Bill Dance Signature Lakes program brings signature enhancements to Tennessee lakes
How a $15 million initiative with ‘America’s favorite bass fisherman’ will benefit anglers, local communities
The pride in Bill Dance’s voice as he chats about his beloved home state is unmistakable.
It’s a sunny fall day on the banks of Lake Chickamauga in Dayton, Tennessee, and the Volunteer State’s most iconic fisherman – and some would say most iconic citizen – is holding court. Perched comfortably on a dock at Blue Water Marina, where the first-ever Bill Dance Giant Bass Open is being held, “Uncle Billy” (as he’s known to friends and family) has the attention of everybody within earshot.
And Uncle Billy is rolling like the Pride of the Southland Band.
On the docket: The Bill Dance Signature Lakes, Dance’s namesake collaboration with three State of Tennessee agencies to introduce new anglers from around the country to the fishing abundance of a state that he’s fished from one end to the next for a majority of his 83 years.
“A lot of people don’t know this, but the state of Tennessee has 350 species of fish in our state – more than any other state in the United States,” Dance says. “We hold three world records: the world record walleye, the world record smallmouth and the world record crappie. We have trout, muskies, stripers, smallmouth, largemouth, crappie, bluegill, catfish. If anybody ever wants to fish for any of the most popular species of fish, we’ve got ‘em in every part of the state, and we’ve got a lot of ‘em – north, south, east, west. And a lot of those fish go to bed hungry every night.”
The Bill Dance Signature Lakes project
Dance’s desire to spread the gospel of Tennessee fishing manifested in December of 2021 with the announcement of Dance’s relationship with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA), Tennessee State Parks and the Tennessee Department of Tourism Development to develop the Bill Dance Signature Lakes program.
As revealed proudly by Dance and Tennessee Governor Bill Lee – himself an outdoorsman – the Bill Dance Signature Lakes portfolio of 14 “Phase 1” fisheries opened with a $15 million initiative that had a straightforward core mission to enhance the Volunteer State’s already-impressive fishing resources. The secondary goal (one that the camera-friendly Dance is uniquely qualified to help accomplish): to spread the word to an audience of opportunity-hungry anglers throughout the state, region and country that the Bill Dance Signature Lakes will provide an angling experience endorsed by the world’s most beloved bass fisherman.
“If I’m going to lend my name (to this project), I want anglers of all ages – from experts to amateurs – to have a legendary experience,” Dance said at the time of the announcement.
The 10 large reservoirs and four small-water fisheries initially honored with the Bill Dance signature of approval stretch from one side of the state to the other and offer an impressive range of diverse fishing and recreational options. From trout, bass and panfish in 6,430-acre Watauga Lake on the extreme eastern edge of Tennessee in Johnson and Carter counties to whopper-sized bluegill in 10,247-acre Reelfoot Lake – the state’s largest natural lake, in the extreme northwestern corner of the state in Lake and Obion Counties – the Bill Dance Signature Lakes are equally divided among the three regions of the state (Eastern, Central, Western) to provide maximum accessibility to both Tennesseans and to traveling anglers passing through the state’s borders.
“We have a state that stretches more than 400 miles across, from east to west,” Dance says. “Chances are, if you’re coming down to the South from anywhere in the north – or if you’re driving north from Florida, Alabama, Georgia and those states – you’re going to go through Tennessee at some point. There’s a Signature Lake near wherever you’re going and fish there waiting for your hook.”
When Bill Dance talks Tennessee fishing …
Dance’s unabashed love of the Volunteer State’s fishing wealth should come as no surprise to the three generations of anglers who have spent endless hours watching the amiable Tennessean fishing, catching, teaching – and sometimes pratfalling – his way through more than 2,000 episodes of Bill Dance Outdoors. Dance’s show started quietly in 1968 on WHBQ in Memphis before elevating to ESPN, The Nashville Network, the Outdoor Life Network and Outdoor Channel — a 55-year on-air run that cemented the host as the most well-known angler in the world, and a died-in-the-wool Vol; orange-and-white University of Tennessee hat perched on his head as he fished lakes largely inside the borders of his home state.
America’s bass anglers have literally grown up with Bill Dance. And when Uncle Billy talks about fishing in Tennessee, we all listen.
“There’s no other place you can go in this country that has better opportunities to catch fish on the number of great lakes we have in Tennessee,” he says. “We’re well diversified with a multitude of fish across the state. I love Tennessee, and if you’re a fisherman, there are lots of reasons for you to love it, too.”
The Signature Lakes effect
Dance grew up wading and walking the banks of East Fork Mulberry Creek while on summer visits to his grandparents’ home in Lynchburg, Tennessee. Those childhood experiences and core memories fueled Dance throughout his life, eventually leading to a career as a tournament angler in the late 1960s and, eventually, the debut of his namesake show.
In the seven decades since his days of catching smallmouth on Mulberry Creek, Dance has crisscrossed Tennessee innumerable times and fished virtually every nook, cranny and corner where bass, crappie, bluegill, stripers and catfish swim in the Volunteer State.
