Other fish stay near creek channels, holding in brush and other scattered cover above and below the channel drops. An angler typically can do well catching these fish simply by trolling minnows and/or jigs at a variety of depths and zigzagging over the edge of the creek channel. Experienced crappie fishermen watch their electronics constantly as they troll, always looking for cover and concentrations of fish and taking note of every detail anytime a rod goes down.

APRIL
Fort Loudoun: Largemouths & Smallmouths
Largemouths and smallmouths share the glory on Fort Loudoun Lake, where both species grow to large sizes. Largemouths are more numerous than their bronze-backed cousins, but smallies offer great fishing to anglers who target them and account for important parts of many big tournament bags.

In part because of mercury and PCB contamination and strong fish consumption advisories, Fort Loudoun functions essentially as a catch-and-release bass lake. Add high fertility, good year-round dissolved oxygen levels and outstanding shoreline cover, and the result is a bass factory.

One of the most fun things about fishing in April is that the bass can be caught a lot of different ways, and if one pattern doesn't pay off, another usually will. Topwater fishing over main-lake points ranks among the best ways to catch big largemouths and smallmouths. Other excellent April techniques are spinnerbait fishing and shallow cranking around shoreline cover for largemouths. For anglers who want to target smallmouths, a good bet is to crank a little deeper over rocky points and humps near the river channel.

MAY
Clinch River: Trout
Rainbow, brown trout and brook trout are all stocked in the Clinch River below Norris Dam, and anglers enjoy fast action from stocked fish throughout the spring. Access is good, and wading is easy during low-water periods. Flyfishermen have big fun with dry flies this time of year. Spin-fishermen do well with small spoons, in-line spinners and various natural offerings.

While fast action is the main attraction for many anglers, the potential to catch very large trout is what sets the Clinch apart from many other streams. Both rainbows and browns grow to double-digit weight proportions in this large tailwater, and many locals believe the river holds brown trout that would topple the existing state record (which came from the Clinch) of 28 pounds, 12 ounces.

The big trout definitely bite best when one of Norris Dam's turbines is turning. Anglers float the river and use either big streamers cast on sinking fly lines or minnow-imitating plugs to lure big browns out of shoreline cover.

JUNE
Kentucky Lake: Largemouth Bass
Kentucky Lake bass can be caught a lot of different ways during June, but folks in the know put their money on fishing ledges along the main channel of the Tennessee River. The lake's biggest bass (which will include some smallmouths) will group up in key spots along the ledges and feast on threadfin shad.

Key types of areas include tributary confluences, hard swings in the inundated channel, and transitions in bottom substrate atop the river ledges. Current triggers the bite, and the amount of current flowing affects which spots are the hottest. Among the best baits for working the ledges are big deep-diving crankbaits like Bomber Fat Free Shads and 10-inch plastic worms fished on Texas rigs.

June often also marks the beginning of the best night bite, with the same fish moving up at night to feed atop humps that rise adjacent to the Tennessee River channel and points that stretch into the channel. Dark-colored jigs, and big single-bladed spinnerbaits, like Strike King's Midnight Premier, produce both largemouths and smallmouths after the sun goes down.