PLTL joined the Ridgetop Station Park this weekend and mingled with a couple hundred spectators to invite them to "Come To Play With Us."

Bassmaster Team Championship relocates to Tennessee’s Kentucky Lake

 Oct. 25, 2024

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship, which will grant the winner the year’s final berth into the 2025 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic, was originally scheduled to take place on Louisiana’s Ouachita River. However, due to critical, unforeseen repair work being conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the Columbia Lock and Dam just south of Monroe, La., the Team Championship is relocating to Tennessee’s Kentucky Lake.

The emergency work has caused significant disruptions to normal river operations, impacting water levels and navigability which would directly affect both the safety and overall experience of the anglers. As a result, the decision was made to move the championship to an alternate location to ensure the event can proceed without compromising the quality of competition or the experience for participants.

In consideration of the local resources and the challenges created by the dam repairs, B.A.S.S. officials have selected Tennessee’s Kentucky Lake as the new venue for the final B.A.S.S. tournament of 2024. The 160,000-acre reservoir, located on the Tennessee River, has hosted numerous B.A.S.S. events over the years and most recently hosted the Strike King Bassmaster College Series at Kentucky Lake presented by Bass Pro Shops in April of this year. The event dates will remain the same beginning on Wednesday, Dec. 4 and concluding Saturday, Dec. 7. The off-limits period and the no-information rule will go into effect on Saturday, Nov. 16.

Registration will remain open to qualified teams until Friday, Nov. 15. Updated information will be relayed to all official Bassmaster Team Trails; please check with your trail director for updated information.

The Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship is being hosted by the Paris, TN-Henry County Tourism Authority.

What's Happening?

 

Blossomway Garden Club has been awarded a $1000 Grant from the Endowment Trust Fund of Tennessee Federation of Garden Clubs, Inc., for a community beautification project on property owned by AMVET Post 45 on Hwy 79N.   Blossomway will be installing a raised bed garden on  a 50’x 22’ concrete pad in front of a building that previously housed a burger joint and is currently used by the AMVETS for storage.

So far, we have installed six 8’ x 4’ raised beds and are in the process of filling them with cardboard, compost, rotting logs, topsoil and mulch. These beds will be planted with evergreens and seasonal flowers and may include some holiday decor. We will also be planting ground covers like ajuga and creeping thyme in the cracks of the concrete; small flowering trees such as crepe myrtle and rose of Sharon around the edges; and bulbs for Spring blooms.  The windows on the front of the building will be decorated in a garden theme.

By August 2025 there will be a total of 9 raised beds.  Some will contain special gardens such as succulents, herbs, and hummingbirds, etc.  We will be using native plants where possible such as cone flowers and daises for color and visibility from the highway.

The garden will serve as a place for our club members to experience the joys and camaraderie of gardening.  A place where people in our community can meet, learn more about plants, have gatherings or just sit and have a peaceful moment.  We also hope it will inspire others in our community to plant more trees, shrubs, and flowers along the highway. 

You can help:

Donations: Monetary or gift cards to places like Lowes, Walmart, Homestead Garden and Gifts, Woffords for plants and supplies.  Mail to: Blossomway Garden Club Special Projects, 139 Winding Way, Paris, TN 38242

Join our club:  We meet the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 2:00 pm at Antioch Methodist Church at 3116 W Antioch Rd, Springville, TN 38256

Follow us on Facebook at: Blossomway Garden Club | Facebook You can follow without joining. 

Volunteer to help: Sometimes we just need some strong backs and stamina to move things around. 

Contact:  Lee Owenby by email at leeowenby39@gmail.com

Fall Market Day This Saturday

 

Lunch & Learn At the Heritage Center

 October 25

ANGLERS RIDING THE TEMP ROLLER COASTER

Kentucky Lake - 10-16-24

By Steve McCadams, Professional Guide/Outdoor Writer (stevemc@charter.net)

Never a bad time to be out on the lake but the next few weeks will put anglers in a front row seat to fall’s colorful parade. Colors are fast changing and should reach their peak as late October rolls and around and November sneaks in the door.

Kentucky Lake’s fishing scene has been riding the temperature roller coaster lately. After a dramatic cool spell that brought talk of the season’s first frost and had anglers donning overcoats and coveralls, it appears warm days will return by this weekend. Time to dig the short sleeve shirts back out as temps are forecast to be in the low to mid 70’s next by this weekend. Warmer than that next week.

