Lake Question??

[BamaFishin]

I live in North Alabama and my dad recently bought a house on the Elk River,which is on the wheeler dam side if I'm not mistaken on the Tennessee River.During the winter months they pull the water nearly all the way up to the main channel,then let it fill back up sometime in the late spring I belive it is.I was just wondering why it is they do this,or does it vary from lake to lake?
Just thought i'd ask.I'll be glad when we can just leave straight from the house to get after them crappie.So much more easier that way.
Thanks,
James

[fiddlefarter]

Flood control... They need the capacity to hold water from winter/spring rains.

[Mopar Matt]

They also do a drawdown so residents can repair/replace docks and seawalls.
Here in NC the lakes are drawn every year for flood control and every 3yrs they are drawn an addtional 2-4 ft for repair work.

[jhef]

i live in decatur, on wheeler. they draw the lake down for flood control, wheeler is between guntersville and wilson, these 2 lakes on each side of us are shallower lakes so they cant draw them down as much as they do wheeler, they keep them up for barge traffic and they draw wheeler way down to make up for it, all that rain water etc has to go somewere..but if you want to see a lake that gets drawed way down in the winter go check out smith lake south of us, it drops 35 to 40 feet in the winter..

[BamaFishin]

Oh ok,I was always curious.Good to have a better understanding of it.Is it still good fishing in the areas that have no water all winter long after they get submerdged again.I see tons of brush,stumps,logs and other things like that.Would they be good spots to fish when the water comes up,or would be be better to stick to the areas that are always underwater?
Thanks fellas,
James

[fiddlefarter]

Yes good spots when waters back up and It's a good time to mark stuff with gps and find it when the waters back up.

[Bushrod]

...here on Norris Lake in Eastern TN they draw down the water 20-30 feet in the winter in anticipation of the spring rain/snowmelt...then is a good time to scout the lake for structure that will be submerged come time when the lake is at full pool...I even videotape the area, so I can review it and mark the spots mentally...I put out fish attractors in areas that still hold 6-8 feet of water during drawdown...they'll be 20 ft deep come full pool...the drawdown does concentrate the fish in certain areas...any spots near the main channel usually produce fish...

Bushrod

[SweetHomeAlabama]

Bamafishin,

Try this website. It gives all the info you need on lake levels, releases, etc... for the TVA River System.

http://lakeinfo.tva.gov/htbin/lakein...BMIT=View+data