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Middle Tennessee · County seat Linden

Fishing in Perry County, Tennessee

Tennessee River / Kentucky Lake, Buffalo River, Duck River. Where to launch, where to fish from the bank, and where to buy what you forgot.

Find fishing spots2 public access pointsFind gear & baitBait shops, tackle, rentals, licences

Every public access point

Fishing access in Perry County

2 public access points in Perry County: 1 designated fishing site and 1 paddling access. 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.

Buffalo River 2 in Perry County

Free2 out of 5facilitiesPaddling · TDOTCanoe Launch: SR 13 at Buffalo River1 ramp, 1 lanecanoe / kayak landingDirections and detail →35.81161, -87.77870Free1.5 out of 5facilitiesFishing Site · TDOTHWY 412 at Buffalo RiverApproximately 200 yards East of HWY 13 on HWY 412canoe / kayak landingDirections and detail →35.62100, -87.83115

What to bring

What to bring fishing in Perry 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 checklistCrappie checklistBluegill and Panfish checklistFish Finders comparedTrolling Motors comparedLithium Marine Batteries comparedShallow Water Anchors compared

Perry County at a glance

Perry County boat ramps and fishing access

Perry County has 2 public fishing access points: 1 kayak launch, on 1 lake or river.

1kayak launches
1lake, river or creek

The big water in Perry

Main fishing waters in Perry County

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

TVA reservoir · 160,000+ acres lake-wide, 2,000+ mi shoreline · TVA

Kentucky Lake

Forms the entire western boundary of the county; this is the narrower upper-middle section of Kentucky Lake around Perryville, where feeder creeks and ledges matter more than the big open bays further north.

crappielargemouth and smallmouth basscatfishsauger
free-flowing river · 125 mi long overall · TWRA; upper reach in Lawrence County is a State…

Buffalo River

The longest unimpounded river in Middle Tennessee, bisecting Perry County south to north; a Class I float stream with long flat stretches, which makes it a canoe-and-wade smallmouth river rather than a boat fishery.

smallmouth bassrock basscatfishfreshwater drum
free-flowing river · 284 mi overall · TWRA

Duck River

Only clips the far north-eastern corner of the county, but it is the most biologically diverse river in North America and the Perry corner is close to its lower, wider reach.

smallmouthlargemouthrock basscatfish

What it looks like

Perry County water

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

Buffalo River, TennesseeBuffalo RiverOpen the Buffalo River page →La Citta Vita / CC BY-SA 2.0Kentucky Lake, TennesseeKentucky LakeOpen the Kentucky Lake page →George Green, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers / Public domainDuck River, TennesseeDuck RiverOpen the Duck River page →SBaker43 / CC BY-SA 3.0Center Hill Lake, TennesseeCenter Hill LakeOpen the Center Hill Lake page →Tyler White / Public domainOld Hickory Lake, TennesseeOld Hickory LakeOpen the Old Hickory Lake page →Brian Stansberry / CC BY 3.0Cumberland River, TennesseeCumberland RiverOpen the Cumberland River page →U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, photographer not s / Public domain

No boat, or your own boat

Bank fishing and launching in Perry County

Fishing from the bank in Perry County

Mousetail Landing State Park riverfront and its boat landing; Lady’s Bluff Small Wild Area and the Ladies Bluff Trail, which is federally protected public access straight onto the Tennessee River; Perryville riverfront; Buffalo River bridge crossings and outfitter put-ins along the county’s length; Linden City Park on the Buffalo.

Getting a boat on the water in Perry County

Kentucky Lake is fully navigable big water with no horsepower restriction. Mousetail Landing has a boat landing. Perryville is the historic crossing and landing point. The Buffalo is the county’s paddling asset, a 37.87-mile designated water trail, Class I with significant flatwater, suitable for canoes, kayaks and tubes, with several commercial outfitters operating along the middle river and the Middle Tennessee Council Boy Scouts running Grimes Canoe Base in the county.

Two different trips

Visiting Perry County versus fishing it like a local

Where visitors get pointed in Perry County

Mousetail Landing State Park (24 campsites, swimming beach, 11 miles of trail, archery range), roughly 250,000 visitors a year and a documented $14.3 million economic impact to the county in 2021; Buffalo River canoe trips, which are the actual economic engine of Perry County tourism; Lady’s Bluff; the Natchez Trace Parkway at Metal Ford, just outside the county.

