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Where do fish go in the winter on the Tennessee River?

In the heart of winter, bass behavior in the Tennessee River system is influenced by several factors, including water temperature, current, and the seasonal drawdown of water levels. Based on the video context provided, here's a summary of winter bass behavior in this region:

  1. Drawdown Conditions: During the winter, the Tennessee River experiences a significant drawdown, where water levels are reduced by about six to seven feet. This drawdown concentrates the fish by reducing the available habitat, making them easier to locate. They tend to congregate around structure that's still submerged, such as the mouths of ditches, main lake points, island tops, humps, and any irregularities in the bottom contour.

  2. Current-Driven Behavior: Bass in the Tennessee River are current-driven, meaning they respond to the flow of water. Even with lower water levels, they still relate to areas with some current, such as the first break line or current seam.

  3. Shallow Water Preference: Despite the cold, bass in the Tennessee River system can still be found in surprisingly shallow water. They are river fish that prefer shallow areas year-round. After a warm rain, feeder creeks can introduce warmer water into the system, attracting bass to the mouths of these creeks where the warmer water mixes with the main river.

  4. Temperature and Cover: In winter, bass will seek out areas that can provide a slight temperature advantage. Mud flats, for example, can hold heat, which might make them attractive to bass. Additionally, remaining grass lines, rock, and wood can also hold heat and provide cover for bass.

  5. Finesse vs. Reaction: When bass are found on flats or in deeper areas, they are often targeted with finesse techniques due to their slower metabolism and reduced activity levels. However, if they are located on the lip of a drop-off or in shallower water, they might still respond to reaction baits.

When fishing for bass in the Tennessee River during winter, it's crucial to monitor water levels and temperature changes, focus on areas with remaining cover and structure, and be prepared to use both finesse and reaction tactics depending on the location and activity level of the fish. Keep an eye on the TVA lake info for current water levels to plan your fishing trips accordingly.

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Winter Tennessee River Smallmouth Bass Fishing by Wheeler Fishing → or nine and I caught a couple big drum a big was at Buffalo cars will go once you bet hey you cannot complain on winter day catch a few small mouse pot crispy fish and getting out there and eating your lunch trash that's for sure hopefully these fish and end up let them go back and hopefully they get little bit bigger I'm telling they're gonna get a lot fatter just one thing some sectors will get back
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Where Do Bass Go In The Heart Of Winter? (And How You Can Catch Them) by TacticalBassin → said a little bit ago in this video even if it's just a couple foot drop off a lot of times those fish are gonna pull off and sit down in the bottom of that if they're up on the lip again you can catch them on reaction typically down on the flat you're going to catch them on finesse you guys kind of see the same same pattern as with Highland Reservoir um so we talked Highland we talked lowland river systems uh completely different those fish just don't care about the current like I said the TVA the Tennessee River Chickamauga Gunnersville Nickajack Watts Bar that whole area uh even Kentucky Lake um the fish are current driven this time of the year even with the water levels down they like to drop the water level to Winter pool where it's down six or seven feet depending on the lake you're in um those fish are gonna pull out of the back Waters as much as possible but they they can still be super shallow shallow and that's that's where these fish differ from like a Highland Reservoir or a lowland Reservoir fish um I mean Chickamauga was frozen over just a couple weeks ago the last time I went out I caught him in two feet of water on a blade bait and uh and a lipless I mean they were up Shallow they were cold but they didn't care um those fish just lived shallow year
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BRENT BUTLER | Winter Fishing the TVA & Toyota Series Championship on Lake Cumberland by Serious Angler Network → what i'm saying and uh really really get away from the rat race of society and everything else you know and uh but yeah yeah i usually uh i usually do fish a lot uh in the winter time for sure now how low do they draw check because i know they draw those tva lakes down so it's got a really either stack them up real good or it doesn't scatter them like what happens in the winter on the tva system um what it depends on the rainfall once they get it you know pulled down uh from you know the the lakes above all the way down through guntersville you know that basically tva watches that you know so they don't flood out certain areas you know on down the river chain uh they basically drop it about seven feet this is what we go for six to seven you know you can get on the tva yeah uh like info and keep check on it that way and like 682 is full pool and most time in the winter time you see like a 675 six which is pretty consistent right there uh but when it's really low say i mean like 675 even or less you gotta really be careful on like what range you can put in that or anything because there's very select few because when it's it's at like 675 even the best of my knowledge you can't
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How Jacob Foutz combats the winter drawdown on the Tennessee River by Bassmaster → foreign I've caught all week hey guys Bassmaster release series Pro here Jacob Fouts hey right here on the Tennessee River today and you know we're dealing with uh we got drawdown conditions here you know Tennessee River is is famous for for the for the winter draw down and uh you know you know I live on Lake Chickamauga and we we get we get about six feet of draw down in the winter time and you know it moves the fish a bunch and uh I I personally really like it when the water draws it when the water comes down just because it you know it constricts everything and the fish they got nowhere to go especially on a Tennessee River you know here's a prime example it's uh you know Tennessee River is a fairly flat place and you know when the water comes down all this is really really shallow and you got a prime little spiral here you can see here there's a ditch that runs out and the fish they got nowhere else to go so that everything constricts to the to the mouths of the ditches and you know just these mud flats I think one thing in the winter people don't realize everyone talks about rock and wood and how it holds heat but mud also holds heat and you know a lot of times in the winter you'll catch a bass and if you look at their stomach they'll
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Where Do Bass Go In The Heart Of Winter? (And How You Can Catch Them) by TacticalBassin → uh main Lake points if you will or Island tops or humps it's going to be you're gonna have to find those little Indus you know discrepancies uh and that's where those fish are gonna hold and then uh let's talk about river systems you know the Tennessee River Chickamauga Guntersville Watts Bar uh you know those fish are typically current driven a lot of times they draw the lake down the Lakes down so you're gonna have all of your big big back Waters those fish are gonna be in in the spring and summer time uh as they drop and pull that water out those fish are going to pull out they're still gonna stay as shallow as they can those fish are river fish they love being shallow year round uh but they're gonna as that water drops and recedes they're gonna kind of pull out two um to the to that first break or uh current scene but river system typically it's uh gonna be a narrower fishery a lot of current it's all uh based on the flows between the dam above and the dam below uh but that is your river system you know Deltas it's going to be tied fluctuating that's really gonna that's gonna be in that same type of river category you're gonna have that current situation you're gonna have grass lines winter time you might still have some grass lines but again it's all about finding that hard hard
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ADAM RISER | Bass Fishing In Tennessee/Alabama | Kayak Bass Fishing by Serious Angler Network → when i dig knock my teeth out we were talking about it off air a little bit earlier we like to float a few of these rivers here in the winter uh because the the main river creek that we're floating will be one temperature but then the the feeder creek's coming in if you catch it after warm rain will have that drastic temperature change and so all those main river fish or maybe if you're in a wintering hole in like a deep pocket or something they'll go as any fish would they'll appreciate that warmer water while it's there and so it's not uncommon for us in the winter to do a river float not even fish the main river and just literally drift from feeder creek to feeder creek because that's where they congregate is that the mouth of that usually right where the main river water mixes with the uh other water that's going to be warmer it's not a guarantee that it's there but for sure some of the bigger and best days we've had in the middle of winter when typically hopping on the lake or the you know fishing can get really slow that time of year that's been one of our favorite times to go out in the dead of winter and you can have big numbers days and a big size days as well but those feeder creeks are usually the ticket during that time
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