Lake levels this week were up a few inches from last week with readings in the 355.8 range. At midweek the reservoir crested. Watercolor is clear in the Big Sandy and West Sandy sectors and sporting a good color around the Paris Landing sector with some stain out in the main Tennessee River channel area.

Surface temperatures have cooled a bit since the start of the week when cold nights and chilly days entered the fishing scene. Breezy northwest winds delivered a few whitecaps some days, but the water cooled down to the 69-to-71-degree range.

Tennessee Valley Authority had diminished discharge rates earlier in the week but has since increased them to 40,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) through Kentucky Dam at midweek. A feel of fall definitely filled the air this week when temps dipped below normal a few days.

Crappie fishing has been fair and should show some improvement for anglers seeking more activity in shallow areas. Not many nice stringers have been taken in the 4-to-8-foot depth range this fall as high surface temps likely had a negative impact on the shallow bite. Watch for that to improve quickly as more crappie should move up in the aftermath of the cool front. Those shallow stake beds and brush piles up on shallow main lake areas or in the backs of some bays that haven’t been producing should start paying off.

Most of the crappie lately have been taken deeper in 12 to 15 feet with some coming from 17 to 20 at times. That deeper bite has been more productive for anglers vertical fishing jigs and minnows. Some anglers prefer casting jigs in the deeper venues. They’ve had success with jig skirt colors such as Bobby Garland’s Monkey’s Milk, Mayfly, Threadfin shiner and purple/chartreuse just to name a few.

It’s always a good idea to keep an arsenal of colors in your tackle box and experiment from time to time. Live minnows have been producing too. Not a bad idea to keep that minnow bucket handy during fall outings and let me fish tell you what they prefer. It’s past time for the shallow bite to turn on. Casting a minnow or jig over shallow structure with a slip bobber is another technique that normally works well during the fall months.

Catfishing out on the main Tennessee River channel should be showing improvement as TVA has been pushing enough water lately to stimulate the bite. The rate of discharge should enhance the catfish to move about and feed on the roaming schools of shad.

Bass fishermen are still slugging it out on main lake ledges and some secondary flats where bass are chasing schools of shad. Tossing chrome/blue Rattle Traps and similar lure variations has produced as have swim baits, crankbaits in black/chartreuse, chrome, chartreuse/black and shad variations.

Watch for increased shad activity and surface feeding sprees now as both white bass and largemouth should start busting the surface on calm days. Those shallow sandbars can be productive.

PLTL At Work

Paris Landing Tourism League spent the past weekend honoring the 163rd anniversary of the Battle of Belmont.

We had on display a period laundry site household items hand tools, artifacts and nurses' station.

Handed out brochures and let guest know what Paris Landing and Henry Co. has to offer.

FALL FISHING SCENE/WEATHER STILL NICE TO ANGLERS

 Kentucky Lake - 10-9-24

By Steve McCadams, Professional Guide/Outdoor Writer (stevemc@charter.net)

Thanks to an extended spell of nice weather the fishing scene across Kentucky Lake has suited anglers just fine. Fall has been kind to fishermen the last week or two with a little ride on the weather roller coaster at times in terms of temperatures. Lake levels had been holding around the 355.5 lately at Kentucky Dam. Surface temperatures have been reluctant to let go of the 72-to-73-degree range but watch for that to fall as cooler nights will continue to pull that down toward the upper 60’s soon.

Watercolor has been good with a slight stain. Last week the current diminished to 33,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) for a few days, which is a good range for cat fishermen stalking the main channel area.

A few boats have been working the main channel banks and finding the catfish bite pretty good in the 35-to-45-foot depth range.

The fall crappie bite has been fair the last week or two for a few anglers. Some report the fish acting quite finicky on the bright days when high skies influenced a sluggish bite. A few fish were still lingering in deep water on main lake ledges in the 17-to-20-foot depth range. However, anglers targeting the deep main lake areas indicate several small fish were taken but big numbers of keeper size fish were challenging.

Some anglers credited their catches to 9-to-14-foot depths where scattered crappie were taken in the midrange stake beds and brush piles. A few credited their success to minnows; others opted for jigs. Popular colors have been Monkey’s Milk, Mayfly and some unpainted lead heads with dull colored skirts. Tipping jigs with Berkley Power Bait has enticed a few fish to bite. Sharing the midrange structures have been loads of yellow bass and even a few aggressive bluegill.

