Pickwick 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
Pickwick Landing Dam
Pickwick Landing Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River in Hardin County, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The dam is one of nine dams on the river owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the 1930s a ...
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 Pickwick Landing Dam to
Wilson Dam
Wilson Dam is a dam spanning the Tennessee River between Lauderdale County and Colbert County in the U.S. state of Alabama. Completed in 1924 by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, it impounds Wilson Lake, and is one of nine Tennessee Va ...
. It is one of the few lakes in the United States to be located in 3 different states.
Pickwick Lake has excellent sportfishing areas, including the Wilson Dam tailwater at the upper end of the reservoir, noted for record-size
smallmouth bass and
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, ...
. Another favorite spot is the discharge basin at
Colbert Fossil Plant west of
Sheffield, Alabama
Sheffield is a city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States, and is included in the Shoals metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 9,039. Sheffield is the birthplace of "country-soul pioneer" and songwriter Arthu ...
, where the warm water discharged from the power plant attracts fish during cold weather. The lakeshore plays host to two state parks: Tennessee's
Pickwick Landing State Park
Pickwick Landing State Park is a state park in Pickwick Dam, Hardin County, Tennessee, located in the southeastern United States. The park is situated around the Pickwick Lake impoundment of the Tennessee River, and is named for Pickwick Landi ...
and Mississippi's
J P Coleman State Park.
Pickwick Lake is the north end of the
Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, which provides a water transportation route to the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...
.
Yellow Creek Cove is home to the Yellow Creek waterfall and is a popular destination for boaters. A rope swing off the top of the waterfall has been present for many years.
See also
*
Dams and reservoirs of the Tennessee River
The Tennessee Valley Authority operates the Tennessee River system to provide a wide range of public benefits: year-round navigation, flood damage reduction, affordable electricity, improved water quality and water supply, recreation, and economi ...
References
*
External links
Tennessee Valley Authority: Pickwick ReservoirFishing Pickwick LakeSmallmouth Bass, Largemouth Bass, Crappie, and Sauger
Further reading
*Grimsley, Rheta,
Dirty Little Story" ''Southern Spaces'', 6 September 2012.
Bodies of water of Colbert County, Alabama
Florence–Muscle Shoals metropolitan area
Bodies of water of Hardin County, Tennessee
Bodies of water of Lauderdale County, Alabama
Reservoirs in Alabama
Reservoirs in Mississippi
Reservoirs in Tennessee
Tennessee River
Tennessee Valley Authority
Protected areas of Tishomingo County, Mississippi
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