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Home › Waters › Mississippi › Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway
Tailwater · Tishomingo County, the navigation channel below the Jamie Whitten Lock and Dam near Dennis, at the head of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway where it leaves the divide cut · Mississippi

Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Fishing Guides

The tailwater below Jamie Whitten Lock and Dam at the head of the Tenn-Tom, a cold-season catfish and white bass fishery in the divide cut of northeast Mississippi.

Sun setting over a cypress swamp full of wading birds
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

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About the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway

The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway leaves its northern end through the divide cut in Tishomingo County, and the gauge below the Jamie Whitten Lock and Dam near Dennis sits at the top of that run. This is engineered water rather than a natural river, a wide straight channel cut between steep spoil banks, and it reads as industrial on first sight. What makes it fish is the structure that comes with the engineering: the lock and dam itself, the riprap along both banks for miles, and the current that moves through whenever water is passed, all of it concentrating bait in a way a natural channel this size would not.

The tailwater immediately below the structure is the best of it. White bass and sauger stack in the turbulence on moving water, and the cold months are the serious season for both. Blue, channel and flathead catfish use the scour holes below the dam and the deeper edges of the channel, and the flatheads here reach genuine size against the riprap. Smallmouth bass are present along the rock in the upper reaches, which is unusual this far south and a legacy of the Tennessee River water the cut carries, with largemouth and spotted bass filling in along the bank. Fishing concentrates where the rock meets current.

The gauge reports discharge, stage and a reservoir-release parameter, which together describe the one thing that governs this fishery: whether water is moving. On a navigation channel the fish follow the release rather than the calendar, and a dam passing water turns the tailwater on within an hour while a still channel can go almost dead. Read the discharge before committing to the drive and plan around moving water. Stage matters for the ramps, since the pool is held within a narrow navigation band, and barge traffic through the lock is a real consideration for small boats working close to the structure.

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1. What you give us

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5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

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Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Flow alert

Tell me when the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway cfs

Now: 0 cfs, read 6:30 am CST, Mon Nov 2, 2026 (USGS 02430005, TENN-TOM WW BELOW JAMIE WHITTEN L&D NR DENNIS, MS).

We never use this address for anything else and never share it. See the privacy policy.

Access

Dennis - the community at the gauge, with the nearest access to the tailwater.
Jamie Whitten Lock and Dam - the structure at the head of the waterway and the focus of the fishery.
Bay Springs Lake - the reservoir immediately upstream, with ramps, camping and a marina.
Belmont - the nearest town, with services and lodging.
Tishomingo - the town north, with access to the divide cut and the state park.
Fulton - the town south along the waterway, with developed ramps on the next pool.
Tishomingo State Park - the state park northeast, with camping and Bear Creek float water.

Seasons

Spring: white bass and sauger run hard in the tailwater, and bass move onto the riprap as the water warms.
Summer: catfish dominate, fished deep in the scour holes and along the channel edges during releases.
Fall: cooling water and steady releases bring white bass and smallmouth back onto the rock.
Winter: the best season for sauger and big catfish below the structure, fished entirely around moving water.

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Questions

What species can you catch on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway?

Anglers target Blue Catfish, Channel Catfish, Flathead Catfish, Largemouth Bass, Sauger, Smallmouth Bass, Spotted Bass, White Bass on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway in Mississippi.

Where can you access the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway?

Dennis - the community at the gauge, with the nearest access to the tailwater. Jamie Whitten Lock and Dam - the structure at the head of the waterway and the focus of the fishery. Bay Springs Lake - the reservoir immediately upstream, with ramps, camping and a marina. Belmont - the nearest town, with services and lodging. Tishomingo - the town north, with access to the divide cut and the state park. Fulton - the town south along the waterway, with developed ramps on the next pool. Tishomingo State Park - the state park northeast, with camping and Bear Creek float water.

When is the best time to fish the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway?

Spring: white bass and sauger run hard in the tailwater, and bass move onto the riprap as the water warms. Summer: catfish dominate, fished deep in the scour holes and along the channel edges during releases. Fall: cooling water and steady releases bring white bass and smallmouth back onto the rock. Winter: the best season for sauger and big catfish below the structure, fished entirely around moving water.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Mississippi agency site: https://www.mdwfp.com/fishing-boating/