The Dale Hollow Reservoir is a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

situated on the

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

border. The lake is formed by the damming of the

Obey River The Obey River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 8, 2011 tributary of the Cumberland River in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It joins the Cumberland River near the t ...

, 7.3 miles (12 km) above its juncture with the Cumberland River at

river mile A river mile is a measure of distance in miles along a river from its mouth. River mile numbers begin at zero and increase further upstream. The corresponding metric unit using kilometers is the river kilometer. They are analogous to vehicle roa ...

380. Portions of the lake also cover the Wolf River. Dale Hollow is one of four major

flood control Flood control methods are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters."Flood Control", MSN Encarta, 2008 (see below: Further reading). Flood relief methods are used to reduce the effects of flood waters or high water level ...

reservoirs for the Cumberland; the others being

Percy Priest Lake J. Percy Priest Lake is a reservoir in north central part of Tennessee. It is formed by J. Percy Priest Dam, located between miles six and seven of the Stones River. The dam (easily visible from Interstate 40) is located about east of downtow ...

Lake Cumberland Lake Cumberland is a reservoir in Clinton, Pulaski, Russell, Wayne, and Laurel, counties in Kentucky. The primary reasons for its construction were a means for flood control and the production of hydroelectric power. Its shoreline measures ...

, and

Center Hill Lake Center Hill Lake is a reservoir in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is located in Middle Tennessee near Smithville. Created by means of a dam constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1948, the lake has a dual purpose: electricity produ ...

. It is also the site of Dale Hollow Lake State Park on the north (Kentucky) side.

Location

Dale Hollow Reservoir lies mainly in northern Tennessee, where it covers portions of

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

, Pickett, and Overton Counties. Small arms of the lake also extend northward into the Kentucky counties of Cumberland and Clinton. The project consists of 27,700 acres (112 km²) of water and 24,842 acres (101 km²) of surrounding land.

History

Dale Hollow Dam and Lake was authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1938 and the River and Harbor Act of 1946. The project was completed by the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

in 1943. Hydroelectric power generating units were added in 1948, 1949 and 1953. The project was designed by the Corps of Engineers and built under their supervision by private contractors. The hydroelectric generators of Dale Hollow Dam are used to supply power to the surrounding countryside. The dam, power plant and reservoir are currently operated by the Nashville District of the Corps. The creation of the reservoir resulted in the submerging of a town named Willow Grove. In 1942, the town was purchased by the government in order to create the reservoir. The residents were forced to relocate. Former residents of the town meet annually on Labor Day weekend.

Recreation

The lake is also used recreationally. Water sports are moderately popular, especially

water skiing Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on two skis or one ski. The sport requires suffic ...

. Wakeboarding and tubing are two more water sports that can be seen regularly. The main recreational use is

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

. Dale Hollow is well known as a prime location for smallmouth bass fishing, currently holding the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

for the largest such fish ever taken (11 lb., 15 oz). It is the lake that is linked with the name Billy Westmoreland, famed smallmouth angler of Celina, Tennessee. The lake and surrounding rivers, the Cumberland River and the

also contain other species such as

largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, bu ...

, crappie,

muskellunge The muskellunge ''(Esox masquinongy)'', often shortened to muskie, musky or lunge is a species of large freshwater predatory fish native to North America. It is the largest member of the pike family, Esocidae. Origin of name The name "muskell ...

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the yellow pike or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. It is a North American close relat ...

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive ...

gar Gars are members of the family Lepisosteidae, which are the only surviving members of the Ginglymodi, an ancient holosteian group of ray-finned fish, which first appeared during the Triassic, over 240 million years ago. Gars comprise seven livin ...

, and

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', '' Salmo'' and '' Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salm ...

. The

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) is an independent state agency of the state of Tennessee with the mission of managing the state's fish and wildlife and their habitats, as well as responsibility for all wildlife-related law enforcem ...

and

Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, an agency of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, is responsible for the conservation of wildlife resources and for boating projects in the state. A commissioner appointed by the ...

each maintain jurisdiction over the lake's waters within their respective states. There is a reciprocal fishing agreement between the agencies, so recreational fisherman may be licensed by either state in order to fish in the reciprocal zone. Fishermen in areas of the lake outside the zone must be licensed by the governing agency.

Islands

Geiger Island is an

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

in Dale Hollow Lake. It is designated as a primitive camping site by the Army Corps of Engineers, which manages Dale Hollow Lake. According to author Darren Shell, the site sees heavy usage during the summer months, and was a traditional camping site of the Boy Scout troops in the area for many years. Henry Geiger, the founder of nearby Cedar Lake Camp, a Christian youth camp in

Livingston, Tennessee Livingston is a town in Overton County, Tennessee, United States, and serves as the county seat. The population was 3,905 at the 2020 census and 4,058 at the 2010 census. The current mayor, Curtis Hayes, began serving his mayoral position in Sept ...

, was the first to begin camping on the island. The island bears his name.Traditional Camping at Geiger Island http://redeemerbiblechurch.org/images/linknewsletter/link0409.pdf

References

External links

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Dale Hollow website

Dale Hollow Lake Views
* https://www.dalehollowlakeviews.com/advertise {{authority control Protected areas of Clay County, Tennessee Protected areas of Overton County, Tennessee Protected areas of Pickett County, Tennessee Reservoirs in Kentucky Reservoirs in Tennessee Buildings and structures in Clinton County, Kentucky Buildings and structures in Cumberland County, Kentucky Protected areas of Clinton County, Kentucky Protected areas of Cumberland County, Kentucky Protected areas of Fentress County, Tennessee Dams in Tennessee United States Army Corps of Engineers dams Bodies of water of Clay County, Tennessee Bodies of water of Overton County, Tennessee Bodies of water of Pickett County, Tennessee Bodies of water of Fentress County, Tennessee Bodies of water of Clinton County, Kentucky Bodies of water of Cumberland County, Kentucky 1943 establishments in Kentucky 1943 establishments in Tennessee