During late summer and early fall, the shad begin bunching up at Reelfoot Lake, making for some of the best fishing of the year. Photo by Jeff Samsel

The good news is that Tennessee waters serve up an amazing variety of angling opportunities and that excellent fishing can be found 12 months a year.

The bad news is that Tennessee waters serve up an amazing variety of angling opportunities and that excellent fishing can be found 12 months a year.

Why is that bad news? Because there are only so many days in a year, and most of us have to work and have priorities other than fishing that compete for at least some of our off days. Days that can be spent on the water are limited and precious, while fishing opportunities are basically limitless. To help you consider some great choices for the fishing trips you can go on, we've handpicked some of the finest fishing opportunities for every month of the year in Tennessee.

JANUARY
Tennessee River: Saugers
Folks sometimes like to talk about days when, "the weather is great . . . IF you are a duck!" Well, they could just as well fill in sauger for duck because it seems the nastier conditions are on a winter day, the better the saugers are apt to bite. Kin-fish to walleyes that generally favor more fertile waters than their cousins, saugers thrive in the Tennessee River, and during the winter the saugers pile up in the tailwaters of all the big dams that are scattered along the river's course.

During January, saugers often hang in deep-water eddies that are adjacent to current lines. Among the best areas are the washed-out holes immediately below the dams. When some turbines are off and others are on (which is often the case), anglers set up right along the seams between the fast and slow water and fish heavy jigs tipped with minnows straight below the boat. Jigs generally have to stay right at the bottom to attract strikes, which can be challenging with strong multi-directional currents and uneven, snaggy bottoms.

Other traditionally good areas are river-bend holes, the mouths of tributaries and deep cuts off the main channel, all within the first handful of miles below the dams. The fish typically won't be in the strongest current, but they like to be right next to it -- within ambush range of drifting bait.

FEBRUARY
Dale Hollow: Smallmouth Bass
Few waterways and fish species are more closely associated with one another than Dale Hollow and smallmouth bass, and reasons for that go way beyond the long-standing world-record smallmouth. Big smallies abound in this beautiful lake, and February is prime time for putting the float-and-fly to work on Dale Hollow smallies.

The bass suspend off bluffs and rocky points through the middle of the winter and feed on balled-up baitfish. A hair jig dangled under a float and worked with alternating jiggles and pauses nicely imitates the behavior of winter-slowed shad and stays suspended in the strike zone. When the bobber darts under, the real fun begins! Light line and extra-long and wispy spinning rods work best.

The only bad thing about winter float-and-fly fishing -- for smallmouth purists anyway -- is that it's hard to spend a full day throwing that bobber without hooking several big rainbow trout! It also tends to be really cold, so an abundance of warm gear is well advised. For information, visit www.dalehollowfishing.com.

MARCH
Chickamauga: Crappie
Shallow-straying crappie bring smiles to fishermen's faces during March, and Chickamauga grows the kind of crappie that can make any angler slab happy. Both black and white crappie call this big Tennessee River impoundment home, and both varieties grow to large sizes in the lake's fertile waters.

With every warm snap, the fish stray a little farther into creeks and coves and closer to the banks, and by mid-month, boating and bank-fishing anglers alike typically find good crappie-catching action. Many fish move close to visible cover, including riprap, bridge pilings and downed trees, and anglers can catch those fish simply by casting minnows under floats to obvious targets.