Bass anglers have been chasing their prey on some main lake ledges at times. Tossing swim baits has been producing bass that are running schools of roaming shad. The shallow bite has not turned on for most bass fishermen this fall. Most of the fish have opted to stay on secondary sandbars and some main lake ledges.

Surface temperatures have been slow to cool the last two weeks. The cool snap earlier this week likely influenced the water to cross the upper 60’s temperature threshold. So far, the fall bite has made most anglers work pretty hard to earn bites. That can change quickly so hang in there.

Northern Lights At Paris Landing

 Great photos of the Northern Lights over Paris Landing Marina last night.  A special thanks to Yong Medluck Huffstetler for the photos.  See more on our Facebook page at:  https://www.facebook.com/share/p/XehkZJHBTWwYwURi/

Monthly Meeting

The monthly meeting of the Paris Landing Tourism League (PLTL) will be held Tuesday, October 8th, at 6 pm at the Senior Center inside the Paris Landing Emergency Complex.

Hope to see you there!

NICE WEATHER/GOOD FISHING LIFTS SPIRITS OF ANGLERS

 Kentucky Lake - 10-2-24

By Steve McCadams, Professional Guide/Outdoor Writer (stevemc@charter.net)

Kentucky Lake’s fishing scene has been the beneficiary of some great weather this week. That scenario has been long overdue. Some cooler days gave way to warmer weather as the weekend arrived but not to worry; cooler fall weather is expected to return early next week. Jacket mornings and shirt sleeve afternoons are now in play for fishermen.

Tennessee Valley Authority has done a great job pushing water through Kentucky Dam the last week or so as they began increasing discharge rates over a week ago in anticipation of the wrath of Hurricane Helene. Lake levels are in good shape as discharge rates have kept the reservoir’s elevation at around 355, which is pretty much normal for this time of year. Currently TVA is pushing around 75,000 cfs (cubic feet per second) through Kentucky Dam.

Fortunately, TVA has been able to release a large volume of water for more than a week now as the Mississippi River has been low and able to absorb high discharge rates from both the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. Surface temperatures have been in the 73-to-75-degree range as warm weather lingered last week and earlier this week. Anglers can expect a drop in surface temps as the weekend approaches as cool nights this week were forecast to dip to the upper 50’s and low 60’s.

Next week’s cool spell will further influence the fall to lower surface temps. Fishermen should see surface temps in the upper 60’s next week. Watercolor is clear in the Big Sandy area, but some stain exists along the main Tennessee River channel. Overall, the lake is in good shape.

Decent stringers of crappie have been taken lately, although a few days of north winds that brought the cool snap to our door, caused whitecaps in the open water areas at times. Depths of 16 to 20 feet were giving up crappie the last few days. That’s likely the result of warmer surface temperatures lingering into the start of October. A few crappie were caught in 7-to-12-foot depths by anglers stalking manmade fish attractors such as brush piles and stake beds. Fish were finicky and scattered in the shallow to midrange depths, so it required a lot of stops to accumulate decent numbers of keeper size fish.

When fishing the deeper holes, a lot of credit has gone to the use of live minnows fished on tightline techniques. Some are just tightlining minnows while other are using jigs and tipping them with a shiner minor. Sometimes that live minnow seems to enhance the bite. Other times switching colors and experimenting sizes of jig heads—from 1/32-ounce to 1/16-ounce---has worked best.

Anglers should see an increase in the shallow bite by next week since surface temps will be cooler down to their normal early October range. Shad will increase in numbers swimming around the shallow flats and backs of bays which will lure the fish to their shallow locales. The overall attitude of shallow to midrange crappie should improve in the days ahead. Some cloudy days will also help the bite from light sensitive fish.

Bass fishing has been fair with most tossing shad-colored variations of Rattle Traps, shallow running crankbaits and swimbaits. A few have attempted tossing a spinnerbait and shallow running crankbaits around shallow stickups. Some surface activity has been seen out on the main lake from white bass and a few largemouth busting into schools of shad meandering out over shallow sandbars at times.

Catfishing has taken a backseat, at least to a degree, out on the main Tennessee River channel due to the increased current. And catfish are beginning to move up a bit to midrange depths as crappie anglers are tying into one on a regular basis when fishing the 9-to-12-foot depth zones.

It looks like fall conditions have finally arrived and it’s nice to be on the lake these days. Some warm days will return now and then but overall nice, pleasant weather will hang around for the next several weeks. Don’t miss out on this autumn angling!

 

Let's Get Kooky Spooky