Story by Ken Duke
Stop 3 of the 2025 NPFL season is on 30,600-acre Douglas Lake in east Tennessee, May 22-24. This is the first time the league has been to Douglas, but it’s familiar territory to much of the field. Dozens of the pros have fished high-level events here, and at least eight anglers in the field could be called “locals.”
Ordinarily, 30,600 acres would not be considered “big water” for a pro event featuring more than 100 boats, but Douglas promises to “fish big.” With more than 500 miles of shoreline and fish likely to be in all three stages of the spawn, the anglers should be spread out, and it’s unlikely they’ll be competing for a lot of the same water.
Douglas Lake was impounded in 1943, when the gates on Douglas Dam closed and it began generating hydroelectric power. The lake gets its name from Douglas Bluff, which overlooks Douglas Dam … which created Douglas Lake, but just who “Douglas” was is unknown. What is known is that the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) controls the lake, and that it impounds the French Broad, Nolichucky, and Pigeon rivers, portions of which will be in play next week.
The lake offers largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass that stay healthy dining on threadfin and gizzard shad, crayfish, sunfish, and anything else small enough and unfortunate enough to fit in the basses’ mouths.
Over the past decade of major tournaments on Douglas, the lake has been trending downward. Ten or 12 years ago, top finishers would average better than 20 pounds a day. That all changed in 2017 when winning weights fell to just 16 pounds per day in a three- or four-day event. In the past five or six years, that number has fallen below 15 pounds per day.
Forty-five or 50 pounds could be a very big number at Douglas.
Not surprisingly, the lake is not a big fish destination. The big bass for next week’s event will likely weigh less than seven pounds. Anything over five pounds is noteworthy and will certainly get its picture taken on stage.
If all this sounds familiar, it should. Stop 2 at Lake Norman in North Carolina a month ago was like that. Greg Hackney averaged almost 16 pounds a day to win, and big bass was 5 pounds, 10 ounces. Similar numbers should be strong at Douglas.
But there are a couple of wildcards that will make Stop 3 unique.
First, there’s Hurricane Helene, which devastated the area last September. Local authorities are still digging out from under the wreckage, and those efforts include the removal of debris from Douglas Lake. What impact will that have on the fishing?
Second, there’s the usual musical chairs of local talent that you have any time the league visits a fishery. The dozens of Carolina bassers who showed out at Lake Norman are no longer in their own backyard. They’re replaced by eight standouts who call east Tennessee home and who have high expectations to do well on Douglas Lake. Several of them need a strong finish to turn around a rough start to the season after lackluster performances at Norman and Santee Cooper.
Four locals who are riding high as they come “home” to Douglas Lake are Ricky Robinson (14th in the Progressive Angler of the Year standings), Robert Wroblewski (17th), Hunter Sales (18th), and 2023 NPFL Angler of the Year Todd Goade (23rd). Right behind them are Brian “Big Daddy” Hatfield (29th) and Jason Abram (37th). All these anglers have big expectations for Stop 3, and if they don’t move up in the standings, they’ll be disappointed and see it as a lost opportunity.
Derrick Snavely (73rd) and Tavin Napier (102nd) are area residents looking to turn their seasons around. Snavely has had big-time success on Douglas in major tournaments, including a third-place finish in a 2014 Bassmaster Open and big fish in a 2016 Open. Napier is a true rookie looking to rebound and put himself in contention to qualify for the 2026 NPFL Championship.
At the end of Stop 3, we’ll be halfway through the 2025 season. There will be just nine competition days left for anglers to mount a comeback or sustain their momentum. Anyone who says “it’s a long season” has never fished tournaments for a living.
There’s a lot on the line!
