95 Counties · 1,002 Public Access Points · 78 Lakes and RiversTennessee state record fish
Tennessee Fishing SpotsEvery County, Every Town
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Updated for the 2026 season

Find your fishing spot in Tennessee

Every county and every major town in the state. What lives there, where to launch, where to fish from the bank, and that water’s own creel limits.

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95Counties covered
1,002Public access points
64Towns

How this works

Two clicks from here to the water

No login, no email, no app. Pick a place and go.

Step one

Pick your county or town

Type it into the box above, or browse the full list. Every one of Tennessee’s 95 counties has a page, and so does every town of any size.

Step two

Choose spots or gear

Each place gives you two doors. One is every public water in reach, the other is where to buy bait, rent a boat and get a license.

Step three

Go fishing

Ramps, piers, creeks and county ponds, with the owner of each access and the creel limits that actually apply on that water.

Three ends of the state

Tennessee is three different fisheries

A boat rigged for Reelfoot bluegill is not the boat you take to Dale Hollow.

East Tennessee

TVA lakes and cold rivers

Norris was the first TVA lake, finished in 1936, and drops as much as 45 feet a year. Below its dam the Clinch grows the biggest brown trout in the state. Melton Hill runs cold enough for musky.

StriperMuskyBrown trout
Middle Tennessee

Highland lakes and tailwaters

Corps of Engineers water, deep and clear. Dale Hollow still holds the world-record smallmouth from 1955. An hour east of Nashville the Caney Fork runs cold enough for brook trout.

SmallmouthWalleyeTrout
West Tennessee

Shallow water and crappie

Kentucky Lake runs 184 miles and carries over 2,000 miles of shoreline. Reelfoot, the only natural lake in the state, is 68% water three feet deep or less.

CrappieBluegillBlue cat

What it looks like

Tennessee water, end to end

From the Mississippi bottoms to the Smokies. Drag or swipe through. Every picture opens that water’s own page.

Norris Lake, TennesseeNorris LakeOpen the Norris Lake page →Brian Stansberry / CC BY 3.0Dale Hollow Lake, TennesseeDale Hollow LakeOpen the Dale Hollow Lake page →George Green, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers / Public domainReelfoot Lake, TennesseeReelfoot LakeOpen the Reelfoot Lake page →User:JeremyA / CC BY-SA 2.5Chickamauga Lake, TennesseeChickamauga LakeOpen the Chickamauga Lake page →George Green, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers / Public domainKentucky Lake, TennesseeKentucky LakeOpen the Kentucky Lake page →George Green, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers / Public domainClinch River, TennesseeClinch RiverOpen the Clinch River page →Brian Stansberry / CC BY 3.0Watauga Lake, TennesseeWatauga LakeOpen the Watauga Lake page →Mark Larson from Atlanta, GA / CC BY-SA 2.0Cherokee Lake, TennesseeCherokee LakeOpen the Cherokee Lake page →TVA Web Team / CC BY 2.0

By fish

Pick the fish, find the water

Where each species lives in Tennessee, when it bites, how to catch it and the limit on every lake that has its own.

Micropterus salmoidesLargemouth bassTennessee’s most fished species, from TVA grass lakes to farm ponds.Where and how →Micropterus dolomieuSmallmouth bassClear, rocky lakes and cool rivers, and the world record from Dale Hollow.Where and how →Pomoxis annularis and P. nigromaculatusCrappieKentucky Lake, Reelfoot and the spring spawn.Where and how →Sander vitreusWalleyeSpring spawning runs up the rivers, and deep summer fish at night.Where and how →Morone saxatilisStriped bassStocked giants in Norris, Cherokee, Melton Hill and the Cumberland lakes.Where and how →Oncorhynchus mykissRainbow troutCold tailwaters below TVA and Corps dams, and mountain streams.Where and how →
All 18 species

Before you go

Tennessee fishing conditions today

Water levels, dam releases, river flows, trout stocking, closures and the season, checked when the page opens.

LakesLake levels todayTVA’s current level for 27 lakes, with each dam’s generation schedule and the forecast.Open →RiversRiver levels todayFlow, gauge height and water temperature from 81 USGS gauges.Open →TroutTrout stocking scheduleTWRA’s stocking dates by county and the waters stocked most recently.Open →PaddlingFloat trips and paddling levelsRiver sections with mileage, class, put-ins and whether each is in its runnable range now.Open →NoticesBoat ramp closuresTWRA access closures, alerts and reopenings, and TVA and Corps notices.Open →TournamentsFishing tournamentsUpcoming bass and club tournaments on Tennessee lakes, by month and by lake.Open →GearWhat to bringGear checklists by species and trip, from the rod to the baits that work here.Open →GearGear comparedFish finders, trolling motors, kayaks, lithium batteries, anchors, coolers and waders compared for Tennessee water.Compare →

On every spot page

State records, on the water that produced them

Tennessee’s record list changed on 28 February 2026, when Darren Nunley took a 15 lb 7.5 oz largemouth out of Nickajack on a ChatterBait. Most fishing sites still print the old Chickamauga fish.

