Charles,
This may get me to the MTC! Let me know when soon!
Jack
~~
Jack Dalzell Jr.
www.jdbass.com
www.OutdoorFrontiers.com
~~


Charles B. Summers, HOF. wrote:
I guess it's always a good idea to plan early, so here's what we're working
on for the 2006 Mid-Tenn Classic!

Justin Hires, Joe Haubenreich, and I put our heads together recently to pick
a new lake to host the next Classic. Of all of the great places to fish in
Tennessee this was a hard decision. We had kicked around thoughts of hosting
a tournament on this lake for a while, but the eastern lakes were hard to
resist. What sealed this deal on hosting on this new lake was the fact that
there is just about any kind of water that you'd want to fish, given the
will to make some runs. But don't think that you'll need a fast boat to fish
here... Justin and I have spent nights in this one cove catching good
numbers and sizes of fish. As a matter of fact, I've personally not been
outside of a 5 mile run from our proposed launch site.

I guess I can go ahead and let the cat out of the bag now and tell you that
the new location (very centrally located, I might add) will be Lake Barkley!
The launch site will actually be in Kentucky waters, so be sure to have a
Kentucky license. It will be a long run to fish Tennessee waters, so you can
probably do without buying a license for Tennessee. Launch site (proposed)
will be from the Eddy Creek area which is toward the northern end of the
lake, and just a short ride to the canal that connects Lake Barkley to
Kentucky Lake!

We'll be posting more information as we get it and will be updating the
Mid-Tenn Classic web-site as well.

Below is information from Fishing Hotspots on Lake Barkley.

LAKE PROFILE
SIZE AND DEPTH - ABOUT 57,900 ACRES WITH A MAXIMUM DEPTH OF ABOUT 68 FEET.
THE AVERAGE DEPTH IS ABOUT 12 FEET.

WATER SOURCE - AN IMPOUNDMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND RIVER. MAJOR TRIBUTARIES
INCLUDE LITTLE RIVER AND EDDY CREEK. COMPLETED IN 1966, THE DAM PROVIDES
NAVIGATIONAL ACCESS TO THE RIVER AND HYDROELECTRIC POWER. SURFACE ELEVATION
DURING SUMMER IS MAINTAINED AT ABOUT 359 FEET ABOVE MEAN SE LEVEL (MSL).
WINTER ELEVATION IS KEPT AT ABOUT 354 FEET MSL. ANNUAL FLUCTUATIONS CAN VARY
FROM ABOUT 370 TO DRAWDOWN IN ADVANCE OF FLOOD LEVELS OF 346 FEET MSL. AN
OPEN CANAL TO KENTUCKY LAKE ALLOWS A FLOW TO OR FROM EACH LAKE DEPENDING
UPON RAINFALL WITHIN EACH DRAINAGE SYSTEM AND HYDROELECTRIC ACTIVITY AT
EITHER DAM.

SHORELINE - VERY IRREGULAR AND ABOUT 1,004 MILES IN LENGTH. MOSTLY HIGH CLAY
BANKS , BUT SOME SANDSTONE CLIFFS EXIST. THERE ARE ALSO LIMITED AREAS OF
LIMESTONE AND CHERT. DEVELOPMENT IS CONFINED TO THE EASTERN SIDE. THE
WESTERN SIDE FORMS A BOUNDARY OF THE LAND BETWEEN THE LAKES NATIONAL
RECREATION AREA.

BOTTOM - 70% CLAY AND GRAVEL, 10% MUCK (LOCATED IN THE BACKS OF BAYS) AND
15% BROKEN OR LAYERED BEDROCK. THE REMAINING 5% INCLUDES STUMPS AND MANMADE
FEATURES LIKE OLD ROADWAYS AND BRIDGES.
WATER - MODERATE TO VERY FERTILE WITH A LIGHT BROWNISH COLOR. A THERMOCLINE
CAN DEVELOP DURING LATE SUMMER, ESPECIALLY DURING DROUGHT YEARS, AT 12 TO 15
FEET. DEPLETION OF DISSOLVED OXYGEN OCCURS ONLY IN CREEK CHANNELS AND BAYS.
DEPENDING UPON ANNUAL RAINFALL, SECCHI DISK READINGS (A MEASURE OF
TRANSPARENCY) CAN RANGE FROM 2 TO 3.5 FEET.

COVER - IN RECENT YEARS, SUBMERGENT SPECIES INCLUDING EURASIAN MILFOIL,
DRAMATICALLY DECLINED AS NORMAL ANNUAL HIGH WATER EVENTS INCREASED TURBIDITY
AND REDUCED SUNLIGHT PENETRATION. THE SPREAD OF THE EXOTIC EURASIAN MILFOIL
PEAKED IN THE MID-1990'S AFTER SEVERAL YEARS OF REDUCED RAINFALL AND
INCREASED WATER CLARITY. ALTHOUGH CHEMICAL SPRAYING WAS USED BY THE
TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY AROUND DOCKS, RESORTS AND SWIMMING AREAS,
KENTUCKY AND TENNESSEE BIOLOGISTS AGREE THAT VEGETATION DEPLETION,
ESPECIALLY THE MAIN LAKE MILFOIL BEDS, OCCURRED BECAUSE OF THE RETURN OF
AVERAGE POOL LEVELS AND HIGHER, MORE TURBID WATER CONDITIONS. OTHER SPECIES
PRESENT IN VERY MINOR AMOUNTS INCLUDE COONTAIL, SOUTHERN NAIAD, SPINEYLEAF
NAIAD AND AMERICAN PONDWEED. EMERGENT WATERWILLOW IS EVIDENT THROUGHOUT THE
LAKE, IN ASSOCIATION WITH BUTTON BUSH, IN THE BACKS OF COVES. BRUSH PILES
AND STAKE BEDS HAVE BEEN PLACED IN THE BACKS OF COVES BY PRIVATE PARTIES AND
THE STATES.

FEATURED SPECIES - LARGEMOUTH BASS, CHANNEL CATFISH, WHITE CRAPPIE, WHITE
BASS, BLUEGILL, LONGEAR SUNFISH.

COMMENT - LARGEMOUTH BASS NUMBERS HAVE STABILIZED. RELATIVE WEIGHTS (AN
INDEX OF CONDITION) SHOW THEY ARE VERY HEALTHY. A HIGH PERCENTAGE OF THE
POPULATION IS OVER THE MINIMUM LENGTH LIMIT OF 14-INCHES. BASS OVER 8-POUNDS
AND MANY IN THE 3-TO 6-POUND RANGE ARE AVAILABLE. SMALLMOUTH BASS
POPULATIONS IN THE SOUTH PORTION OF BARKLEY LAKE ARE OF MINOR IMPORTANCE.

FORAGE - IN TERMS OF ABUNDANCE, GIZZARD SHAD COMPRISE THE BULK OF THE FORAGE
BASE, BUT THREADFIN SHAD ARE OF GREATER IMPORTANCE BECAUSE THEY ONLY GROW TO
ABOUT 4-INCHES IN LENGTH. OTHER SPECIES INCLUDE EMERALD SHINER, GOLDEN
SHINER, BROOK SILVERSIDE, BULLHEAD MINNOW AND SILVER CHUB. YOUNG-OF-THE-YEAR
OF ALL SPECIES, ESPECIALLY BLUEGILL, ARE HEAVILY UTILIZED. CRAYFISH, SNAILS,
SMALL MUSSELS AND INSECTS ARE ALL PART OF THE FOOD CHAIN.