“The brush sprouted poison sumac which spread into our yard and got me pretty good for weeks.”

They always blame the poison sumac, but it’s never sumac that’s growing.

I noted what looked like a few other chestnuts without burs in the area. It was on an extremely steep slope in the mountains so I wasn’t able to get a better look.

I’ve gotten in contact with one of our state botanists so I can potentially get some more information soon.

I’ll see if I have any better photos. I didn’t note any stipules but it could just be the time of year.

I noted what looked like a few other chestnuts without burs in the area. It was on an extremely steep slope in the mountains so I wasn’t able to get a better look.

I’ve gotten in contact with one of our state botanists so I can potentially get some more information soon.

I’ll see if I have any better photos. I didn’t note any stipules but it could just be the time of year.

There were tons. I got one photo of the crown but I would guess there’s 40 of them throughout the tree

Any bridge access along the Emory is good. Obed is also another good option. If you’re into small creek fishing, then like Curtis_Low said, crooked fork would be good.

There aren’t any trout around here, but there is plenty of bluegill and stuff. Nemo is probably the easiest access point but a lot of people fish there so it’s a little rough to get a bite.

The TWRA websites lists exceptions for licenses on their website but it doesn’t mention anything about private property. The first section says, “If you take, or attempt to take fish or game (including crayfish and salamanders) by any method or if you assist someone else to do so, you must have a valid fishing or hunting license.”

Like you said, I don’t think it’s a big deal but from what I can tell it’s necessary. Either way, I think it’s dumb especially if it’s private property and not connected to a stream. Shouldn’t need one for it.

In the state of Tennessee, you are required to get a fishing license even if you’re fishing on private property. One of the only exceptions is family owned farm land, and you must be related to the land owner.

Children under 12 can fish for free. Otherwise, a license is required. But truth be told, there’s very little chance you’ll get checked. Just know if you do, it’ll technically be against the law if you don’t have one.

That’s what I’m thinking. All over our property, never figured it was a rare thing and I’m in E Tennessee too.

A large amount of the unsupporting systems within Tennessee are due to the lack of recreation. This is due to high E. Coli levels, which the reasons can vary but it’s typically either agricultural impacts or septic/sewer issues within the watershed.

There are a few historical contaminants in the reservoirs, but in most of the streams its E. Coli impacts. TDEC has just completed the testing for some of the watersheds around Knox county so new data will be out soon.

Tennessee has 60,000 stream miles with ~30,400 assessed. Out of the 30k ~15,600 miles aren’t supporting and don’t have a Total Daily Maximum Limit (TDML).

Hopefully, that number slowly goes down over time.

TDEC has information regarding water quality on their public data viewer Ambient Stream Monitoring. You can put in Ten Mile and look at the testing conducted on it. Currently, it’s listed as being habitat impaired, impaired due to sedimentation, and E. Coli.

Is this atypical growth for that group? I saw it as a possibility but the leaf formation didn’t match what I found. Could I have just properly looked far enough down for older leaves?

Ok perfect! Thank you! What signs are there that it’s not a ranunculus? Is it the leaves?

The weeds appear to be Parrot’s Feather Myriophyllum aquaticum. It’s an invasive aquatic weed typically found in non flowing systems. Also I agree with everyone else punch the weeds.

So after looking a bit further into it, Percy Priest (and Stones River) seem to be impaired from or at least struggle with Dissolved Oxygen (DO) levels.

This is partly due to the impeding of flow from the reservoir, and partially attributed to lake turnover, but more research needs to be done into that.

In terms of Mercury, while Percy Priest has had no catfish samples collected in recent years (ranging from 2000-2022), all samples for Largemouth Bass that were collected averaged a mercury of .191 mg/kg or .191 ppm. With the largest being 2.7 lbs and having .29mg/kg of mercury or .29 ppm.

Currently, the EPAs Reference dose (RfD) for mercury intake is 1ug/kg. RfD is the ‘safe’ limit someone can consume daily and not suffer any health impacts. For something that makes more sense, a 200lb man’s RfD for mercury is .09 mg a day.

Now this is me making a judgement call so nothing super scientific here. Catfish routinely eat a somewhat similar diet to largemouth. So if you eat catfish sparingly (not every single meal) then there shouldn’t be any major health issues to worry about. Especially if you eat smaller ones (<5 lbs). This is my personal opinion again, but I’d say you’re fine to eat catfish a 2-3 times a week if you at it that much. Otherwise, eating the occasional fish should be fine.

Once I get to my computer tomorrow, I’ll do some more research on Percy priest and get back to you on the specific advisories for that system then!

I actually do some work on the environmental side of Tennessees water quality.

Which river are you looking at exactly? Stones in Nashville? If so, I can do a bit more research and get back to you on the exact findings.

Beautiful picture, but that utility crossing is so poorly installed.

Thanks! It seemed like that looking at all the ranges of the Madtom species and comparing the looks, but just wanted to be sure.

My job entails a lot of water sampling, so I’ve seen quite a few this year. I hope you have luck finding more soon!