Welcome to Dale Hollow Lake! Expanding across the border of Northern Tennessee and South Central Kentucky, this lake offers a wonderful vacation spot for the whole family. Dale Hollow Lake is a jewel nestled in the rolling foothills of the Upper Cumberland.

Dale Hollow Lake can claim the designation of a jewel for many reasons: unsurpassed beauty, world-class fishing, house-boating, and water sports of all kinds. In days gone by, people equated the lake to flood control and hydroelectric power.

Dale Hollow has held the World Record for Smallmouth Bass for many decades.

These are just some of the things that make up the rich history of Dale Hollow Lake. It’s a history that includes state, continent and world records, and visitors in the dozens of millions.
Dale Hollow means different things to different people, but its reputation cuts a wide path. When some People ask us where Burkesville is, we often tell them we are in South Central Kentucky.

If we get a blank stare or a pause, we just say “near Dale Hollow Lake.” That almost always makes the light bulb come on.

Dale Hollow has long been renowned as a vacation and fishing spot. It also claims the world record smallmouth bass. Even if you don’t know exactly where Burkesville is, chances are great you’ve heard of Dale Hollow Lake.

So much to do, so little time
To some, Dale Hollow means smallmouth bass fishing, but that’s not the only thing to fish for in the lake. Smallmouth bass fishing is not the only type of fishing Dale Hollow is recognized for. The lake, and the Obey River directly below it, has held multiple records for other species through the years. Dale Hollow once held the state record for lake trout (12 pounds, 13 ounces), while the Obey River below Dale Hollow Dam once produced a state Tennessee record rainbow trout (14 pounds, 8 ounces) and brown trout (26 pounds, 2 ounces). Those marks have fallen through the years, but the brown trout and rainbow trout former records are still close to the current state records.

Dale Hollow still holds the Kentucky muskie title (43 pounds). If you’re looking for big fish, this can be the place.

If you want to fish for something else, there’s largemouth and Kentucky bass, walleye, crappie, drum and a variety of other species to choose from.

To others, Dale Hollow means house-boating. How good is the house-boating on the lake? Pickaslip.com rated Dale Hollow as the top house-boating destination not only in the U.S., but on the continent. It ranked ahead of such vacationing heavyweights as Lake Powell in Utah and Lake Mead near Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. Type house-boating destinations into your search engine, and see how many lists Dale Hollow is on.

Dale Hollow can also mean scuba diving and snorkeling to others. The clarity of the lake is outstanding, and attracts divers from hundreds of miles away.

Water sports in general come to mind when Dale Hollow is mentioned to to others. People ski, jet ski or “tube” on Dale Hollow, and there’s no secret why. With over 600 miles of shoreline, there’s plenty of room for everyone to have fun. Others prefer to tool up or down the lake on a pontoon or smaller boat.

Certainly among the most appealing features of Dale Hollow Lake is its rustic beauty. Through the impoundment of the Obey River, Dale Hollow was carved from the hills and valleys of the Cumberland Plateau. It’s an area known for its rugged, breathtaking landscape.

Through a conscious effort, Dale Hollow Lake has retained virtually all of that landscape. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has never allowed direct private landowner access to the lake. The Corps keeps a considerable buffer between private property and the lake’s shoreline. The result has been a lake largely undisturbed by outside influences. Seeing is believing.

How and why Dale Hollow was formed
Dale Hollow Dam is “one of the multipurpose projects that make up the Corps of Engineers’ system for development of the water resources of the Cumberland River Basin. This system is an important part of a larger plan of development for the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers,” the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers website says.

The dam was constructed for both flood control (initially) and the generation of hydroelectric power. “Dale Hollow Dam and Lake function to control the floodwaters of the Obey River and contribute to the reduction of flood levels at municipal, industrial and agricultural areas along the Cumberland, lower Ohio and Mississippi Rivers,” the Corps website says.

Before construction of Dale Hollow Dam, and Lake Cumberland Dam, upstream on the Cumberland River, much of the area regularly experienced flooding issues. Burkesville is located the on the Cumberland River, and had serious flooding problems before the Lake Cumberland dam was built.

Dale Hollow Dam and Lake was authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1938, and the River and Harbor Act of 1946. The flood control part of the project was completed in 1943, with power generating units being added in 1948, 1949 and again in 1953. The Corps says power produced at Dale Hollow Dam will supply the needs of an average city of 45,000 people. Power generating units provide a total hydroelectric capability of 54,000 kilowatts.

The evolution of the lake
The lake was formed for flood control and hydroelectric power. A few years after its impoundment, though, privately-owned marinas began to dot the shoreline. Then, its reputation as a fishing hotspot started to form.

That reputation reached worldwide proportions in July of 1955, when David Lee Hayes dragged the world-record smallmouth from the lake. That record still stands. Other record fish have come from the lake and from nearby bodies of water. Dale Hollow has been a highly-visited fishing destination for well over a half-century.

The late smallmouth bass legend Billy Westmoreland was a highly-successful pro fisherman on the Bass-Master Tournament Trail in the 1970’s and 80’s. He also authored two books on fishing, and hosted a television show. Stephen Headrick, known as the “Smallmouth Guru,” is a professional fisherman. Headrick writes fishing articles for a variety of publications and websites, and is the owner of Punisher Lures.