East Tennessee · County seat Greeneville

Fishing in Greene County, Tennessee

Q: Where can I fish from the bank in Greene County?

The parking area and bank below Nolichucky Dam — TVA maintains a parking area and boat ramp there, and the riverbank below the dam is the county's best-known smallmouth bank.

Q: Where do locals fish in Greene County?

Paint Creek's wild trout water above the USFS campground — genuinely wild fish in a national forest, and far less pressured than the Watauga or South Holston an hour north. Horse Creek above the recreation area. Rocky Fork. The Nolichucky bank immediately below the dam, which locals fish for smallmouth and almost no visitors know about. Lick Creek at its lower crossings. The upper end of Davy Crockett Lake where the river comes in, which is shallow, stumpy and rarely fished.

Nolichucky River, Davy Crockett Lake. Where to launch, where to fish from the bank, and where to buy what you forgot.

Find fishing spots8 public access points Find gear & baitBait shops, tackle, rentals, licences

Every public access point

Fishing access in Greene County

8 public access points in Greene County: 5 boat launches and 3 designated fishing sites. Each one opens its own page with written directions, coordinates and a link straight to Google Maps.

Tap a pin for the spot page and directions. Open the full Tennessee fishing map.

Nolichucky River 8 in Greene County

Free2.5 out of 5facilitiesBoat Launch · TWRAEasterly BridgeUS 321 Bright Hope Rd to Poplar Springs Rd1 ramp, 1 lanecanoe / kayak landingaccessible parkingDirections and detail →36.08337, -82.99487 Free2 out of 5facilitiesBoat Launch · TVAJoe Johnson AccessHwy 70 to E. Allens Bridge Road to Birds Bridge Rd1 ramp, 1 lanecanoe / kayak landingDirections and detail →36.08666, -82.82507 Free2.5 out of 5facilitiesBoat Launch · CountyKinser BridgeHwy 11E to Greenville to Hwy. 1071 ramp, 1 lanecanoe / kayak landingDirections and detail →36.15461, -82.72568 Free2 out of 5facilitiesBoat Launch · CityKinser Park1 ramp, 1 lanecanoe / kayak landingDirections and detail →36.08790, -82.85240 Free1.5 out of 5facilitiesFishing Site · TVABewleys BridgeHwy 340 to Bewleys Bridgecanoe / kayak landingDirections and detail →36.09584, -83.05105 Free2 out of 5facilitiesFishing Site · TVADavy Crockett Dam Canoe Accesscanoe / kayak landingDirections and detail →36.06542, -82.86858 Free1.5 out of 5facilitiesFishing Site · OtherHwy 321 Bridge Accesscanoe / kayak landingDirections and detail →36.07005, -82.96708 Free1.5 out of 5facilitiesBoat Launch · TVAJones Bridge RdDirections and detail →36.11612, -82.78513

What to bring

What to bring fishing in Greene County

Three picks from the largemouth bass checklist that work for the fish here. Affiliate links: buying through them pays this site a small commission at no extra cost to you.

RodUgly Stik GX2 7 ft medium-heavy casting rodStiff enough to set a hook in grass, tough enough to live in a truck bed.Shop on Amazon →Why it is on the list

ReelAbu Garcia Black Max baitcasting reelAn inexpensive baitcaster that casts cleanly once the brakes are set.Shop on Amazon →Why it is on the list

Soft plasticZoom Trick WormThe Tennessee standard on a Texas rig or weightless along docks and grass edges.Shop on Amazon →Why it is on the list

Full largemouth bass checklist (11 items)All gear checklists

Spending more? The bigger purchases, compared side by side:

Smallmouth Bass checklist Crappie checklist Bluegill and Panfish checklist Fish Finders compared Trolling Motors compared Lithium Marine Batteries compared Shallow Water Anchors compared

Greene County at a glance

Greene County boat ramps and fishing access

Greene County has 8 public fishing access points: 5 boat ramps, on 1 lake or river.

5boat ramps

1lake, river or creek

The big water in Greene

Main fishing waters in Greene County

What each of these is actually known for, and what you can expect to catch.

river · TVA owns the dam; TWRA manages the fishery; Cherokee National Forest adjoins…

Nolichucky River

The Nolichucky is the defining water of Greene County, a free-flowing, rocky, genuinely wild river that produces excellent smallmouth along its banks

smallmouth bassrock basscatfishsunfish

reservoir · roughly 383 to 800 acres depending on source · Tennessee Valley Authority

Davy Crockett Lake

Impounded by Nolichucky Dam about 7 miles south of Greeneville and extending six miles upstream

largemouthsmallmouthcrappiebluegill

What it looks like

Greene County water

Photographs of the water this page covers. Every picture opens that water’s own page. Drag or swipe to see the rest.