Where Perry County locals actually go

Lady’s Bluff Small Wild Area, a genuinely public TVA tract that almost no one outside the county uses for fishing; the creek mouths on the Kentucky Lake side, Toms, Lick and Cypress in particular, which are fished by locals in the spring crappie and white bass push and by nobody else; the upper Buffalo tributaries such as Coon and Hurricane creeks for wade smallmouth; the Duck River corner in the north-east, which is closer to Perry than most people realise.

Rules and record fish

Limits and records for Perry County water

Creel and length limits in Perry County

Kentucky Lake, crappie 20 per day with a 10-inch minimum; black bass 5 per day with a 15-inch minimum; catfish unlimited under 34 inches with only one over 34 inches per day; paddlefish 2 per day, season 24 April–31 May. A reciprocal fishing agreement operates between Tennessee and Kentucky waters on the reservoir.

Eight dewatering areas on Kentucky Lake close during waterfowl season. On the Duck River, black bass are 5 per day combined with no length limits and rock bass 20 per day. The Buffalo River falls under statewide limits.

The Buffalo holds alligator snapping turtles and several threatened or endangered darters and madtoms, worth a line on the page for handling and bycatch.

Perry County water holds largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, crappie, sunfish.

Questions people actually ask

Perry County fishing questions

Where can I fish from the bank in Perry County?

Mousetail Landing State Park riverfront and its boat landing.

How many public boat ramps are in Perry County?

TWRA’s statewide access database lists no maintained boat launch inside Perry County. Not thin.

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

The main species across Perry County water are largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, crappie, sunfish, rock bass, white bass, sauger, catfish and freshwater drum. 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 Perry 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. There is no designated trout water in Perry County, but it is worth knowing before you drive to a tailwater elsewhere in the state.

What are the creel limits in Perry County?

Kentucky Lake, crappie 20 per day with a 10-inch minimum; black bass 5 per day with a 15-inch minimum; catfish unlimited under 34 inches with only one over 34 inches per day; paddlefish 2 per day, season 24 April–31 May. A reciprocal fishing agreement operates between Tennessee and Kentucky waters on the reservoir Eight dewatering areas on Kentucky Lake close during waterfowl season Always check the current TWRA guide before you keep anything, because water-specific exceptions change.

Where can I buy bait and tackle in Perry County?

Grimes Canoe Base (Middle Tennessee Council, Boy Scouts of America) is on the Buffalo near Linden but is a Scouting facility, not public rental. Linden is small. There is a fuller list on the Perry County gear page, including anywhere renting boats or kayaks and the nearest big-box store.

Where do locals fish in Perry County?

Lady’s Bluff Small Wild Area, a genuinely public TVA tract that almost no one outside the county uses for fishing. the creek mouths on the Kentucky Lake side, Toms, Lick and Cypress in particular, which are fished by locals in the spring crappie and white bass push and by nobody else. the upper Buffalo tributaries such as Coon and Hurricane creeks for wade smallmouth.

The water itself

Lakes and rivers in Perry County

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

RiverBuffalo River2 access points in Perry County, 3 in totalSee the spots →LakeKentucky Lake86 in totalSee the spots →RiverDuck River26 in totalSee the spots →

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

Conditions

Perry County river levels and trout stocking

River levelsBuffalo River level todayUSGS flow, gauge height and the seven-day trend.Open →TroutTrout stocking in Perry CountyTWRA stocks Cane Creek. Dates are on the stocking schedule.Open →

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

About this list

Where the Perry County access list comes from

The 2 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 Perry 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 DicksonHarpeth River, Cheatham LakeSee the spots →17 access points within 30 milesFishing near LawrenceburgDuck River, Richland CreekSee the spots →24 access points within 30 milesFishing near SavannahKentucky Lake, Pickwick LakeSee the spots →24 access points within 30 milesFishing near ColumbiaDuck River, Harpeth RiverSee the spots →

The $33 combination hunt and fish license does not cover trout. That needs the $21 supplemental.

Keep looking

Counties next to Perry

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

Next county overDecatur CountyKentucky Lake, KentuckySee the spots →Next county overHickman CountyDuck River, Piney RiverSee the spots →Next county overHumphreys CountyKentucky Lake, Duck RiverSee the spots →Next county overWayne CountyKentucky LakeSee the spots →Next county overLewis CountyBuffalo RiverSee the spots →

Keep going

More Perry 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 waterLicence and limits

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