sluggish for most anglers.
A few boats are searching in vain for the sight of some white bass surface feeding activity but very few have encountered them in the jumps.
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