JANUARY
Smallmouth -- Upper Center Hill Lake
Tips: Cast to the bluffs and slowly swim 1/9 ounce leadheads with a white or chartreuse curlytail after letting it fall about 10 feet.
Smallmouth & Walleye -- Watauga Lake
Crappie -- Bedford Lake
FEBRUARY
Cherokee Bass -- Boone Lake
Tips: During the day, fishing the midsection of the lake. Start casting at the mouths of the feeder creeks and work the shallows with a slow retrieve.
Walleye -- Tims Ford
Smallmouth -- Norris Lake
MARCH
True Bass -- Pickwick Tailwaters
Tips: Troll crankbaits with the current from the dam downstream for 500 yards. For more fun, troll streamers on a flyrod from downriggers.
Crappie -- Reelfoot Lake
Largemouth Bass -- J. Percy Priest Lake
APRIL
Crappie -- Kentucky Lake
Tips: Use a strong pole with a 14-pound-test line and light wire, No. 1 hook. Stout line will bend your hook and pull free. Pliers will reshape your hook.
Smallmouth Bass -- Dale Hollow Lake
Largemouth Bass -- Williamsport Lake
MAY
Largemouth Bass -- Cumberland River
Tips: Experts suggest using mono instead of braided line because mono catches more fish when identical cranks are trolled. They think it may be the different sounds the mono makes.
Bream -- Kentucky Lake.
Cherokee Bass -- Cherokee Lake.
JUNE
Black Bass -- Nickajack Lake
Tips: Look for the rocky valleys and ridges of the river bottom for smallmouth in June, using electronics to help find and pattern fish on structure.
Bream -- Browns Creek Lake
Rainbow Trout -- Chilhowee Lake
JULY
Catfish -- French Broad River
Tips: Fish in deep holes and along channel drops. If you don’t get a bite within 20 minutes, move. It doesn’t take long for cats to smell and find your offering.
Smallmouth Bass -- Dale Hollow Lake
Striper -- Old Hickory Lake
AUGUST
Striper -- Old Hickory Tailwaters
Tips: Drift 5-inch skipjack on a 3/0-circle hook on a three-way or Carolina rig from the boils down stream to the boat ramp. The current will determine how much weight you need.
Largemouth Bass -- Herb Parsons Lake
Largemouth Bass -- Watts Bar Lake
SEPTEMBER
Smallmouth Bass -- Watauga Lake
Tips: Above Butler Bridge, vertically jig brightly colored spoons over humps that have steep and gentle slopes or creek channels beside them.
Rainbow Trout -- Holsten River
Smallmouth River -- Nolichucky River
OCTOBER
Blue Catfish -- Cumberland & Tennessee Rivers
Tips: Drift the edge of a drop with night crawlers on a three-way rig from a creek mouth downstream 100 yards, or anchor and set rods with worms or cut bait.
Wild Trout -- Smoky Mountain Streams
Crappie -- Normandy Lake
NOVEMBER
Largemouth Bass -- Reelfoot Lake
Tips: There must be some baitfish activity in the area for bass to be active. Find the bait and cast a spinnerbait, covering all breaks and cuts in the vegetation.
Muskies -- Great Falls Lake
Crappie -- Chickamauga Lake
DECEMBER
Crappie -- Lake Barkley
Tips: Begin fishing with 1/8-ounce chartreuse jigs in the lock and drift with the current downstream. Once you find crappie, fish similar cover and/or structure.
Smallmouth Bass -- Fort Loudoun Lake
Sauger -- Melton Hill Lake