To really get out and enjoy the great outdoors in Sevierville, don’t just believe that the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the be all, end all. Far from it. Just a quick drive down the road is Douglas Lake and all the fun that comes along with a summer spent on a Tennessee lake.
Douglas Lake, or Douglas Reservoir for those of you who prefer exact lake lingo, is known statistically for its large shoreline (550 miles) and the 44 square miles its liquidity takes up in eastern Tennessee. At full pool, it’s said to cover a surface area greater than 30,000 acres. Douglas Lake reaches a maximum depth of 140 feet in the summer, and retains its water due to a watershed totaling 4,541 square miles. Annual water fluctuation is about 54 feet. The French Broad River and Nolichucky River feed into Douglas Lake. The French Broad and Nolichucky each derive from the Tennessee and North Carolina Smoky Mountains.
Private property makes up most of the shoreline of Douglas Lake. Visitors can find recreational facilities provided by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) at Douglas Dam. A campground is located just above the dam. Campers can use its hookups, showers, picnic area, boat ramp, and swimming beach. For more information call 1-800-TVA-LAND.
My fishermen and women make Douglas Lake a yearly destination because of its Large Mouth Bass and Crappie populations. Between those two popular sport fish as well as White Bass, Sauger, Black Crappie, Striped Bass, Spotted Bass, Walleye, Blue Cat, Flat Head Catfish, Channel Catfish, Red Horse, Red Breast Sunfish and Bluegill, Douglas Lake is an angler’s paradise. It’s consistently rated as one of the top 5 Crappie fishing lakes in the United State, as well as a top 10 location for Large Mouth Bass fishing in the country. Be sure to bring your rod and reel if you’re coming to the lake in the spring or fall – the two preferred lake fishing seasons on Douglas.