Lakes in East TN

#1
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tn_joeysome

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#1
Was wondering about the many different lakes in east TN. I grew up in Knoxville and have spent a lot of time on Loudon, Watts Bar, and Norris. I know Norris was my preferred as it is cleaner and much less built up.

Just curious how the other lakes stack up...Douglas? Cherokee? Watauga? Boone? Fontana?

Appreciate your thoughts.
 
#2
#2
Fishing: Dad has fished them all regularly for 60 years. He limits on crappie twice per week. His three main lakes are Loudon, Watts Barr, and Norris. His outlier favorite is Chickamauga.

Living: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
 
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#3
#3
tn_joeysome said:
Was wondering about the many different lakes in east TN. I grew up in Knoxville and have spent a lot of time on Loudon, Watts Bar, and Norris. I know Norris was my preferred as it is cleaner and much less built up.

Just curious how the other lakes stack up...Douglas? Cherokee? Watauga? Boone? Fontana?

Appreciate your thoughts.
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Douglas and Cherokee, like Norris, can’t be navigated out of. Not familiar with the tri-cities lakes or Fontana (which is in NC), but I assume they can’t either. Tellico is the cleanest lake that you can boat to the Gulf of Mexico (or Neyland Stadium) from.
 
#4
#4
tn_joeysome said:
Was wondering about the many different lakes in east TN. I grew up in Knoxville and have spent a lot of time on Loudon, Watts Bar, and Norris. I know Norris was my preferred as it is cleaner and much less built up.

Just curious how the other lakes stack up...Douglas? Cherokee? Watauga? Boone? Fontana?

Appreciate your thoughts.
Click to expand...
Douglas used to be great for white bass, we used to drive from Kentucky and fish it regularly. Norris is the one I'm most familiar with, followed by Cherokee. Good fishing in both.
 
#7
#7
You can't navigate out of the Tri Cities lakes to my knowledge. If you want the cleanest lake in the area I'd go with Wautagua. It's pretty rural up there. Boone is basically in the middle of JC, Kingsport, and Bristol. It's also surrounded by houses.

You might also look at South Holston lake. It's out there and rural. But I've not been to it much, so I can't comment on cleanliness.
 
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#9
#9
WallyBalls said:
Douglas is awful and you should definitely never, ever go there.

Sharks, pirates, and what not.

/s
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I use to fish there growing up with my grandpa. We’d crappie fish in the spring or fish for striper and largemouth. I remember it definitely being a pretty trashy lake. When I was even younger I remember going there with my uncle and he’d shoot carp and gar with a bow and arrow.
 
#10
#10
Have been going to Cherokee all my life. Or place is a ways away from the dam up around Mooresburg and it's pretty secluded. Skiing even on the holidays is easy but the lake gets busier at night with fishing boats. We don't fish much anymore but still catch enough catfish and bluegill to keep the boys happy
 
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#11
#11
WallyBalls said:
Douglas is awful and you should definitely never, ever go there.

Sharks, pirates, and what not.

/s
Click to expand...
One of my dad's friends got his boat trailer stolen at Douglas a couple of years ago. He had to call someone to bring a trailer to haul him home. That said, it's good fishing 🤣
 
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#12
#12
joevol33 said:
One of my dad's friends got his boat trailer stolen at Douglas a couple of years ago. He had to call someone to bring a trailer to haul him home. That said, it's good fishing 🤣
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I have a cousin that used to fish tournaments from Fort Loudon dam at night. He came in one morning and his truck and trailer were gone.
 
#14
#14
I can tell you first hand that there are no fish, at all, in Watts Bar. Oh, and there have been over a thousand trucks and boat trailers stolen from boat ramps there just in the last year. If you go there to fish, you'd be lucky to get out alive!
 
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#15
#15
Danl said:
I can tell you first hand that there are no fish, at all, in Watts Bar. Oh, and there have been over a thousand trucks and boat trailers stolen from boat ramps there just in the last year. If you go there to fish, you'd be lucky to get out alive!
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I know a person who fishes there. He's shady, cheater, bunch of other stuff I can't even say!👀
 
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#16
#16
Danl said:
I can tell you first hand that there are no fish, at all, in Watts Bar. Oh, and there have been over a thousand trucks and boat trailers stolen from boat ramps there just in the last year. If you go there to fish, you'd be lucky to get out alive!
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hate to hear that
 
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#17
#17
Danl said:
I can tell you first hand that there are no fish, at all, in Watts Bar. Oh, and there have been over a thousand trucks and boat trailers stolen from boat ramps there just in the last year. If you go there to fish, you'd be lucky to get out alive!
Click to expand...
True or just protecting your honey hole?
 
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