Norris has a former striper record. Melton Hill holds the musky and the saugeye. Cherokee holds a 149 lb paddlefish. Dale Hollow still holds the world-record smallmouth, thrown out of the books in 1996 and put back in 2005. Every one of those sits on that county’s own page with the angler, the weight and the date.

The full record list

The part nobody else gets right

Tennessee creel limits

Statewide numbers below. Every county page carries that water’s own exceptions, because on half of them the statewide number is wrong.

SpeciesPer dayMinimum length
Black bass, largemouth, smallmouth, spotted combined5 combinedNone statewide
Crappie1510 in
Striped bass or hybrid, combined215 in
Walleye516 in
Sauger1015 in
Muskellunge136 in
Trout, all species combined7 (max 2 lake trout)None statewide
CatfishUnlimited under 34 in, one over—
Full rules and license prices

TWRA statewide creel and length limits, last updated 4 August 2026.

Or just browse

Every county in Tennessee

All 95 of them, including the ones with almost no public water. Those pages say what there is and point you somewhere better.

Search your county or town instead

East Tennessee

Anderson · Bledsoe · Blount · Bradley · Campbell · Carter · Claiborne · Cocke · Cumberland · Grainger · Greene · Grundy · Hamblen · Hamilton · Hancock · Hawkins · Jefferson · Johnson · Knox · Loudon · Marion · McMinn · Meigs · Monroe · Morgan · Polk · Rhea · Roane · Scott · Sequatchie · Sevier · Sullivan · Unicoi · Union · Washington

Middle Tennessee

Bedford · Cannon · Cheatham · Clay · Coffee · Davidson · DeKalb · Dickson · Fentress · Franklin · Giles · Hickman · Houston · Humphreys · Jackson · Lawrence · Lewis · Lincoln · Macon · Marshall · Maury · Montgomery · Moore · Overton · Perry · Pickett · Putnam · Robertson · Rutherford · Smith · Sumner · Trousdale · Van Buren · Warren · Wayne · White · Williamson · Wilson

West Tennessee

Benton · Carroll · Chester · Crockett · Decatur · Dyer · Fayette · Gibson · Hardeman · Hardin · Haywood · Henderson · Henry · Lake · Lauderdale · Madison · McNairy · Obion · Shelby · Stewart · Tipton · Weakley

Back to the spot search

Common questions

Fishing in Tennessee: the basics

How many fishing spots are on this site?

1,002 public access points across 90 Tennessee counties, taken from TWRA’s own access database, plus the lakes, creeks, county ponds and river stretches that never make it into a database at all. Every one of the state’s 95 counties has a page.

Do I need a license to fish in Tennessee?

Yes, from age 13. A resident annual combination hunt and fish license is $33, a resident one-day all-species license is $11, and a non-resident three-day all-species license is $40. Tennessee does not sell a non-resident one-day license. No license is needed for ages 12 and under.

Does my Tennessee license cover trout?

Not necessarily. The $33 combination hunt and fish license does not include trout, and neither does the county-of-residence license or the cheaper no-trout short-term options. Those need the $21 annual trout supplemental. The Sportsman licenses and every non-resident all-species license already include it.

What is the Tennessee state record largemouth bass?

15 lb 7.5 oz, caught by Darren Nunley on Nickajack Reservoir on 28 February 2026 and confirmed on 9 May 2026 after genetic testing. It displaced Gabe Keen’s 15 lb 3 oz fish from Chickamauga. A lot of sites still print the old record.

Where is the best fishing in Tennessee?

It depends entirely on what you want. Dale Hollow for smallmouth, Chickamauga and Nickajack for big largemouth, Kentucky Lake and Reelfoot for crappie, the Clinch and South Holston for trout, Melton Hill for musky, Cherokee for paddlefish. Each of those has its own county page here.

Can I fish in Tennessee without a boat?

Yes. There are public fishing piers in counties across the state, plus tailwater areas, state park shorelines, causeways and river crossings. Every county page lists the bank access in that county specifically.

When is Free Fishing Day in Tennessee?

TWRA holds Bobby Wilson Free Fishing Day on the first Saturday in June, with a Free Youth Fishing Week running the following week for anglers 15 and under. No license is needed that day in public waters. TWRA usually announces the exact date in late May.

Is this site free to use?

Yes. Some guide and retailer links on this site are affiliate links, which means a commission may be paid on a booking or purchase at no extra cost to you. That never changes which spots get listed or what gets said about them.

Someone who knows the water

Guides and charters, listed by water

Every operation on this site is grouped by the lake or river it runs, with the captain’s own number. You book direct and you pay the captain. Nothing is sold here.

Browse all guidesLicence and limits