Nolichucky RiverOpen the Nolichucky River page →Brian Stansberry / CC BY 3.0

Norris LakeOpen the Norris Lake page →Brian Stansberry / CC BY 3.0

Cherokee LakeOpen the Cherokee Lake page →TVA Web Team / CC BY 2.0

Watauga LakeOpen the Watauga Lake page →Mark Larson from Atlanta, GA / CC BY-SA 2.0

Clinch RiverOpen the Clinch River page →Brian Stansberry / CC BY 3.0

French Broad RiverOpen the French Broad River page →Pollinator at en.wikipedia / CC BY-SA 3.0

The ones nobody writes about

Small and out-of-the-way water in Greene County

County lakes, park ponds, creeks and river stretches in Greene County that never make a best-of list. Several of them fish better than the famous water on a busy weekend.

wild trout stream

Paint Creek

Designated a wild trout stream from the USFS campground upstream to the USFS boundary line south of Highway 70 near Munday Gap

wild rainbow and brown trout

trout stream

Horse Creek

Carries a specific seasonal creel exception: seven trout per day, except from 1 May to 30 September when the daily limit drops to two trout

stocked and wild trout

wild trout stream

Rocky Fork and tributaries

Shared with Unicoi County; wild trout regulations.

wild trout

creek

Lick Creek

A significant Nolichucky tributary draining much of central Greene County.

smallmouthrock basssunfish

WMA on the reservoir

Nolichucky WMA

Surrounds Davy Crockett Lake; public but with seasonal hunting closures.

reservoir and river species

county park

Kinser Park lake and river frontage

Kinser Park sits on the northern shore of Davy Crockett Lake and is the county’s main developed water recreation site.

bassbreamcatfish

city pond · small

Fishery Park pond, Greeneville

Reported as a stocked water in one TWRA listing but not confirmed on the winter trout schedule, see CONFIDENCE.

breamcatfishpossibly stocked trout

No boat, or your own boat

Bank fishing and launching in Greene County

Fishing from the bank in Greene County

The parking area and bank below Nolichucky Dam, TVA maintains a parking area and boat ramp there, and the riverbank below the dam is the county’s best-known smallmouth bank; Kinser Park shoreline on Davy Crockett Lake; Horse Creek Recreation Area in the Cherokee National Forest; Paint Creek along the USFS road and campground; Rocky Fork; Nolichucky River at public road crossings; Fishery Park in Greeneville

Getting a boat on the water in Greene County

Davy Crockett Lake is small, shallow and silted, which makes it better suited to jon boats, canoes and kayaks than to large bass boats, and Kinser Park is the main launch. The Nolichucky above the reservoir is a well-known whitewater river, the Nolichucky Gorge upstream in Unicoi County is Class III–IV and commercially rafted, so anglers should be clear which reach they are entering. Below the dam the river is more manageable. There are no marinas in Greene County.

Note that Hurricane Helene in September 2024 caused TVA to issue emergency warnings for Nolichucky Dam on 27–28 September; the dam itself remained structurally intact but the century-old powerhouse was badly flood-damaged and was subsequently demolished, so any description of the site should reflect its current condition rather than older photographs.

Two different trips

Visiting Greene County versus fishing it like a local

Where visitors get pointed in Greene County

Cherokee National Forest, which is effectively Greene County’s backyard, Horse Creek and Paint Creek recreation areas and campgrounds; Davy Crockett Lake and Nolichucky Dam; Kinser Park; Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park at Limestone, on the Nolichucky; the Appalachian Trail along the county’s southeastern ridgeline

Where Greene County locals actually go

Paint Creek’s wild trout water above the USFS campground, genuinely wild fish in a national forest, and far less pressured than the Watauga or South Holston an hour north. Horse Creek above the recreation area. Rocky Fork. The Nolichucky bank immediately below the dam, which locals fish for smallmouth and almost no visitors know about. Lick Creek at its lower crossings.

The upper end of Davy Crockett Lake where the river comes in, which is shallow, stumpy and rarely fished.

Rules and record fish

Limits and records for Greene County water

Creel and length limits in Greene County

Two water-specific trout exceptions in this county are worth stating precisely. Horse Creek: seven trout per day, except from 1 May to 30 September when the daily limit is two trout.

Paint Creek and tributaries, from the USFS campground upstream to the USFS boundary line south of Highway 70 near Munday Gap: wild trout stream regulations. Rocky Fork and tributaries (shared with Unicoi County) are also wild trout water.

A Tennessee trout licence is required on all of these in addition to the fishing licence. Nolichucky WMA carries seasonal hunting closures that affect access to Davy Crockett Lake. Davy Crockett Lake itself runs statewide reservoir regulations, confirm against the current proclamation, as small TVA reservoirs sometimes carry their own creel exceptions.

