Fly Fishing in Tennessee

A regional note specific to this state: the trout water here is dominated by a series of tailwaters below cold-water discharge from hydroelectric dams, and the most productive water is consistently the cold discharge from those dams, which is why the state agency stocks heavily in the spring and fall. Tennessee trout fishing is a small but technically diverse fishery built on the cold-water streams of the Great Smoky Mountains and a few tailwaters in the central part of the state. The state has about 2,000 miles of fishable trout water, including the famous Little Pigeon River, the West Prong of the Little Pigeon, the South Holston tailwater, the Watauga tailwater, and dozens more. The most famous trout river is the South Holston, a tailwater that runs through the high country of northeastern Tennessee and produces wild rainbows and browns averaging 14 to 18 inches. The state's trout program is administered through the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, and the agency stocks the put-and-take rivers and lakes in the spring and fall while managing the wild trout water through a combination of slot limits and Trophy Trout designations. A regular Tennessee fishing license is required, and the cost is $20 for residents and $40 for non-residents, and the daily limit is 5 trout combined in most waters with a 2-trout limit on the Trophy Trout water.