Dance emphasizes that easy access to good fishing spots is critical to the overall success of the Signature Lakes program, and that the function of the $15 million initiative is as much about facilities as it is about the fish swimming in Tennessee’s lakes.
“You know, there’s plenty of good fishing spots in our state if you know where to look for ‘em, but good fishing starts with good facilities and a well-managed fishery,” Dance acknowledges.
That’s a nod to the entire ecosystem of a Bill Dance-approved “legendary” fishing exprience, which includes not only an abundance of fish, healthy habitat and clean water, but functional, well-maintained launch ramps, fishing piers, courtesy docks, restroom facilities and concessions where possible. In the two years since the launch of the Bill Dance Signature initiative, lakes in the program have already been stocked with more than 9 million fish and have received hundreds of habitat structures to enhance fish survivability. In addition, multiple improvements to boat ramps and parking facilities have already been completed, with future construction of new parking facilities, fishing piers, access points and courtesy docks on the docket.
“We care about keeping lakes fertile and well-stocked so people can catch fish when they visit, but the fishing experience is about more than that,” Dance says. “(We need) good docks, good launch ramps, good restrooms and concessions buildings. People have a good experience and word travels fast: ‘So and so’ caught big bluegill at Fall Creek Falls. Well, how big? My granddaddy caught a pounder, and somebody caught a 16-incher.’ That word gets out and fishermen start talking about it, that generates a lot of interest.”
“Welcome to my fishing town”
Just moments before Dance takes to the Giant Bass Open weigh-in stage in Dayton to oversee the awarding of the $5,000 grand prize for biggest fish, he speaks enthusiastically and affectionately about towns throughout the state that he thinks of as “fishing towns.” He identifies several of those towns located on or near a Bill Dance Signature Lake – Dayton, Dandridge (Douglas Lake), Paris (Kentucky Lake), Tiptonville (Reelfoot), Pickwick (Pickwick Lake) and Watauga (Watauga Lake), to name a few.
As he draws an imaginary trail in the air that leads from Reelfoot Lake to the Mississippi River to Kentucky Lake to Pickwick Lake to Dale Hollow Lake to Douglas Lake – calling out each of these lakes’ best fishing opportunities and some of the Signature Lakes stocking, habitat and facilities-improvements projects accomplished there – Dance emphasizes the importance of fishing to communities around the state. He’s proud of that fact that the Bill Dance Signature Lakes could positively affect 39 counties, including 22 that have been identified as “at risk” or “economically distressed.”
Dance embraces the notion that the entire state of Tennessee (with its half-million acres of lakes and deeply rooted fishing culture) could be viewed as a “fishing town” that any angler in the country would be delighted to visit and fish.
“When you think about it, you could say that the entire state of Tennessee is a fishing town,” he says. “What (makes) a fishing town? I think it’s a multitude of things. I think it’s the people, the location, the history. A fishing town is one of those places that you know is a fishing town when you’re there – you can feel how important fishing is to that town. That’s the entire state of Tennessee. Welcome to my fishing town.”
Full schedule of Bill Dance Giant Bass Opens slated for 2024
When Corey Miles and Camdyn Cranfill crossed the stage at the inaugural Bill Dance Giant Bass Open (Oct. 21-22) with 9.04- and 8.4-pound Lake Chickamauga studs, they became the first-ever grand prize winners in a series of events that will offer generous cash rewards in 2024 to adult and youth anglers throughout Tennessee. Miles and Cranfill were among 318 anglers who competed in the inaugural event, which doled out $55,000 in hourly awards and $6,5000 in grand prizes ($5,000 for Miles, $1,500 for Cranfill’s youth-division prize).
Centered around the Bill Dance Signature Lakes, the 2024 Giant Bass Open series will again provide hourly cash prizes for biggest fish in both adult and youth divisions, and will lead to a championship event among the local winners.
2024 Bill Dance Giant Bass Opens
February 10-11 – Pickwick Lake
March 30-31 – Dale Hollow
April 20-21 – Douglas Lake
June 22-23 – Chickamauga
September 14-15 – Kentucky Lake
Championship – Location/dates TBD
BILL DANCE SIGNATURE LAKES
WESTERN REGION
- Reelfoot Lake (crappie, catfish, bluegill)
- Herb Parsons Lake (bluegill, catfish, largemouth bass)
- Lake Halford (largemouth bass, crappie, bluegill, walleye)
- Brown’s Creek Lake (largemouth bass)
- Pickwick Lake (largemouth bass, catfish, crappie, bluegill)
CENTRAL REGION
- Kentucky Lake (largemouth bass, crappie)
- Old Hickory Lake (largemouth bass, striped bass, crappie, sauger, walleye)
- Tims Ford Lake (largemouth bass, striped bass, walleye, crappie)
- Fall Creek Falls Lake (largemouth bass, bluegill, catfish)
- Dale Hollow Lake (smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, crappie, walleye)
EAST REGION
- Chickamauga Lake (largemouth bass, crappie, walleye)
- Douglas Lake (largemouth bass, crappie, bluegill)
- Norris Lake (largemouth bass, striped bass, walleye, crappie)
- Watauga Lake (smallmouth bass, walleye, crappie, trout)