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 clinton tn 057 [640x480].jpg (76KB - 339 downloads)
clinton tn 045 [640x480].jpg (124KB - 321 downloads)
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Posts: 20231
Location: oswego, il | I have a question about the lake. Muskies have been stock in futility in a few of our cooling lakes. The lakes got too hot and the muskie survival rate was poor to non-existant. Just curious how hot that lake gets in the summertime and I am guessing the enire lake is not completely affected by the discharge? |
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Posts: 2024
| I don't recall the specific details, though it was in a past issue of MI's publication (from 2010 I believe), but I believe there are significant portions of the reservoir that are quite deep and may provide thermal refuge for the fish and like you mentioned, Todd, the lake is quite big which likely dilutes the affects of the discharged water. There are several blurbs on the TWRA's website and a few other online articles about the radio tagging study currently underway there. Here's one: http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/feb/28/musky-mania-on-melton-hill... |
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Posts: 2361
| Todd, this lake is a "passthrough" lake with a cool water discharge(trout temps) from above(norris) and discharges into another lake, (Watts Bar), and in the summer at there is generally well oxygenated cooler water with a 9 foot warmwater cap. It is probably messed up if you are a largemouth, but muskies stripers and hybrids seem to do pretty well, and stripers require cooler water than musky. It is an interesting ecosystem, but tough to predict what your gonna get when you bite into a chocolate. |
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Posts: 553
Location: 15 miles east of Lake Kinkaid | ToddM-
I grew up fishing the cooling lakes as well and I have been to Melton Hill "Lake". The discharge is in a small arm of the "Lake" and while it significantly warms that section, it has little effect on the overall lake. Also, Melton Hill is unlike any reservoir (in IL, MO, or IN) I have ever fished. It really is more a widening of the river where there are a significant number of inflowing creeks and backwater areas. What I have understand from talking to the people who know the fishery, is that the water temperatures in the summer really do not get as hot as Cave Run, Kinkaid, or other southern waters. The cool water discharge (firstsixfeet) provides a cooling effect and because of the inflow, most likely has much greater oxygen levels than normal "stagnant" reservoirs. It really is an unreal fishery, with great trophy potential. I believe a 50" caught last year was found to only be 9 years old!!!! |
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Posts: 906
Location: Warroad, Mn | A little more on Melton Hill. It's a cool water highland rivertine reservoir. The first 20 miles or so are trout water, and this cool water keeps muskies happy year round. Water quality is excellent with O2 levels great at all levels of water even in the summer. Muskie stocking was tried is the 60's with small fingerlings with little success. In 1998 the lake was stocked again with advanced fingerlings (8"-12") and has been nearly every year since. With larger fish stocked the fishery has come to life. Growth rates are spectacular, with well documented 53" fish being caught last winter. I feel that this lake has the best trophy potential of any southern
lake because of it's year round cool water. This lake has produced 60 Lb stripers which have many of the same water/forage requirements that muskies do.
I have fished it for two-three months each winter for the past four years, and have caught a fair number of fish, including some nice ones.
However, I fear for this fishery! Even though the TWRA has been very reactive in establishing a 50" size limit on Melton Hill, there's still a problem. The "hot-hole"
which FSF pictures in his first post is now getting lots of fishing pressure by live bait fishermen who really don't know much about muskie fishing, but are taking advantage of a real fish concentrator. It's not uncommon to fish the hot-hole and have 5-10 bank fishermen floating a balloon or two with a live rainbow trout sitting underneath it. Really nothing wrong with this except that they will be using a treble and 20lb mono for line. This combination creates lots of fish with a treble in it's gullet, and a good deal of mortality.
Just to give you an idea of how many fish end up in the "hot-hole" at times. Last year Aaron Cole the Tn Tech student doing the radio study on MH had just finished his radio tagging a few days prior (30 fish). I was fishing the "hot-hole" when Aaron pulled in. After a half hour or so with him sitting on shore and turning his antenna from time to time I go over and chat. I ask him if there's any muskies in the "hot-hole" (I hadn't seen a one). He says there's 19 within a 1/4 mile of where he's sitting. The "hot-hole" is probably two football fields in length by 50 yards wide. and maybe 25' deep max. Lots of muskies (and forage) go here when the plant is running, but they aren't real easy to catch at times because of fishing pressure and even get to the point of becoming nocturnal.
I feel that the fishery needs more protection during the winter months as currently mortality is high. The lake is an very interesting with great potential, I hope the fish survive long enough to reach it.
Here's a TWRA web site with more information.
http://www.tnfish.org/MuskyMeltonHillLakeTennessee_TWRA/TennesseeMu...
