Posted 3/19/2014 2:13 PM (#700603) Subject: Melton Hill
Posts: 25
The family and I are headed down to Knoxville TN during the second week of July for vacation. I'm looking at hiring a guide for a day of musky fishing in the Knoxville area. I see Melton Hill is close by. Looking for some info:
1. Are the water temps going to be too warm to fish muskies this time of year? And if so, are there other options in the area?
Posted 3/19/2014 2:41 PM (#700610 - in reply to #700603) Subject: RE: Melton Hill
Posts: 218
Melton Hill pulls cold water from Norris Lake and stays fairly cool. The fish will be be closer to the river channel and deeper water. There is a significant weed growth starting to establish itself so look for these weeds nearest to the channel and you should find fish.
Billy Davis is the best guide to hire. He has been fishing the lake for years and knows the lakes patterns better than anyone. He is a nice guy, and is an excellent guide. You may have seen him on Larry Dalghberg's and Crash Mullins' shows. No other guide will help as much as he will. I am spending the winter on the lake and have caught some nice fish. An acquaintance of mine caught a 51.5 about 10 days ago. It is a nice lake in a pretty setting.
Give me a personal mail and I will be happy to share information about the lake.
Posted 3/19/2014 8:06 PM (#700708 - in reply to #700603) Subject: RE: Melton Hill
Posts: 279
Location: Central Wisconsin
I would definatly check out Cory Allen of Stones Throw Adventures. I'm not sure anyone put the number and size of fish in the boat as he did last year on that water. Met him at the Central Wi musky expo, seemed like a young up and coming guide that really had a handle on the musky down there. I also talked to Vince Weirick who was out the previous week of the show with Cory and had some nice fish and spoke pretty highly of Cory. Good Luck!
Posted 3/19/2014 9:22 PM (#700735 - in reply to #700708) Subject: Re: Melton Hill
Posts: 553
Location: 15 miles east of Lake Kinkaid
I was down fishing Melton Hill as well as central TN for 6 days this winter with Cory. We put a bunch of big fish in the boat as well as hooking several more. Cory's understanding of the fish's migrations throughout the lake is second to none; he is the only guide who fishes muskies throughout the year. Last summer he was on a crazy offshore bite no one else even knew existed.
Posted 3/20/2014 9:11 PM (#700958 - in reply to #700603) Subject: Re: Melton Hill
Posts: 300
Location: Minocqua, WI
Just spent 4 and a half days down there, fishing the waterway last week. Had some difficulties dealing with an unusual drawdown and failure to find fish in their spawning locations but a wealth was learned with the aforementioned Cory Allen. You will have no problem dealing with the summertime water temperatures as the Clinch River maintains its cool-water environment year-round. No thermoclines either.
Posted 3/24/2014 6:54 AM (#701613 - in reply to #700603) Subject: Re: Melton Hill
Posts: 91
Location: Knoxville, TN
To answer the original question. Melton Hill can be definitely too warm inspite of the cold water influx from Norris. It is all dependent on rainfall amounts. Last year Knoxville had a surplus of rain so the outflow from Norris was much higher than normal. If Bull Run is on with low flow there can be 88 degree water temperatures. That is why I chose to striper fish more during the summer. You can move upstream towards the colder water and find muskies but the majority of the fish simply go deeper when the water temps rise. I do wish all the name calling would stop. I've been called lots of thing by this guide and his band of followers. I honestly think Melton Hill is hurting as a musky fishery in spite of all the hype and needs more protection instead of blowing it up all over the internet.
Melton Hill