Burgess Falls

76 good scored 52 min ago how is this scored?
Bass 76
Catfish 71
Water: River
Regime: River / Creek (River / Creek)
Location: Putnam
Target: Smallmouth Bass, Sunfish, Walleye, Catfish
Nearest Access: Burgess Falls (36.03530,-85.59280)
Sun: 7:03 AM – 5:47 PM (CDT)
River / Creek Burgess Falls Conditions
Level Stable
Flow / Discharge Unmeasured Reach Local Hydrology
Water Temp Pending Telemetry Thermal Lag Model
Generation State Unregulated flow Natural Drainage
Barometer Trend — NWS Station Barometer

What to throw right now

Fly anglers
Bugs are hatching (fly). On rivers, try a Stimulator or Chubby Chernobyl with a rust Hare's Ear dropper and dead-drift across current. On lakes, twitch a perch-colored Game Changer along rocky banks at first light. Learn more: Dead drift and Topwater bass.

ON THIS WATER (Burgess Falls): Falling Water River below a 130 ft cascade. The plunge pool at the base is the prime water; downstream is short pocket water and shallow gravel runs before the river slows toward Center Hill backwater.

Fish the seam where the falls' whitewater meets the slack on river-right at the head of the plunge pool — smallmouth stack there for oxygen all summer. Downstream, every plunge-pool tailout is worth one quartering swing with a Clouser before moving on.

6 wt rod, floating line, 9 ft 3X tippet for streamers / 4X-5X for dries. Standard rig: weighted #4 olive/white Clouser or #6 rust crayfish, cast quartering upstream into the head of a current seam, mend hard upstream, then strip-strip-strip as the fly tumbles past you. Pro move: tight-line nymph a #8 rust crayfish (Pat's Rubber Legs) through pocket water with no indicator, feeling for the tick. Strikes on a swung fly come on the dangle; let the fly hang in the seam for 3-5 seconds before recasting.
Spinning / casting anglers
Bugs are hatching (spin). River: tick a small brown jig with a smoke craw trailer along bottom seams. Lake: a tiny hair jig under a slip-bobber along rocky shore, or a Yellow Magic popper twitched slowly with long pauses. Learn more: Topwater bass.

ON THIS WATER (Burgess Falls): Falling Water River below a 130 ft cascade. The plunge pool at the base is the prime water; downstream is short pocket water and shallow gravel runs before the river slows toward Center Hill backwater.

Cast a 1/4 oz brown jig into the foam line at the head of the plunge pool and let it sink before the first hop. Below the pool: walk the shoreline downstream and pitch a 1/16 oz hair jig into each pocket between boulders — one or two casts each, then move.

BAIT OPTION: Live crayfish or a chunk of nightcrawler on a #4 light-wire hook with one BB shot, drifted from the head of the plunge pool back through the slack. Outproduces lures right after a rain when the river is stained.

Medium 6'6" rod, 8 lb braid + 6 lb fluoro leader. 3/8 oz football jig + rust craw trailer hopped along bottom seams; the strike comes between hops on slack line. Wade upstream of pocket water + fan-cast each likely lie. For trophy fish at sunset: floating Rapala #5 in silver twitched dead-slow across the tail-out of a pool with long pauses, bigger fish smash on the second twitch after a 5-second pause.

Per-species breakdown & tactics

Pick a fish, then Fly, Spin, or Colors. Your last pick is remembered.

Best window: after dark

Stunt approach: 9 wt sinking line, 30 lb fluoro to a 6" meat-fly with chicken-liver scent. Cast across-current into a known scour hole + let it sink to bottom, then strip 6" at a time with long pauses. Not common in TN; treat as exploratory.

Not a practical fly target most days. Heavy Clouser dredged deep is the novelty play.

In a few hours

Fly
10%
Lure
53%
Bait
50%
Hatch: 64% (BWO (fall)) Active hatch. Fly imitations and small surface bugs are working.
Conditions Match Breakdown
  • + water temp in target range+15
  • + preferred time of day+11
  • + barometric trend+7
  • + cloud cover+4
  • + solunar major window+4
  • + wind speed+4
  • + cloud preference+3
  • + dissolved oxygen+3
  • + flow band+3
  • + in season+3
  • + new/full moon amplifier+1

Next 24 hours · weather forecast

Scroll for hourly temperature, wind, and precipitation.

7PM
67°
0 N
8PM
63°
5 SE
6% rain
9PM
61°
5 SE
10PM
61°
5 SE
11PM
60°
5 SE
12AM
59°
5 SE
1AM
59°
5 SE
1AM
58°
5 SE
6% rain
2AM
57°
5 SE
12% rain
3AM
57°
5 SE
16% rain
4AM
55°
5 SE
19% rain
5AM
54°
5 SE
20% rain
6AM
53°
5 SE
44% rain
7AM
51°
10 SE
53% rain
8AM
54°
10 SE
57% rain
9AM
58°
10 SE
63% rain
10AM
61°
10 SE
60% rain
11AM
61°
10 SE
58% rain
12PM
61°
10 SE
56% rain
1PM
63°
10 SE
52% rain
2PM
63°
10 SE
49% rain
3PM
63°
10 SE
40% rain
4PM
64°
10 SE
37% rain
5PM
58°
5 SE
36% rain

Latest readings

Live telemetry
Air temp (°F) 71.0°F
Cloud cover (%) 94%
Dew point (°C) 8.3°C
discharge cfs 13 cfs
gage height ft 4.11 in
Relative humidity (%) 42%
Chance of precipitation (%) 2%
Barometric pressure (mb) 1,025.6 mb
Rain past 6h (in) 0.00 in
Wind direction ESE (113°)
Wind (mph) 5.0 mph

Reading freshness

Source update lag
Barometric pressure (mb) 6 min ago openmeteo
Wind (mph) 6 min ago nws
Cloud cover (%) 6 min ago nws
Air temp (°F) 6 min ago nws
Rain past 24h (in) 3840.1 h ago openmeteo stale
Rain past 6h (in) 5.1 h ago nws

Hatch matcher · this month

Active aquatic insect emergences & suggested imitations.