Doug Johnson |
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Posts: 91
Location: Knoxville, TN | I wanted to say, don't run down here just yet, the steamplant is not even on as of yesterday. They were just testing it out before it goes online. The water is 44 degrees now. I just want to add to Doug's post that I agree we have a huge problem over here on Melton Hill with the live bait tactics alot of guys use to catch muskies. Alot of the guys using the live bait are actually anti musky and know that they are going to kill one if they catch it. I have seen these guys hook up on a fish, keep it out of the water for a lenghty amount of time, then laugh once they release it and it goes belly up. Their main goal is to "protect the crappies from these muskies." Alot of fish are taken home at night due to the lack of enforcement. I have heard this over and over from these guys as I fish this place more than anybody else. Many of them use mono, treble, and trout and they are not interested in being educated on how to properly catch and release fish, they just want them gone. It gets even worse now that anglers can park right next to the discharge canal so it makes it even easier to quickly carry an undersized fish up to their truck and keep take it home then come back for another one. I hope that any guys that come down and whitness some of this to take the time and write TWRA and voice your concerns. I have been complaining to them for a few years about how the winter time slaughter has affected fishing all over the lake over the years but I feel that if we had some outside influence on the devastation occuring in the steamplant they might reconsider what these local guys are having on the musky fishery. On any given day in there you can see 3-5 floating muskies in the discharge area. Melton Hill does have the potential to be a great fishery, the fish we catch are always healthy looking due to the year long cool temperatures and abundant forage. Fish are caught all over the lake throughout the year mostly in standing timber. I just feel that if TWRA doesn't make any changes, the wintertime harvesting will lead to the demise of our fishery, I think it already has to some extent. Its already alot tougher to catch fish down river than it was in years past. I spent a ton of money gearing up to catch muskies and I don't like the fact that the guys, that have no interest in the success of the musky fishery, can be allowed to do so much damage just because they bought a fishing license. I have discussed with the biologists the most logical solution is to put a 3 month ban on live bait from November through March in the steamplant. The problem is that TWRA enforcement will not go along with ban. Its way to easy for anybody to buy a $3 trout, put it out on a balloon and hook onto a 45-50 inch musky. Alot of lines are caught or broken off in the process, but you guys will see these people dragging trophy muskies up on the rocks. What they do is not sport fishing in my opinion. It's an unfair advantage to the fishermen due to the numbers of fish that pile up there in the winter. The musky fishery needs to be managed more like deer, elk, or even trout as there are certain procedures taken to ensure that they thrive. It's quite embarrasing that TWRA allows this to happen. Good luck guys if you come down you might as well come and chase them while you have a chance. If you want any more info feel free to email me at [email protected].
Billy Davis |
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Posts: 906
Location: Warroad, Mn | I agree with Billy. The lake has great potential, but has "problems". Hopefully the TWRA will be able to sort this all out. It'll be interesting to see how this ends up. Hopefully on the muskie's side!
Doug Johnson |
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Posts: 571
Location: Williamstown, WV | I'm glad you guys are discussing Melton Hill Lake because this past month I've really been considering a trip from West Virginia to this lake. I'm looking maybe first week in March. Thanks again.
Shawn |
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Posts: 2361
| WV Musky - 1/21/2011 8:10 AM
I'm glad you guys are discussing Melton Hill Lake because this past month I've really been considering a trip from West Virginia to this lake. I'm looking maybe first week in March. Thanks again.
Shawn
PM Billy Davis, who's posted here. He probably fishes it more than anybody, and fishes stripers there also. Or get in touch with him by pulling up his TN Musky site via google.
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Posts: 313
Location: Bemidji, Lake Vermilion | This is a great thread. Having never been there, is there a way to block this "hot hole" off and keep fish out of it? Can't catch or abuse them there if they can't get in? |
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Posts: 2361
| It is a great shorefishing opportunity for really big gamefish, both stripers and musky. I have mixed emotions about the whole deal of live bait in there, it is truly hard on the musky population of the lake, but it was utilized originally for stripers.
I don't feel I have any more right to the resource than the shore fisherman, but the live bait thing is presented without the safety of quick strikes and often with tackle just adequate for a softer mouthed striper. I would guess dead bait and cut bait would be usable for the stripers without too much musky damage. They have jacked the size limit up to where there can be very little legal harvest in an attempt to preserve the stocked population, but it might just mean they die, unutilized for anything but scavengers.
They get pounded regardless, on most decent weather days there are from 1-4 boats in that 2 acres, from daylight till dark, and sometimes after. 3 in there all afternoon the day I was fishing, and one was leaving when I arrived at noon. |
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Posts: 366
| There was a 53" fish with a massive girth, and likely new state record caught and, most importantly, released two days ago. Huge fish indeed! Check out a pic on the TN Muskies website.
Ryan
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Posts: 906
Location: Warroad, Mn | Here's the photo.
Hope this works.
Doug Johnson
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Melton Hill Musky [320x200].jpg (10KB - 285 downloads)
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Posts: 4080
Location: Elko - Lake Vermilion | WOW !!
That's a real Dandy.......Dixie style
I hope to make it down there one of these days.
Jerome |
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Posts: 91
Location: Knoxville, TN | That fish is the reason we were begging for the 50 inch limit on Melton Hill. This fish was released to be caught again. The guy is looking to get a replica mount done for this fish. Does anybody have a rough estimate on what a replica will cost? |
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Posts: 461
| About 13 bucks an inch I think. 53 * 13 = 689 plus tax |
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Posts: 286
Location: VA | What she weigh? |
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Posts: 366
| I don't believe he weighed it, but said it went 53 3/8" X 26", which should put it in the 45lb neighborhood. Current TN record is 42lb. 8oz. I think he's having a Fittante do a replica.
Ryan
Edited by Fishwizard 1/29/2011 11:46 PM
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