Carter noted that were it not for the current drought, he would have selected Little River, which flows out of the Great Smoky Mountains and through Townsend. It's still a very good river with some big fish in it and worthy of note, Carter said, but before the drought, it had the best population of big rock bass in East Tennessee. After the water returns, he's confident that the fish will too. Rock bass grow slowly, though, so it will take time for the trophy rock bass fishery to regain its former strength.

The statewide rock bass limit is 20 fish, with no minimum size. (Cont.)

DALE HOLLOW
Best known for its giant bronzebacks and for coldwater game fish, such as trout and walleyes, Dale Hollow could easily be overlooked as a panfishing destination. To do so, however, would be a major mistake because shellcrackers and bluegills alike grow to jumbo proportions in Dale Hollow, providing outstanding panfishing in a spectacular setting.

May is the beginning of prime-time bluegilling on Dale Hollow because the fish will start spawning this month and will continue doing so through much of the summer. That means they'll be in predictable types of locations and stacked up in good numbers

"I'm talking about 1-pound bluegills," said Darren Shell, a Dale Hollow expert who spends a lot of his time bream fishing this time of year. Shell, who has written four books about Dale Hollow, has caught two shellcrackers from the lake that he has weighed in at more than 2 pounds.

Keys to finding the bluegills and shellcrackers during the spring are finding the right types of areas and the depth where the fish are spawning, Shell said. He focuses on flats that contain a mix of sand and small shale. The depth can be between 8 and 12 feet and will vary from year to year. Once an angler locates bedding fish, though, he can count on them all being in exactly the same depth.

Once Shell has zeroed in on the depth, he will not look at all in any other depth. Instead, he'll work flats, dropping his bait only in areas of the correct depth, and he'll move along pretty quickly if he doesn't get bit.

"Either you'll catch none from a spot or you'll catch several, and sometimes you have to move quite a bit to find them," Shell said. "Once you do find fish, you'll catch 10 or 12 fish. When the bite slows, it's time to move again."

Shell uses a simple tight-line rig, with nothing but a split shot and a No. 4 hook at the end of his line, and he fishes mostly with crickets or small worms.

"Crickets are more effective, but you have to spend more time re-baiting your hook than you do with worms," Shell said.

There is no limit on Dale Hollow for bluegills. The daily shellcracker limit is 20 fish.

For lodging, boat rentals or lake information, check out Willow Grove Resort and Marina, which is located along the lake's middle section. For more information, go online to www.willowgrove.com.