muskies are native to East TN, they didnt put any in the river as an experiment. They put them in bc they have been fished out over the years. There have always been muskies in the obed/emory rivers, nolichucky, french broad and im sure a few others in middle TN. They stocked them in the clinch river (melton hill) a while back to restore populations. I dont know much about catching them other than throw huuuuuge plugs and spinners or fish with big live bait (suckers). and remember to use a wire leader, they will easily bite through fishing line

 

If you truly want to catch a musky, just go bass fishing and throw a high dollar Lucky Craft pointer...LOL! I've lost 3 pointers to muskies so far, they seem to really like them and my fishing partner caught a 42" musky using a rattlin' rogue jerkbait back in '08, he hooked in the side of the jaw and it not only held but it kept the line from hitting any teeth so he able to land it. If you want to target them you need at a minimum a heavy power rod, heavy line or braid along with a steel leader and you can either throw magnum rapalas or if you want to use live bait, a chub or sucker about 8" to 12" long fished on a large hook will work nicely. Good luck in your quest!

 

There are several places in East TN that you can go to find musky. If you are truly interested in learning about them, shoot me a pm and i'd be happy to help out.

 

There are plenty of muskies above and below Melton Hill Dam. Don't know if the ones below the dam were there naturally or got through the locks at the dam because the reservoir was stocked very well. They could have swam up from the Emory/Obed Rivers. Then again, muskies were native to the Clinch and even Poplar Creek before any of the dams were built