Cherokee Lake
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Cherokee Lake Fishing Reports
Stay up to date with the latest fishing reports from Cherokee Lake . Reports are submitted by local anglers, fishing guides, and our team of fishing experts.
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Largemouth BassTechniqueStructure JigsSeasonFallStructurePointsGot on the water with Nathan Mountain. Check him out, Nathan Mountain Outdoors, super good dude. Put us on fish when we didn’t see many other folks catching. Found them on rocky points typically around brush. Ott Defoe even ran past us, so you know we were in the right area. Saw some crappie scopin’ but they were very finicky and wouldn’t commit. Fun and beautiful day on the water!
- Species
Striped BassTechniqueHard Topwater (Walking)SeasonFallStructureShadCherokee is loaded with huge Stripers and Hybrids and fall is a great time of year to catch them using conventional bass tackle. Focus on looking at main lake points and islands around creek mouths. I have had the best luck riding and looking for schooling fish gorging on shad around the dam area. Mornings and evenings are best, some anglers even sit still on the main lake looking for schoolers, kind of like hunting. Grab you a topwater and go find them. Once you found them, keep you bait wet and have fun!
- Species
Smallmouth BassTechniqueFinesse JigsSeasonFallStructureBouldersCherokee lake is without a doubt a challenging fishery in the fall. I just finished up a tournament where we found the bulk of our action on the main lake. We concentrated on areas where the river channel swung against rocky shorelines. Islands and sharp points were areas where smallmouth could easily ambush shad or feed on the many crawfish that live around the rocks.
Shaun PotterBronze AmbassadorSpeciesSmallmouth BassTechniqueSoft Body Swimbaits (Small/Medium)SeasonFallStructureBouldersChasing bait balls of shad and throwing a keitech up into boulders while those smallmouth is laying there ambushing shad! Great way to land some of those smallmouth.
- SpeciesSmallmouth BassTechniqueSoft Body Swimbaits (Small/Medium)SeasonFallStructureBoulders
Smallmouth are starting to get active as the water temperature goes down. Early fall, main lake points, and boulders, rock veins are all key areas to concentrate on. Fluke style baits in white, chartreuse and bubblegum have all been hot tickets. Work them 6”-12” under the water with short pauses between twitches. It is an absolute train wreck of a bite when you can see those smallies crush it.
- SpeciesSmallmouth BassTechniqueSoft Body Swimbaits (Small/Medium)SeasonFallStructureBoulders
Fishing has been slow during the early fall on Lake Cherokee, however quality 3+ pound bites are still fairly common. Try targeting tapering rock points with small swimbaits and jerkbaits in order to call up smallmouth from the rocks. Bluff walls during the heat of the day can also generate quality bites this time of year. As the water cools, follow the baitfish to the backs of pockets and use rattletraps, swimbaits, and jerkbaits to target the feeding fish chasing the abundant amount of shad that Lake Cherokee supports this time of year. Topwaters such as whopper ploppers and spooks can also be huge producers this time of year when fish are feeding up for the winter months.
- SpeciesSmallmouth BassTechniqueHard Topwater (Walking)SeasonFallStructureBoulders
NeilBronze Ambassador
SpeciesLargemouth BassTechniqueNeko RigsSeasonSummerStructureHumps
