Fisherman Guards Secret Spot So Aggressively He Has Created a Local Legend About a Cursed Cove

An investigation by this newspaper has revealed that the local legend of 'Cursed Cove' — a supposedly haunted inlet on the north shore of Chickamauga Lake that fishermen have avoided for over a decade — was fabricated entirely by a single angler seeking to protect what he describes as 'the best largemouth spot in the entire Tennessee Valley.' Roy Pallomar, 58, has been the sole fisherman at the inlet since 2011, when he discovered that its submerged timber, thermal current, and relative isolation made it 'a bass factory of unprecedented quality.' Rather than share the location, Pallomar embarked on a systematic disinformation campaign. 'I started with the boat ramp guys,' Pallomar admitted. 'I told them I'd fished the cove and caught nothing but felt a strange presence. Then I told the bait shop I'd seen unexplained lights. Then I posted on three different fishing forums under different usernames about the cove being built on a Cherokee burial ground, which I made up entirely and I'm not proud of.' Over 15 years, the legend grew. Local anglers began reporting 'bad vibes' near the inlet. A kayaker claimed to have heard voices. The cove appeared on a regional paranormal blog as a 'known energy vortex.' Meanwhile, Pallomar's fishing logs reveal 15 years of extraordinary catches, including multiple five-pound-plus largemouth, several trophy smallmouth, and a single entry from 2018 that simply reads: 'The biggest fish I have ever seen. Did not land it. Will never discuss this.' Pallomar was exposed when a drone operator, filming the lake for a real estate listing, captured footage of a man fishing alone in the supposedly cursed cove, catching and releasing a clearly massive bass. 'The cove isn't haunted,' Pallomar said, with the resignation of a man watching his life's work collapse. 'It's just really, really good fishing. And now it's ruined.'