| | | | | Many experienced anglers who have fished the premier trout waters of the United States consider the Clinch River tailwater to be one of the finest trout fisheries in the country. It is a challenging river to fish. The clear, shallow, slow-moving Clinch demands a stealthy approach, delicate presentation, small flies, and drag-free drifts. It is very much like fishing a spring creek, but this "spring creek" is over 75-yards wide! To consistently catch its wild, wary rainbow and brown trout requires concentration, careful execution and patience.
The Clinch tailwater is 13 miles in length and flows from Norris Dam, at River Mile 80, to the Highway 61 Bridge near Clinton, TN, at River Mile 67. The upper reaches of Melton Hill Reservoir extend to the Highway 61 Bridge where the Clinch changes from riverine character to slack water.
Norris Dam, TVA's first dam, impounds Norris Reservoir. The dam was completed in 1936, and rainbow trout were stocked in the tailwater in 1937. Norris is a huge reservoir with over 800 miles of shoreline (over 30,000 acres in a real extent) and is almost 50 miles in length. Norris Dam is approximately 285 feet high and impounds a huge volume of cold water. This cold water is released through two turbines to provide electric power and cooling water for TVA coal-fired and nuclear steam plants located downstream on Melton Hill and Watts Bar Reservoirs.
Fishermen who relate to the old saw "There is much more to fishing than catching fish" will find their fishing experience on the Clinch to be extremely rewarding. The valley through which the river flows is a beautiful, pastoral setting of wooded ridges, limestone escarpments, and pastures. The banks are lined with huge sycamores and silver maples. Spring and late summer wildflower blooms are spectacular.
The river valley supports a rich mix of birds and mammals. In summer, the angler will have the opportunity to observe active blue heron rookeries and have an excellent chance to see a family of river otters. Ospreys nest along the river, and the Clinch supports a significant population of beaver and wood ducks.
The Clinch is unlike large Western tailwaters such as the Big Horn and Missouri in that it has a minimum flow of only a little over 200 cubic feet per second (cfs). The river at low flow with the turbines turned off consists of a series of long pools (one-quarter to one-half mile in length) separated by intermittent ledges and occasional shoals. The character of the river is similar to the Arkansas tailwaters - the Little Red, White and Norfork. At first glance, the pools appear to be very shallow and with no flow. Upon closer inspection, the angler finds that the pools have extensive areas where depths reach eight feet and there is a definite flow. The seemingly flat, smooth surface is riddled with almost imperceptible surface currents that can make drag-free drifts difficult. Often, the inexperienced fisher will not be able to detect that he or she is getting a bad drift.
Rainbows comprise 80-90 percent of the catch. Almost all of the fish caught will be robust, wild, quality fish. Trout will average 11-12 inches in length. Fish in the 14 -16 inch range are common, and on most days one can reasonably expect to hook one or two fish in the 18-22 inch range. It is not uncommon for a skilled angler to land a half dozen fish over 18 inches during the sulfur emergence in spring.
The state has found that fingerling trout have much higher survival rates than cacheable hatchery fish. Annual survival rates for rainbow and brown trout fingerlings (4 -5 inches) stocked in 1996 was 52% and 26% respectively. Fingerlings grow at a rate of over one-half inch per month. Well over one hundred thousand fingerlings are stocked annually during spring and summer. A few thousand catchables are also stocked during this period. Natural mortality is more significant than fishing pressure.
While rainbows comprise well over 80 per cent of the catch, browns do well in the river. The Tennessee state record brown, 28 pounds 12 ounces, was taken from the Clinch in the late 1980s. Browns over 30 pounds have been electroshocked and found dead by anglers. Spin fishermen float the river in boats during one- and two-generator flows in pursuit of these big trophy browns. Rainbows over ten pounds have been caught. The Clinch also contains assorted rough fish, and spin fishers take the occasional walleye and striped bass.
TVA has done pioneering state-of-the-art tailwater enhancement work on the Clinch that is now being used to address low flow and dissolved oxygen (DO) problems in other tailwaters across the country. Until the early 1980s, the Clinch tailwater was a mediocre trout fishery. It was severely impacted by low minimum flows (30 - 40 cfs) and low DO problems in the fall. DO levels commonly dropped to 1 part per million (ppm) or less for extended periods of time. To remedy these problems TVA established its Reservoir Improvement Release Program (RIRP) in 1981.
First, TVA installed a regulating weir dam about one mile below Norris Dam in 1984. The purpose of this weir was to ensure a minimum flow of 200 cfs below the weir. This enhanced flow has helped provide more habitat for aquatic macroinvertebrates, the primary trout food base. Also at the same time, TVA reengineered the turbines at the dam to allow for aeration of water flowing through the turbines. After reengineering the turbines, fall DO lows rarely drop below six parts per million. The growth rates and health of the trout in the Clinch have been significantly enhanced with these temperature and DO improvements. Because of these improvements, the Clinch is now an excellent coldwater fishery.
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