The Tennesse Wildlife Resources Agency will be bringing Chattanooga-area fishermen a late Christmas present this week.
According to Wildlife Officer Matt Majors, for the second year in a row, TWRA will be stocking Lake Junior with rainbow trout. The program began last year with relatively little publicity or fanfare. The Agency teamed up with TVA folks to utilize a great resource. Lake Junior is on the Chickamauga Dam Reservation off of Amnicola Highway near Hwy. 153.
It's part of a statewide effort to stock trout in urban areas, giving folks a chance to fish who might now otherwise ever touch a fishing rod. Of course us grizzled old veterans don't mind it either.
Weather permitting, the trout truck will roll into Lake Junior Thursday, January 8th. BUT YOU CAN'T FISH THAT DAY!
Fishing will only be allowed on Friday, Saturday and Sunday thru May 2 (daylight hours only.
They'll start by putting 3,000 rainbows into the lake, and then in February they'll add another 2,000 fish to the mix.
Last year I saw folks catching trout with virtually every trout fishing technique you can imagine. However, Powerbait hanging 4 or 5 feet beneath a float seemed to be a consistent favorite.
The limit is 7 trout per day, per person. And you are required to have a trout permit in addition to any required fishing license. Get those licenses because that's the money that allows TWRA to do this kind of stuff.
And if you happen to see anybody with a TWRA patch on their shoulder, tell them "thank you!"