Douglas in May is more of a Rat-L-Trap, jig, spinnerbait or crankbait lake for bigger bass -- or if you’re looking for plenty of strikes more than you’re looking for big fish, then you can treat it as a Carolina rig destination. Shepherd said to boat anywhere from 25 to 30 bass in a given day is not uncommon when they’re on a rig, and there will be a few 2- to 3-pounders in the mix throughout May.

Later in the month, again, as the bigger bass move out of spawning areas back to pre-spawn staging areas and deeper, is when you’ll catch bigger Douglas largemouths. Shepherd said late in May, it’s common to see tournaments won with bags of 18 to 20 pounds or more of bass. At the end of May, in the post-spawn stage, is also when he said your chances increase to catch anywhere from 7 to 10 bass in the 2 3/4-pound to 5-pound range.

Key ramps that put you in the middle of the May action include the Leadvale ramp on the upper end of the lake, the TWRA ramp in Dandridge, and the ramp at the dam on the lower end of the lake.

CHEROKEE LAKE -- SCIENTIFICALLY
Jim Negus, a fisheries biologist from TWRA’s Region IV, said Cherokee largemouth bass have been doing very well for the past several years and seemed to have responded well to the relatively new regulation change from a 14-inch to a 15-inch minimum size limit in 2001. He added the agency had very high catch rates of mostly small 13- to 14-inch fish in the ‘90s. For the past few years, however, the catch rate has decreased a bit (though it’s still good) and the size structure has improved dramatically. Anglers should be pleased now that they are catching larger fish in a lake that still has good densities. As far as growth, largemouth bass grow well and a few survive to the ripe old age of 9.

“We do see a few smallmouth bass and spotted bass, but largemouth bass are the dominant bass due to obvious water quality issues,” Negus explained. “Spotted bass show up in fair numbers in our late fall trap net samples from the middle section of the reservoir -- especially in German Creek. We do not collect enough of them while spring electro-fishing to say much more than they are there in low densities, and maximum size appears to be around 3 pounds.”

Comparing the two lakes, Negus said he used to sample Douglas and back then there were many large fish running around. He and Hammonds would say big largemouth bass are a bit scarcer of late, perhaps because of a cycle or effect from largemouth bass virus. Negus added Cherokee largemouth bass are in a good cycle or there are more large fish because of the creel limit change. Like Hammonds said (and Negus agrees), there is still a dense largemouth bass population in Douglas, but they are perhaps running smaller than they used to, whereas Cherokee is doing well with density and size.