After a couple of years among the nation's 10 best lakes for bass fishing, Chickamauga Lake took a bit of a tumble in Bassmaster Magazine's 2015 rankings.
The Tennessee River reservoir just upstream of downtown Chattanooga tumbled from seventh place last year to 41st in the magazine's list of the top 100 bass lakes in the United States. Despite slipping 34 places, Bassmaster Magazine editor James Hall said he still thinks Chickamauga Lake is a fantastic fishery - it's just that going there can be an inconsistent and frustrating experience for amateur anglers.
"I specifically talked to three or four guides on Chickamauga because I wanted to make sure we didn't get this wrong," Hall said in a recent phone interview. "What I heard is that it's not a banner year, and things are a little bit down.
"That said, it still took almost 38 pounds to win a tournament in March, and that's world class. But in a tournament the week after that, it only took 15 pounds to win."
Hall attributed some of the slow fishing to a lack of current during summer weekends when Chickamauga Dam isn't generating power by moving water through the dam.
"During the hot times of the year, fish are so related to the ledges," he said. "When there's no current to position them and get them actively feeding, it can seem like there's not a fish in the lake.
"On weekdays when they really push the current through the lake, the fishing can be incredible."
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Region III fisheries expert Mike Jolley said Chickamauga Lake remains healthy and full of big bass waiting to be caught despite the slide in the magazine's rankings. He emphasized that fishing at reservoirs, non-natural bodies of water, means dealing with "water fluctuations."
"Maybe there's times - and I wouldn't limit this to Chickamauga - where the fishing may be tough at different times," Jolley said, "but as far as the abundance of fish and the quality of fish, we haven't seen any decrease."
Nationwide, drought had a big impact on the 2015 Bassmaster rankings, and Hall said several California lakes that had previously been ranked high dropped out of the top 100 completely after receding sometimes to 30 percent of their usual size. He also cited killing of submerged grasses as a factor that hurt some lakes, and Chickamauga is a reservoir that is just recovering from the extensive spraying that killed much of the cover for fish in previous decades.
Hall also said that Chickamauga Lake may have been a victim of its own popularity. After ranking in the top 10 for the past two years and attracting several big tournaments, the relatively small lake may have had too many anglers recently, resulting in more wary bass.
"There's been some really big tournaments on Chickamauga over the past few years, and it's been so highly ranked over the past several years," Hall said. "So it's probably gotten more pressure than it had if you look back four or five years ago, when it was a sort of a secret gem for locals.
"So I think the pressure does affect it, and you're seeing guides having to come up with new and different ways to catch fish."
Jolley said there are plenty of good fish to be caught in Chickamauga, citing the massive largemouth bass weighing 15 pounds, 3 ounces caught by Gabe Keen in February to break a 60-year-old state record.
In addition, the TWRA has increased its existing stocking program to introduce Florida strain largemouth bass into the lake. Wildlife officials introduced 183,830 new bass into Chickamauga this year, and for the first time the agency's stocking program put Florida strain bass into Watts Bar and Nickajack reservoirs.
Hall is quick to point out the Bassmaster Magazine rankings are not a comment on the total state of any of the fisheries on the list. Rather it is just a snapshot he hopes recreational fishermen can use to improve their chances for success.
"Our goal with the list is to give bass anglers who only go fishing three or four times a year the greatest opportunity to have success," he said. "Hopefully that will inspire them to go fishing more frequently.
"So we're hoping when we rank these lakes that the higher up the list you go, the better chance of success the angler will have for both size of fish and quantity of fish."
Jolley thinks TWRA data backs up his belief that Chickamauga is still one of the best largemouth bass lakes around.
"The thing with those lists is it's all based on opinion, and what we deal with is facts," he said. "What we see through our data surveys is really good.
"We've seen some great tournament weights, so everything's good on our watch. We haven't really seen any decreases. We've got more people coming down to fish than ever before on Chickamauga right now."
Contact Jim Tanner at jftanner@bellsouth.net. Follow him at twitter.com/JFTanner.