Lake Info
Percy Priest Lake
In the 1700’s, a wandering hunter by the name of Uriah Stone turned up a small river which was later named in his honor. He found a country of open grasslands, cedar barrens, and woodlands which so abounded in game it staggered his imagination. The Stone’s River Basin had long been the favored hunting grounds of the Creek, Chickasaws, Shawnees, and Cherokees. Andrew Jackson followed some years later and built a magnificent columned mansion on a plantation near the Stones River which he called “The Hermitage”. Two hundred years later the Congress of the United States, by the authority of the Flood Control Act of 1946, commissioned the construction of a project under the name, “Stewarts Ferry Reservoir”. Public Law 85-496, approved July 2, 1958, changed the name to J. Percy Priest in honor of the late Congressman from Tennessee. Construction began June 2, 1963 and the dam was completed in 1968. The 33,052-acre project is managed by a natural resource management staff under the direction of the District Commander in Nashville.
What we fish for:
Year round Bass and Crappie trips. Percy Priest is 16th on the nation for most popular Crappie lakes.
J. Percy Priest Dam is visible from Interstate 40 and is located between miles six and seven of the Stones River. It is conveniently located about ten miles east of downtown Nashville and impounds a lake 42 miles long. J. Percy Priest Lake covers portions of Davidson, Rutherford, and Wilson Counties and consists of 14,200 surface acres of water at summer pool elevation (490 feet above mean sea level). The water is surrounded by 18,852 acres of public lands; 10,768 acres are devoted to wildlife management.
Old Hickory Lake
Old Hickory Lock and Dam was authorized for construction by the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1946 as a unit of a comprehensive development plan for the Cumberland River Basin. The project was designed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and built by private contractors under the Corp’s supervision. Construction started in January 1952, and dam closure was completed in June 1954. The project was completed for full beneficial use in December 1957 with the placement of the final hydroelectric power unit in operation. The lock, dam, powerhouse and lake are operated and supervised by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ personnel under the direction of the District Engineer at Nashville. Old Hickory Lake is a mainstream storage impoundment on the Cumberland River operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The reservoir contains 22,500 surface acres at an elevation of 445 feet (above mean sea level) . Water level fluctuations are minimal with minimum pool elevation at 442 feet. Public facilities include eight marinas; two Corps operated campgrounds, and 41 boat access sites.
What we fish for:
Year round Bass fishing trips.
The Old Hickory Lock and Dam, located on the Cumberland River at mile 216.2 in Sumner and Davidson Counties, Tennessee, and are approximately 25 miles upstream from Nashville, Tenn. The city of Hendersonville is situated on the northern shoreline of the lake and the city of Old Hickory is located on the southern side of the lake, just upstream of the lock and dam. The lake extends 97.3 miles upstream to Cordell Hull Lock and Dam near Carthage, Tenn.
Center Hill Lake
Center Hill Dam and Lake was authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1938 and the River and Harbor Act of 1946. The project was completed for flood control in 1948. Three power generating units provide a total hydroelectric capability of 135,000 kilowatts. The project was designed by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and built by private contractors under the supervision of the Corps. The dam, powerplant and reservoir are operated by the Nashville District of the Corps of Engineers.
What we fish for:
Largemouth and phenomenal Smallmouth fishing December-March.
Center Hill Lake is located in the Cumberland River Basin, on the Caney Fork River, and covers parts of DeKalb, Putman, White, and Warren Counties in Tennessee. It controls the runoff from a drainage area of 2,174 square miles.
Tims Ford Lake
Construction of Tims Ford Dam began in 1966 and was completed in 1970. The dam is 175 feet high and stretches 1,580 feet across the Elk River. Tims Ford Dam is a hydroelectric facility. It has one generating unit with a net dependable capacity of 36 megawatts. Net dependable capacity is the amount of power a dam can produce on an average day, minus the electricity used by the dam itself. The water level in Tims Ford Reservoir varies about 15 feet in a normal year. Tims Ford has a flood-storage capacity of 219,600 acre-feet.
What we fish for:
Fall – spring Largemouth/Smallmouth Bass fishing. Fantastic Smallmouth in late fall, winter and spring.
Tims Ford Reservoir is on the Elk River in south central Tennessee. It extends 34 miles upstream to the northeast from Tims Ford Dam. Tims Ford’s sprawling arms of water are popular with canoeists, kayakers, and anglers. In addition to power generation and recreation, Tims Ford provides water supply and flood damage reduction downstream on the Elk River, primarily for Fayetteville, Tennessee.
