Walleye fishing in April and May

Posted: April 2nd, 2019 by Bill Dance

Several impoundments in Tennessee offer some great walleye fishing opportunities in April and May. One such reservoir is Chickamauga which is a 36,240 acre reservoir located along the Tennessee River in Southeast TN. Chickamauga Reservoir was created in 1940 when it was impounded by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) by the completion of Chickamauga Dam in Chattanooga, TN. Upstream from Chickamauga Reservoir is Watts Bar Reservoir and downstream, Nickajack Reservoir. These reservoirs were traditionally predominantly sauger fisheries but inconsistencies annual sauger spawning success and available sauger for stocking initiated a change in management by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) who manage the fish populations within the reservoirs. The change would be a walleye stocking project instead of the historical sauger stocking regimes. Walleye, which is closely related to sauger and also native to the Tennessee River, offers great angling opportunities within both Chickamauga and Watts Bar reservoirs currently thanks to annual stockings by the TWRA. There were several reasons why stocking walleye over sauger were a good idea; when compared to sauger, walleye live longer, grow to a greater size, are more successful in overall hatchery production, utilize more areas in the reservoir and offer better year around fishing opportunities. Like sauger, the table fare for walleye is excellent and is one of the main reasons they are sought after.