Caney Fork River

[appalachian angler]

Took a ride out to get a little fishing in Saturday to the Caney Fork river here in Middle Tennessee. I knew that the 3 months of heavy flows would have altered the look of the river somewhat, but was not prepared for what I saw at the Happy Hollow boat ramp. First person I talked to said the river was "down" (0 generators since the previous evening), and by that statement he expanded that comment to mention that it was also "off", meaning absolutely ZERO flow from the Dam. I was used to the Caney being "off' yet there being a 250 CFS flow or sluice from the bottom of the dam. I was under the impression that this minimum flow was actually a leak-off from the dam. Maybe that was the case before the last Corps disaster during the alleged 'repair'. Hmm. The river looked like photos from the surface of Mars with a slight trickle of water carving thru beaches of silt devoid of all vegetation. I take it the 14,000 + cfs flows wiped out ALL of the weedbeds at Happy. Someone else I spoke with said the weeds were gone at the Dam stretch too. I am very concerned for the welfare of the trout population without all the aquatic vegetation that supports the bulk of the food chain for the trout and other fish species in the river. Perhaps groups like the Middle Tn. Fly Fishers and local TU can get together with the Corps of Engineers and TVA and form a plan for restoration before it is too late. I do not know if the current trout population will be sustainable with a completely scoured river bottom created by the irresponsible and excessive discharges from Center Hill Dam as of late . I realize we have had some heavy periods of rain in recent months, but I believe they could have exercised some restraint having learned from previous flood periods. I am sure I do not know the whole story so forgive my ignorance. I have been fishing this river for nearly 12 years and have never seen it look like this. I bring this up because I know there is a big contingent of Caney Fork fishers on this site. I hate being so negative, but I am still in a state of shock.

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