Long periods of sustained generation are tough on the fish that are under 16" or so. I don't know if they get eaten by predators, or if they can't find enough food (since they're eating bugs instead of fish at that size), or if they wander downstream to Old Hickory when there aren't riffles to keep them oriented to home, or what. Maybe it's a combination of a bunch of factors.
All I know is that when the river is high for several months straight, the smaller fish numbers will be low when it comes down. It takes several months of stocking to fully replenish it. The bigger fish seem to do okay even when the water is high for a long time.
For that reason, the river is best in drought years when there isn't a lot of generation, and it falls off in rainy years. With the work on the dam, it has been much worse because whenever the lake gets above 630, they'll generate constantly until it comes down.
The canoe and kayak traffic can be a pain in the ass but I don't think fishing pressure is the problem. They can dump in more stockers than people can take out when everything is going right.
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