SPARTA, Tenn. — Highland reservoirs are not always the best sight-fishing lakes. Yes, they have clear water, but the steep banks make finding fish tough.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t a myriad of techniques that work around the spawn, though, and many should be utilized as Center Hill Lake’s bass look primed and ready to hit the beds ahead of Saturday’s Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine Mountain Division event on the fishery.
What to expect
Dale Hollow (where the Mountain Division kicked off its 2026 season) may be the most famous highland reservoir in Tennessee, but the Volunteer State has plenty of great ones that are chock full of fish. Center Hill deserves a spot on the short list.
“It has a very healthy population of both largemouth and smallmouth,” says Drew Boggs, who is fresh off a third-place finish at the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit event on Wheeler Lake. “There used to be some quality spotted bass, too, but they’re not as big as they used to be. Largemouth and smallmouth are the focus, depending on the conditions.”
That last part about conditions is key. According to Boggs, if there are clouds or the wind gets up enough to dirty some areas of the lake, he expects smallmouth to dominate. However, if it’s clear and calm, largemouth will probably be the focus, especially for anyone using forward-facing sonar.
Then again, clear and calm also are prime sight-fishing conditions, which Boggs said should definitely be a strong player.
“Well, I’d say more spawn fishing than sight-fishing,” Boggs clarified. “Sometimes they’ll bed so deep you’re not really able to see them, but if you know where they can be found, you’ll be able to get them to show themselves and then follow up and catch them.”
Whether using topwaters, floating worms or big swimbaits, anything that can get a fish to come up and show itself could potentially reveal where it’s bedding, which Boggs think will account for some big kickers. Otherwise, he expects plenty of anglers to do damage using forward-facing sonar in the mouths of spawning pockets, on isolated structure or even the technology to bed fish during the allotted three-hour window.
Baits to bring
A jighead minnow and forward-facing sonar are basically PB&J at this point. But for this event, Boggs figures to see more anglers utilizing bottom baits like shaky heads, Ned rigs and Neko rigs.
Outside of the forward-facing sonar window, he envisions Ozark staples like jerkbaits, spinnerbaits and crankbaits all being players. Plus, poppers and floating worms can be used to coax bedding fish into showing themselves before being snatched up with wacky rigs.
What will it take?
A single-angler local tournament last weekend took just shy of 20 pounds to win. Boggs sees more of the same for this event.
“They’re at the fattest they ever are right now,” Boggs said. “And that’s for smallmouth or largemouth. I think a pro can get to that 19- or 20-pound mark with all of one or the other, or a combo.”