State record fish from Greene County water

none confirmed.

5 public boat launches in Greene County, counted from TWRA’s own access database.

Questions people actually ask

Greene County fishing questions

Where can I fish from the bank in Greene County?

The parking area and bank below Nolichucky Dam, TVA maintains a parking area and boat ramp there, and the riverbank below the dam is the county’s best-known smallmouth bank.

How many public boat ramps are in Greene County?

TWRA’s access database lists 5 boat launches in Greene County. Most of them are on Nolichucky River. Every one is listed further up this page with its owner and lane count.

Do I need a fishing license to fish in Greene County?

Yes. Anyone 13 and over needs a Tennessee fishing license, and there is no license required for ages 12 and under. 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 has no non-resident one-day license. Buy online at gooutdoorstennessee.com, from a county clerk or from a licensed agent. Licenses are digital, nothing arrives in the post.

What fish can you catch in Greene County?

The main species across Greene County water are largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, crappie, bluegill, rock bass, walleye, muskellunge, catfish and brown trout. Each water body on the fishing spots page lists what it is actually known for, which is not always the same thing.

Does my Tennessee license cover trout in Greene County?

Not automatically. The $33 resident combination hunt and fish license does not cover trout, and neither does the county-of-residence license or the cheaper no-trout short-term options. Those need the $21 annual trout supplemental added on. The Sportsman licenses and every non-resident all-species license already include trout. This matters in Greene County, because there is trout water here.

What are the creel limits in Greene County?

Two water-specific trout exceptions in this county are worth stating precisely. Horse Creek: seven trout per day, except from 1 May to 30 September when the daily limit is two trout Paint Creek and tributaries, from the USFS campground upstream to the USFS boundary line south of Highway 70 near Munday Gap: wild trout stream regulations Always check the current TWRA guide before you keep anything, because water-specific exceptions change.

Where can I buy bait and tackle in Greene County?

No dedicated bait or tackle shop was found inside Greene County. No bait shop, tackle shop or fly shop in Greene County was verified by name in this pass, though Greeneville is a town of sufficient size that at least one almost certainly exists, this field needs a direct check before publishing. Walmart Supercenter, Greeneville sells tackle, bait and licences. N

Where do locals fish in Greene County?

The water itself

Lakes and rivers in Greene County

Each of these has a page of its own covering the whole water, not just the Greene County end of it, with every public access point on it and what it holds.

RiverNolichucky River8 access points in Greene County, 10 in totalSee the spots →

Greene County water holds largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, crappie, bluegill.

Conditions

Greene County river levels and trout stocking

River levelsNolichucky River level todayUSGS flow, gauge height and the seven-day trend.Open →TroutTrout stocking in Greene CountyTWRA stocks Dillard Ponds, Horse Creek, Paint Creek. Dates are on the stocking schedule.Open →

Statewide limits: 5 black bass, 15 crappie at 10 inches, 2 stripers at 15 inches, 7 trout.

About this list

Where the Greene County access list comes from

The 8 access points above come from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency’s public access database, which is why each one names the agency that owns or manages it. A state or TVA ramp is usually free. A Corps of Engineers site, a state park ramp or a marina often is not.

The waters, species and local notes are researched separately, county by county, against TWRA’s own reservoir pages, TVA, the US Army Corps of Engineers and Tennessee State Parks.

Ramps close for repairs, gravel roads wash out and regulations change. Treat anything here as a starting point and call ahead if you are driving a long way for it.

By town instead

Towns near Greene County

These pages measure from the middle of town rather than the county line, which is usually the number you actually care about.

24 access points within 30 milesFishing near GreenevilleNolichucky River, Holston RiverSee the spots →

Tennessee sells no non-resident one-day fishing license. The three-day is the shortest option.

Keep looking

Counties next to Greene

Fish do not respect county lines. These are the nearest counties to Greene with public water of their own. Each one opens its own page.

Next county overCocke CountyFrench Broad River, Pigeon RiverSee the spots →Next county overHawkins CountyHolston River, Cherokee LakeSee the spots →Next county overUnicoi CountyNolichucky River, Rocky Fork CreekSee the spots →Next county overHamblen CountyCherokee LakeSee the spots →Next county overJefferson CountyDouglas Lake, Cherokee LakeSee the spots →

Keep going

More Greene County water, and who fishes it

Every guide and charter on this site is listed by the water they run, so you can call the captain direct. Licences, limits and the state record list are one click away too.

Guides by water Licence and limits

Weather alerts, power outages and road closures in Greene County right now: Greene County conditions.