Lake levels continue to fall, with the water levels now back in the 354 ft range, expect the lake to remain in the mid-354 ft range this week. Cooler temps have dropped the water temps considerably, with surface temps now in the upper 50’s, but with warmer temperatures scheduled for this week, I do expect the lake temperatures to warm a bit. Flow rates will diminished this week as well, as little rainfall has entered the Tn River Valley. This past weekend saw flow rates in the low 40,000 cfs range.
Bass fishing has remained challenging for most fishermen, but most fishermen are still looking for shad activity over rock cover in the shallows. Shad imitations seem to be producing the better bite. Crappie fishing is improving each week, as the water cools, crappie tend to concentrate better and linger longer on cover. Most successful fishermen have been targeting fish in depths of around 10 ft, give or take a couple feet depending on sunlight. Catfish are still being found along the river channel, on cloudy days, they seem to be on top of the ledges, and on bright days, they seem to be found deeper.
Muzzleloader season opened this weekend, and hopefully we have a good season. The limits here in unit L are; 3 deer per day with one antlered deer per day not to exceed 2 antlered deer for the season. This is a gun hunt, so all hunters are required to wear 500 sq inches of hunter orange. And remember that Tn has a ‘tag before you drag’ law, all big game must be tagged or reported before moving the animal. A free TWRA app is available for hunters to download to your smartphone, which will allow you to check-in your big game on your phone. If you don’t have a phone, the tag is on the bottom of the big game license, which must be attached to the animal before moving it. Also as a reminder, bobcat season does not open until November 19th, so don't shoot a bobcat if you see one.
So far in Humphreys Co. (as of Friday last week) we have harvested 173 deer, I do expect to see a good number of deer taken this past weekend during the muzzleloader opener. The grand total for the state is 16,681 deer.