There are areas in Alabama along the TN river where the fields are flooded for duck hunting. I am just using Alabama as a reference because this is where I am from. You may very well have these in your state or area or something similar to this. As you will be able to see from the attatched pictures, you can easily catch many different types of fish from these water releases or spillways. After duck season is over, the game and fish division open the valves and let all the water spill into the river to drain the fields for planting. There are several different factors that attract so many fish to the area. The current stirs up different types of bait sources, it creates eddy water so that fish can ambush their prey, the eddy water also serves as a calm area directly related to the current. Usually the water being released is a little warmer than the river that it is flowing into which creates a temperature change.

These are just some of the things that attract the fish to the area. You can catch fish without having any knowledge of fishing in most of these areas simply due to the amount of fish that the current attracts. However if you take the time to watch people fish it, you can learn from the tactics they use. I will also point out a few things I target in this particular water release that improves my catch tremendously.
These places are generally heavily fished and therefore the fish move in and out and are caught a lot, so sometimes you may not catch fish and then sometimes you may load up. This particular release pushes a lot of water out into the main body of the river, and when it reaches a certain distance and the pressure is less, along with the push of the main river current, this causes a bend in the water flow toward whichever direction the river is flowing. I key on several different areas. A good place to start is right beside the edge of the rough bends on both sides where the water turns back. Also, in the calm water right next to where the water releases. Do not overlook the direct current thinking it is too rough or fast for crappie, they will sometimes be holding in it as well. Usually you can catch these fish in many different ways. Minnows under a float, jig under a float, or casting. It is really a forgiving way of fishing at times in these areas. So, if you know of one of these areas and have never tried it, you may want to give it a shot. Here are some different fish caught at this particular spot. Good fishing to you all.