The largest lake in eastern Tennessee is Norris Lake (norrislakeinfo.com) a Tennessee Valley Authority reservoir lake. Lionel Ferguson, of Philadelphia, Tennessee, hauled in a black crappie weighing 5 pounds, 7 ounces, on May 15, the newspaper reported.

Ferguson caught the fish at Richeison Pond in Loudon County, the News Sentinel reported.

Bluegill spawn, or “make beds,” en masse. (. Lepomis is Greek for “scaled gill cover.” Macrochirus means “large hand.” A fairly accurate description of these feisty fighters. Even if you can’t see them, they’re there, usually in the back of sloughs or coves. Chickamauga Lake is an excellent shellcracker producer.

A TWRA biologist sent a clipping of the fish's fin for DNA testing to ensure it was not a hybrid, WBIR reported.

A near-record bluegill (2 pounds, 5 ounces) was caught recently by 13-year-old Joshua Thomas from a private pond near Tahlequah, Okla. The state record shellcracker is 3 pounds, 6 ounces. Michele Norfleet is a freelance writer who writes on travel, home and garden and education topics. Norris Lake is known for its striped bass fishing, as well as crappie, walleye and rock fish. (Photo: Comstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images ), Fishing Cabins on Douglas Lake, Tennessee, Hotels Near the Southern Belle Riverboat in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Kentucky Lake: Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley Fishing, Reelfoot Outdoors: General Reelfoot Information, All About Fishing: Tennessee Panfish Fishing, Attractions in & Around Cleveland, Tennessee, Privacy Notice/Your California Privacy Rights. If you catch one of those in late April or the month of May, there are more with him.

Lake Barkley is 134-miles long. Oh my goodness.
They especially like corners where they only have to protect their beds from marauding predators approaching from one direction, rather than a 360-degree angle. And soon it was official: Coke McKenzie had caught a new world record, a fish of astounding proportions. "When I caught the fish, I was hollering,” Ferguson told the newspaper. The lake is just north of Knoxville.

3oz. If you’re specifically targetting shellcrackers, you will probably do better with redworms.

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Bobby Wilson, Executive Director 5107 Edmondson Pike Ellington Agricultural Center Nashville, TN 37211 (615) 781-6500 Ask.TWRA@tn.gov Chat The Tennessee state record bluegill is 3-pounds even. I can cover every depth from bank-to-boat. The lake was formed in 1811 and 1812 as a result of the massive earthquakes along the New Madrid fault in the Missouri bootheel. There is no creel limit in Tennessee. It contains more than 1,000 miles of shoreline that extend into western Tennessee. If you catch one bedding “bull bream,” he’ll be colored up… extremely dark on the back and bright vivid orange yellow on the belly. Bluegill rarely surpass 16 inches in length, and are usually half that size; the best fishing is at depths of 10 feet or less. Dale Hollow Lake (dalehollowlake.com) is in northern Tennessee along the Kentucky and Tennessee border. Largemouth and yellow bass, crappie and bluegill are caught in Reelfoot using crickets, small minnows, red worms and small spinners.
Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY. But grab the kids, grab the wife, grab the wax worms or crickets and go! Fishing on the lake is available year round, with summer being the best time to fish for bluegill. She has coauthored a handbook for teachers on school-wide discipline and has contributed tips for special-needs students in the basal curriculum for RCL Benziger.

It stretches across the western tip of Kentucky and across most of the width of Tennessee with over 2,000 miles of shoreline. Tom Morgan’s shellcracker is a hog. “Most people probably thought somebody shot me.". However there is a creel limit of 20 per person on shellcrackers, so learn how to tell the difference. Learn how your comment data is processed. © 2020 USATODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, Inc. Boating on the Tennessee River in Alabama.

Norfleet holds a master's degree from Southern Illinois University and has experience as a special-needs teacher and speech pathologist. Remember that “dragging the bottom” trick for locating beds.

Squeeze his belly just a little and you’ll get a second clue as to their “breeding condition.”. You have entered an incorrect email address! While the sunfish, especially the shellcrackers will start bedding earlier, we will have a full moon on May 14. It is waiting official certification from the TWRA before being certified as a record. When I’m searching for bluegill beds I typically like to “drag the bottom.” I use a slip-sinker rig with an eighth-ounce sliding bullet sinker with an extremely tiny clamp-on-sinker to peg the sliding sinker 12-18 inches away from the bream hook. Tag along with Tim Farmer for last year's archery hunt for a doe.

Richard Simms is a professional journalist and fishing guide in Chattanooga. Ferguson already held the state record for the fish, as the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency confirmed the fish's size in June, WBIR reported. Families can enjoy a day of bluegill fishing on the lakes of Tennessee.

But in a couple of weeks it will “bluegill time in Tennessee.”. It’s easy to tell the females. Cabin, boat rentals and full-service marinas are plentiful. Year-round boating and fishing are available at these lakes, which produce large bluegill and other panfish.

A bluegill weighing 6 pounds, 8 ounces was caught in Obion County, Tennessee by angler Harry McCracken. Families can enjoy a day of bluegill fishing on the lakes of Tennessee.

Chickamauga Lake is an excellent shellcracker producer. The lake has more than 600 miles of heavily wooded shoreline with rocky outcroppings. Don’t worry about catching too many bluegill. Bluegill and shellcrackers will soon be bustin’ out all over. Meaning if you find one, you’re likely to find dozens. Eight-hundred miles of shoreline offers opportunities for swimming, pleasure boating and water sports.

Each female will lay a minimum of 2,000 eggs. We remember Cooper, a blind hunting dog. Like many anglers in America, the very first fish I ever caught was a bluegill.

They are more commonly called shellcrackers.

The state record shellcracker is 3 pounds, 6 ounces. It might just be eight or ten, or it might be 110.

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The remnants of a forest that covered the area before the lake was formed creates hatcheries for as many as 29 fish species.

The fish thrives in any lake containing its preferred food of minnows, crustaceans, insects and worms. Kentucky Lake (kentuckylake.com) is the largest manmade lake in the eastern United States; it is the largest of the TVA reservoirs. The lake has more than 600 miles of heavily wooded shoreline with rocky outcroppings. Whatever the bait, I like to drag it along the bottom with a small BB split shot whether it’s 2-feet deep or 8-feet deep. It is is known for its clear water and good fishing. But dragging the bottom is much more effective in figuring out where they are. Written by Joshua in Fishing Advice. The International Game Fish Association announced that Ferguson officially broke the previous world record of 5 pounds set in 200 by John R. Horstman.

there are actually 6 or 8 different species of sunfish in area waters. Bluegill are the most common. It will look like the bottom is pockmarked with several black spots 12-to-18 inches across.

Others include green sunfish, warmouth, pumpkinseeds, longears, redbreast and redear. Bluegill are found along the steep, rocky shorelines. Sometimes on a calm day in clear water, you can actually see the dinner plate-sized beds the males have swept out on a sandy bottom. That’s when the fishing should peak, according to most hardcore bluegill busters.

As the water temperatures climb into the high 60’s, bluegill will be “going on the beds,” which means they’re spawning. The IGFA receives 500 world record applications annually, and keeps 1,472 different species records internationally. The previous mark had stood since 1985, when Clyde Freeman caught a 4-pound, 4-ounce black crappie, the television station reported. Ferguson already held the state record for the fish, as the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency confirmed the fish's size in June, WBIR reported. Older, larger females will lay up to 18,000 eggs. A Tennessee man who reeled in a big fish learned that his catch was a world record, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported.