In the early to mid 1940’s the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) and the ACOE (Army Corps Of Engineers) built a lot of hydro electric producing dams in my area.
In the process whole towns and communities were forced to uproot and leave the good “bottom land” for parts unknown.
One of these communities was Butler. I have kin that moved from there to the Tri-Cities area of Bristol, Johnson City, and Elizabethton.
So anyway, I tell you that story so you will understand more about the picture below. It’s one of the coolest places I know, and the only lake in this part of the country that holds good numbers of walleye and giant lake trout.
My wife’s family (Chapman) farmed the bottom land of the Jocassee Gorge, until Duke bought the land for pennies, built the dam, and filled up the lake.
They owned the Chapman Covered Bridge, which was moved from crossing the river to a local landmark area, where it was admired for years until a bunch of drunk teenagers burnt it down.
Her great aunt, Cleo Chapman, has a local road named after her, the Cleo Chapman Hi-way. She was a U. S. Mail Carrier, and never missed a route for forty years, hence the accolade. Kool’s grandma always swore that aint Cleo was diddlin’ most of the men on the route, and was her primary reason for never missing her deliveries…LOL!
Hartwell has a healthy population of Walleye’s, on the Tugaloo leg of the lake. It’s just that no one targets them while fishing.
I was jigging for walleye, trying to figure them out.
I used to catch them earlier in the year when they are spawning in shallower water and again during the alewives spawn, but I don’t have them patterned just yet.
Life and other 'stuff" has gotten in the way of my fishing in the past couple years, but it seems like the obligation pendulum is starting to swing the other way.
