I've added a message board for those interested... no links from the MTC
site yet, but there will be.

www.midtennclassic.org/bulletinboard


"Charles B. Summers, HOF." charles wrote in message
...
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.