Off on the first trip of the year
 

Ok, early in the morning we're heading down to Dale Hollow Lake in TN and staying there through Monday. Supposed to be 76° and mostly sunny. I'll post some pics when we get back.

Awesome! Let me know how that place is, I've always wanted to take mine down there!

Well we made it back late last night after a LONG drive home in the pouring rain and endless construction. The weather was mid 70's and sunny down there except for a quick storm on Sunday afternoon. This was our second time down there and we enjoyed this stay much better. Last time we were way down on the east end of the river and used East Port Marina. I would recommend staying away from that area. Not a well kept marina and lots of floaters and stuff down there. This time we used Sunset Marina which is still on the Obey riber part but further west. Sunset is the nicest Marina I've been at down there. It's well kept, has several nice launch ramps, and is easy to get to. They also have overnight covered slips with water and power. These were $25/night for up to 30ft. You can also tie up in an uncovered area for $15/night. They also have a nice restaurant on the water and then there is a bar/restaurant called Moogies on the hill above the Marina. You can only buy beer at the stores around there so be sure to plan for that.
We pretty much had the lake to ourselves the whole time. VERY few boats were out. I think they really get busy after memorial day but you have to wonder if the gas prices were part of the reason it was so quiet there. It was $4.49 for regular and $4.79 for premium there. I stopped at a BP down there road for $3.78/gal before putting the boat in.
The nice thing about Dale Hollow is the glass water and having lots of protected coves to anchor in. It was pretty windy one day and I did have some problems getting my Chene anchor to hold the boat. I never pulled up mud so I'm guessing the bottom is pretty hard. The whole lake is deep so you don't have too many worries when cruising around. Just watch out for the trees under the water close to land. We didn't hit a thing the entire time there. Also the entire land around the lake is park area so there are no houses or personal docks along the lake. It's all nature.
I have to go get the camera out of the boat so I'll post some picks after doing that.

Some pics of Willow Grove Marina, Sunset Marina, our rental house, and the lake.

Looks beautiful! Thanks for sharing the pics and your experiences!

LOL. Yeah both of them love being on the boat. The smaller one just lays down while underway and the other likes sitting on the seat sticking his head out in the wind. They both have life jackets and like swimming but the water was still a little on the cold side.

Our dog always wore a life jacket also. It always puts a smile on peoples face to see a dog in a life jacket! :)