There are some quality brown fish waters around the country, but I’ll put Tennessee, where the smallmouth is now the undisputed king, up against any state out there. Churchill agrees that we rank at the top or close to it on most of everyone’s lists. He said the national outdoor press seems to give us plenty of respect, and he thinks most would rank us the top state in the Southeast. Churchill said Tennessee probably even beats Lake Erie for year-round fishing opportunities.

Pat Black works in the TWRA’s fisheries division and keeps close tabs on creel data across the state and on noted smallmouth waters. He said he sees rising populations in most of the Tennessee River main stem lakes. Black said habitat like clearer water seems to have shifted to favor smallmouths, and quality fish are fairly common now in Chickamauga, Watts Bar, Fort Loudoun, Pickwick and Kentucky lakes.

Black said the state’s management strategy has shifted in the past decade to reflect the changes biologists have seen and to provide more protection through harvest restrictions.

Dale Hollow sets the example when it comes to quality restrictions: Its protective slot limit allows the harvest of just one smallmouth under 16 inches in length and one other over 21 inches in length. There are now a number of key smallmouth waters that have restrictive limits with anywhere from slots to minimum lengths of at least 18 inches.

The best news for Tennessee smallmouth anglers is that the management strategy is working.

Black said Tims Ford Lake is a rising star as a high-quality smallmouth fishery in Middle Tennessee, due in part to the management strategy there. Probably the biggest concern when it comes to smallmouth lakes is the decline at Percy Priest. I’ve noticed the decline, other anglers have mentioned it, and the agency is also aware. Black knows about it as well and said it’s hard to say what the cause has been. The TWRA has been trying to enhance that fishery by stocking smallmouth fingerlings when they are available, but the jury is still out on whether or not that has been successful.

For many anglers, of course, the best smallmouth lake is the one nearest the water they know well and know how to fish. But whatever you call your home waters, it’s hard to argue with the data. Black said the creel report data he used is based on the total angler-hours spent targeting smallmouth bass and indicates how different fisheries stack up on paper at least.

The agency said it can’t survey all reservoirs every year, but Black ranked them based on the most recently available information. The top five lakes in the state based on a five-year average from 2001 through 2005 were as follows.

Dale Hollow Lake was No. 1, with the highest sampling by far each year with the exception of 2004. South Holston was in the second spot, based primarily on the 2001 sample. South Holston was sampled again in 2006, but the data wasn’t completely compiled yet.

Norris Lake was sampled all five years and ranked third in the data.