Inland Lake: A Deep, Clear Blount County Water Supply Reservoir

Major and minor solunar windows shift daily with the moon’s transit. Fish the windows above, or check the Seasonal Playbook below for Inland Lake’s current pattern.

March through May is the best open window on Inland. The BWWB has refilled the pool after the late-fall drawdown, water climbs from the low 50s into the 70s, and largemouth push into the Blackburn Fork inflow and the Allgood-end creek arms to stage and spawn. A square-bill crankbait on the clear-to-stained seam after rain, a spinnerbait on the timber edges, and a wacky Senko on the spawning flats carries the pre-spawn bite. Spotted bass work rock banks in the lower pool and stage earlier than the largemouth — a jerkbait on ten-second pauses on bluff transitions pulls staging spots in water temps in the upper 50s. Crappie slide into the standing timber in the arms by mid-March; long-line a 1/16-ounce jig through the timber, vertical on marked schools. Bream beds show up on shallow bank gravel by late April. Launch fee is $5 at either ramp, and weekday mornings are empty water.

June through August the lake stratifies — mean depth 77 feet means a real thermocline sets up by mid-June, and the bite moves deep or shady fast. Largemouth work shaded timber pockets and undeveloped bank cover in the back of the arms at first light, then pull off to rock bluffs and main-lake ledges through the day. A Texas-rigged worm flipped to shade, a buzzbait at dawn on the upper pool, and a drop-shot on the 15-30 foot bluff edges cover the pattern. Spotted bass hold tighter to rock — a shaky head on the bluff walls near the dam is the lower-pool program. Channel catfish bite nightcrawlers and cut bait on the main pool after dark. Crappie go deep and suspend on the timber tops in 15-20 feet. Water remains clear and deep all summer because BWWB pulls from the bottom, not the surface.

September through November is the transition nobody fishes because the drawdown scares them off. The BWWB starts dropping the pool in late summer to hold reserve capacity, and by October-November the lake has already lost 10-plus feet of water on its way to the 16.4-foot average low. That exposes structure — stumps, rock points, old creek channels — that stays underwater the rest of the year. Shad move into the creek arms, largemouth follow them onto the newly exposed drawdown line, and a lipless crankbait worked parallel to the new shoreline, a ChatterBait on the creek-mouth gravel, and a jig on the exposed stumps produces fish most anglers never see. Crappie reload on timber tops in 10-16 feet. Water stays clear, the crowds disappear, and the locals who fish the drawdown clean up through November.

December through February the pool sits at its annual low and the lake fishes like a clear-water highland reservoir in miniature. Largemouth and spotted bass group on main-lake rock bluffs and the deepest water near the dam. A suspending jerkbait worked on long pauses on sunny afternoons above 48°F, a jigging spoon vertical on the 30-50 foot bluff ledges, and an Alabama rig on the main-channel drops when the surface drops into the 40s — all work because water clarity stays high on a deep drawdown lake. Crappie stack in 18-25 feet on timber and brush tops in the arms; tiny 1/32-ounce jigs tipped with minnows, vertical fish, slow hookset. The pool refills through late winter rains, and by late February the pre-spawn creeps in on the upper end. Launch fee still $5 year-round; both ramps stay open per Blount County Sheriff patrol.

Inland Dam Ramp

Oneonta

Parking

spots

Fee

$5 per launch

Lower-end public ramp 9 miles SSW of Oneonta, off Hwy 75 on Inland Dam Road. Patrolled by the Blount County Sheriff's Department; $5 boat launch fee collected at the ramp. Access to the deepest water in the reservoir near the 1939 BWWB dam.

Inland Boat Landing (Allgood / Upper End)

Allgood

Parking

spots

Fee

$5 per launch

Upper-end public ramp near Allgood, off Hwy 75 on Inland Boat Landing Road. Patrolled by the Blount County Sheriff's Department; $5 boat launch fee. Launches into the shallower Blackburn Fork inflow end of the reservoir.

More on Inland Lake: