Low water, smallmouth restrictions will make largemouth the key at Cherokee Super Tournament
The Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine Volunteer Division season is winding down, and Lake Cherokee will host the finale Sept. 28-29. Low water levels and the lake’s restrictive smallmouth rules will challenge the anglers, but those who figure it out will be rewarded with Super Tournament trophies.
Tournament details
Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine Volunteer Division Super Tournament
Jefferson City, TN
Sept. 28-29
About the fishery
Cherokee Lake is a regular tournament stop; the 28,780-acre Holston River impoundment hosted a Bass Pro Tour event last season and was the site of this year’s BFL All-American. However, both were very different settings (held in February and May, respectively) and the fall fishing for this Super Tournament figures to provide another new challenge.
Hunter Sales won a 2019 BFL on Cherokee and is also the head coach of the bass fishing team at nearby Carson Newman University. He keeps close tabs on the lake, which is just a 10-minute drive from campus to the TVA Dam Boat Launch that competitors will use for this event. Sales says the annual drawdown is happening much earlier than normal.
“The fall drawdown always starts around this time of year, but this year, for whatever reason, they started much earlier,” he said. “It’s 7 feet lower than it was this same time last year. Usually, whatever cover is left in the water can be really good, but now most of it’s on dry land, which has the fish spread out.”
The lake is home to a healthy smallmouth population, but their impact will be limited thanks to a regulation that allows only one smallmouth over 18 inches per person. This rule, which is in effect until Nov. 1, will change how anglers fish.
“They usually bite pretty good for smallmouth this time of year, but you just can’t target them in a tournament,” he said. “I still think having one big smallmouth will help some anglers, but I expect the majority of the field to fish above the 25E bridge and further up the river and in the creeks where the largemouth population is better.”
What to expect
With largemouth as the focus, Sales predicts that many anglers will fish the same waters in popular areas. This could lead to more educated, pressured bass by the second day of the event.
“The majority of the Top 10 will likely come from that section above the 25E bridge,” he predicted. “The problem is that the obvious stuff like channel swing rocks will all get hit, and the bite will be much trickier the second day. Some good ones are biting; it’s just hard to run a pattern that you can count on for multiple days in a row.”
Sales believes that standard fall offerings should be a player in this event.
“I think a jig will be a big deal, fishing them on channel swing banks and any laydowns you can find,” he said. “A spook or buzzbait can also be really good, especially if they get any cloud cover. Another thing that usually plays this time of year is a Carolina rig; it seems like a few good bags always come by fishing one on isolated rock in the fall.”
If a recent Carson Newman Collegiate Series event is any indication, the winning weights are likely to be in the 12-pound-a-day range.
“We had 52 boats fishing it, and it took 12.89 pounds to win, and there were some really good anglers who fish (Cherokee) all the time in it, including Riley Faulkner, who won this same Super Tournament in 2022,” said Sales. “Fall fishing here is usually pretty tough, and you aren’t going to catch 20 or 30 bass a day, and that 12-pound mark is key and hard to do two days in a row. If you catch 11 or so pounds, you should make the second day and have a shot to win with a good bag on Sunday.”