Caperton Lake Fishing near Shelbyville, Tennessee

• Overview

  Caperton Lake sits in Bedford County, out in Tennessee. Height above sea level is 794 feet. It covers about 2 acres, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. The closest town, Shelbyville, is 2.1 miles away. For a city, Murfreesboro is 24 miles off. Close by you also have: Bedford Lake 13 miles away, George Dickel Lake 15 miles, Normandy Lake 15 miles away, Copperas Branch 17 miles and Ovoca Lake 17 miles away. Rules here are straightforward: one county, one set of rules.

• Where to Fish on Caperton Lake

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. Rip-rap along the wall holds fish that the open bank never does. Built water gives depth close in, which suits a bank angler. Across Bedford County, recorded fish include longear sunfish, banded darter, striated darter, fantail darter and duck darter. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. The shape of Caperton Lake decides where the fish sit.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July runs about 78°F on average, January about 37°F. Warm months push fish deep; cool months bring them back. The cooler months are the comfortable ones to be out. Late winter often fishes better here than midsummer does. On Caperton Lake that shapes the whole year. Cool nights slow the mornings but sharpen the evenings.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public data does not answer the access question here. You will be walking about half a mile from the nearest car park. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. Failing this one, try Bedford Lake, 13 miles away. Treat access at Caperton Lake as something to verify.