Midge Sizes 18–24
Recommended patterns: Zebra Midge #20, Griffith's Gnat #20, WD-40 #20

Tailwater staple; year-round on Caney Fork

BWO (fall) Sizes 20–22
Recommended patterns: RS2 #22, Parachute BWO #20

Cool overcast afternoons

Next few hours · best species

Prime windows for active feeding over the next 12 hours (CDT).

Sat 8:00 PM
Walleye (after dark) 65
Sat 9:00 PM
Walleye (after dark) 61
Sat 10:00 PM
Walleye (after dark) 65
Sat 11:00 PM
Walleye (after dark) 66
Sun 12:00 AM
Walleye (after dark) 72
Sun 1:00 AM
Walleye (after dark) 71
Sun 1:00 AM
Walleye (after dark) 74
Sun 2:00 AM
Walleye (after dark) 66
Sun 3:00 AM
Walleye (after dark) 66
Sun 4:00 AM
Walleye (after dark) 65
Sun 5:00 AM
Walleye (after dark) 65
Sun 6:00 AM best window today
Walleye (first light) 77

7-day forecast

Composite spot scores over the coming week.

Sun Nov 1
53 fair
Sun Nov 1
52 fair
Sun Nov 1
47 fair
Sun Nov 1
52 fair
Sun Nov 1
53 fair
Sun Nov 1
57 fair
Sun Nov 1
56 fair

10-day weather & pressure outlook

NWS forecast where it reaches, Open-Meteo beyond it. Days run midnight to midnight, spot time.

Day High Low Wind Cloud Rain % Pressure Source
Sat Oct 31 79°F 51°F 4 mph ESE 86% 8% 1,025.2 mb nws
Sun Nov 1 64°F 49°F 7 mph SE 95% 63% 1,026.9 mb nws
Mon Nov 2 72°F 49°F 7 mph SSE 84% 21% 1,023.8 mb nws
Tue Nov 3 76°F 53°F 12 mph SSE 49% 16% 1,019.2 mb nws
Wed Nov 4 70°F 60°F 11 mph SSE 97% 78% 1,013.0 mb nws
Thu Nov 5 70°F 55°F Calm 92% 58% 1,010.7 mb nws
Fri Nov 6 68°F 49°F 4 mph NW 60% 27% 1,008.2 mb nws
Sat Nov 7 66°F 44°F Calm 66% 4% 1,010.7 mb nws
Sun Nov 8 56°F 49°F 10 mph WSW 82% 10% 1,009.4 mb openmeteo
Mon Nov 9 53°F 40°F 5 mph WNW 54% 13% 1,010.8 mb openmeteo

Hover chart points for telemetry details. Gold dot represents latest reading.

Barometric pressure (mb)

Water temperature (°F)

Fishing regulations (TWRA)

Statewide creel and length limits. Confirm the current rule on TWRA before you keep a fish.

These are statewide defaults only. Many waters have their own creel, size, or season rules that override this list. Check the water you are fishing on TWRA before you go.

TWRA fishing regulations · Water-specific exceptions

Statewide defaults (19 rules)
Statewide creel and length limits by species
SpeciesRule
Alligator Gar No harvest allowed. Must be returned to water immediately.
Black Bass (includes Largemouth, Smallmouth, Spotted Alabama And Coosa) No more than 5 black bass per day in any combination may be taken. | None
Catfish Only one (1) catfish over 34 inches may be harvested per day. No harvest limit on catfish less than 34 inches.
Crappie 15 | 10 inches
Lake Trout Only 2 of your 7 total trout may be lake trout. | None
Muskellunge 1 | 36 inches
Paddlefish Paddlefish may be harvested from April 24 through May 31. Daily creel limit is 2 fish per day with no size limit. Culling is prohibited. Exceptions on Center Hill, Cherokee, and Watts Bar reservoirs.
Redear Sunfish (shellcracker) 20 | None
Redear Sunfish Or Shellcracker 20 | None
Region 1 Crappie Exception: Unless Otherwise Noted For Specific Waters. 30 | None
Rock Bass Or Redeye And Shadow Bass 20 | None
Sauger Or Sauger/walleye Hybrids 10 | 15 inches
Shovelnose Sturgeon No harvest allowed. Must be returned to the water immediately.
Skipjack Herring 100 | None
Striped Bass Or Hybrid Striped Bass (any Combination) 2 | 15 inches
Trout (all Trout Species Combined) 7 | None
Walleye 5 | 16 inches
White Bass 15 | None
Yellow Bass, Bluegill, Warmouth, Bream, Bullheads, Pickerel, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, And Nongame Species no limit | None