Nickajack Lake is the

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 ...

created by Nickajack Dam as part of the

Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina ...

. The lake stretches from Nickajack Dam to

Chickamauga Dam The Chickamauga Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. The dam is owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the late 1930s as part of a New Deal era initiativ ...

, passing through the city of

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

. The

Tennessee River Gorge The Tennessee River Gorge is a canyon formed by the Tennessee River known locally as Cash Canyon. It is the fourth largest river gorge in the Eastern United States. The gorge is cut into the Cumberland Plateau as the river winds its way into Alab ...

, commonly referred to as the "Grand Canyon of Tennessee", is also part of Nickajack Lake. Full pool for Nickajack Lake is approximately above sea level, and remains consistent during the course of the year, unlike nearby

Chickamauga Lake Chickamauga Lake is a reservoir in the United States along the Tennessee River created when the Chickamauga Dam, as part of the Tennessee Valley Authority, was completed in 1940. The lake stretches from Watts Bar Dam at mile 529.9 (853 km) ...

. The world record for

freshwater drum The freshwater drum, ''Aplodinotus grunniens'', is a fish endemic to North and Central America. It is the only species in the genus ''Aplodinotus'', and is a member of the family Sciaenidae. It is the only North American member of the group that ...

was caught from Nickajack Lake in 1972 by Benny Hull, and weighed in at . A

lake sturgeon The lake sturgeon (''Acipenser fulvescens''), also known as the rock sturgeon, is a North American temperate freshwater fish, one of about 25 species of sturgeon. Like other sturgeons, this species is a bottom feeder with evolutionarily basal t ...

was caught in Nickajack Lake in 2011. This was the first sighting of one in the lake since they left the area in the 1960s.

References

* * {{authority control Bodies of water of Hamilton County, Tennessee Bodies of water of Marion County, Tennessee Tennessee River Reservoirs in Tennessee Tennessee Valley Authority Tourist attractions in Chattanooga, Tennessee Geography of Chattanooga, Tennessee Tourist attractions in Hamilton County, Tennessee Tourist attractions in Marion County, Tennessee

See also

References