East Tennessee · County seat Pikeville

Fishing in Bledsoe County, Tennessee

Q: Where do locals fish in Bledsoe County?

Upper Cane Creek at the Hwy 284 bridge — a stocked trout reach on the plateau that gets a fraction of the attention the park's lake does. The Sequatchie River upstream of Pikeville, wadeable for smallmouth with essentially no formal access, so it rewards anyone who knows a landowner or a legal bridge crossing.

Bledsoe County is thin on public water. This page lists what there is, then points at what is close.

Find fishing spots1 public access point Find gear & baitBait shops, tackle, rentals, licences

Every public access point

Fishing access in Bledsoe County

1 public access point in Bledsoe County: 1 boat launch. 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.

Sequatchie River 1 in Bledsoe County

Free2.5 out of 5facilitiesBoat Launch · TDOTM.A. PattersonFrom Pikeville, HWY 127 South to HWY 30, ramp is under HWY 30 Bridge1 ramp, 1 lanecanoe / kayak landingDirections and detail →35.59472, -85.19540

What to bring

What to bring fishing in Bledsoe County

Three picks from the smallmouth 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.

RodSt. Croix Bass X 7 ft medium spinning rodLight enough for a Ned rig, with enough backbone for a 5 lb fish in current.Shop on Amazon →Why it is on the list

ReelPflueger President 30 spinning reelSmooth drag at a fair price. Fill it with braid and a leader.Shop on Amazon →Why it is on the list

FinesseZ-Man Finesse TRD and Ned rig jigheadsThe single most reliable smallmouth bait on Tennessee rock. Drag it slowly.Shop on Amazon →Why it is on the list

Full smallmouth bass checklist (10 items)All gear checklists

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

Bluegill and Panfish checklist Catfish checklist Trout checklist Fish Finders compared Trolling Motors compared Lithium Marine Batteries compared Shallow Water Anchors compared

Bledsoe County at a glance

Bledsoe County boat ramps and fishing access

Bledsoe County has 1 public fishing access point: 1 boat ramp, on 1 lake or river.

1boat ramp

1lake, river or creek

The big water in Bledsoe

Main fishing waters in Bledsoe County

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

river · ~116 mi total, upper reaches run the length of Bledsoe County · TDOT owns the main…

Sequatchie River

This is genuinely the county’s only significant fishable public water, a shallow, clear valley river best fished by wading or floating, with one formal public ramp.

smallmouthrock basssunfishchannel catfish

What it looks like

Bledsoe County water

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

Sequatchie RiverOpen the Sequatchie 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 Bledsoe County

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

creek · small

Upper Cane Creek (Hwy 284 bridge crossing)

The county’s one trout water, TWRA’s spring stocking program puts rainbows in at the Hwy 284 bridge; nearest town given as Spencer, and the reach sits on the Bledsoe/Van Buren boundary.

stocked rainbow trout

creeks · small

Cane Creek and Piney Creek (Fall Creek Falls State Park)

Free-flowing plateau creeks in the park’s gorge system; fishable but small, and the park’s famous lake is over the line in Van Buren County.

sunfishsmall stream species

creeks · 8,289 ac forest spanning Bledsoe, Cumberland, Van Buren and White

Bledsoe State Forest waters

Fishing is listed as a permitted activity; specific access points are not published, so call the forester (931-319-6959) before sending anyone.

small stream species

ponds/creeks

Farm ponds and small tributaries

Almost all of Bledsoe’s still water is private..

—

No boat, or your own boat

Bank fishing and launching in Bledsoe County

Fishing from the bank in Bledsoe County

Fall Creek Falls State Park’s Cane Creek and Piney Creek corridors are walkable from park trails. Bridge crossings elsewhere on the Sequatchie may or may not carry public right of way, do not assume.

Getting a boat on the water in Bledsoe County

One public ramp, at M.A. Patterson. The Sequatchie is a paddling river more than a powerboat river; the Sequatchie River Blueway promotes float trips through the valley, though most of the developed blueway infrastructure is downstream in Sequatchie and Marion counties. No marinas, no ski water, no rental operation verified in the county.

Two different trips

Visiting Bledsoe County versus fishing it like a local

Where visitors get pointed in Bledsoe County

Fall Creek Falls State Park, the Bledsoe County portion, including the 256-ft Fall Creek Falls, Piney Falls and Cane Creek Falls, with 56+ miles of trails, an 85-room lodge, 30 cabins and 222 campsites. The Sequatchie Valley Scenic Byway through Pikeville. Bledsoe State Forest.

Where Bledsoe County locals actually go

Upper Cane Creek at the Hwy 284 bridge, a stocked trout reach on the plateau that gets a fraction of the attention the park’s lake does. The Sequatchie River upstream of Pikeville, wadeable for smallmouth with essentially no formal access, so it rewards anyone who knows a landowner or a legal bridge crossing.

Rules and record fish

Limits and records for Bledsoe County water

Creel and length limits in Bledsoe County

Fall Creek Falls Lake’s special regulations (largemouth 10/day with a 16″ maximum, one over; crappie no creel or length limit; catfish 5/day, 16″ min) apply to the lake, which is in Van Buren County, not Bledsoe.

State record fish from Bledsoe County water

None verified as a Bledsoe County catch. The state record channel catfish (41 lb, 1982) and a tied state record bluegill (3 lb, 1977) are credited to Fall Creek Falls, but Fall Creek Falls Lake is in Van Buren County, so these should be attributed there, not here. Do not put them on a Bledsoe page.

1 public boat launches in Bledsoe County, counted from TWRA’s own access database.

Questions people actually ask

Bledsoe County fishing questions

Where can I fish from the bank in Bledsoe County?

The M.A. Patterson access under the Hwy 30 bridge is the only formal public bank point on the Sequatchie in the county. Upper Cane Creek at the Hwy 284 bridge crossing gives roadside bank and wade access to stocked trout. Fall Creek Falls State Park’s Cane Creek and Piney Creek corridors are walkable from park trails. Bridge crossings elsewhere on the Sequatchie may or may not carry public right of way, do not assume.

How many public boat ramps are in Bledsoe County?

TWRA’s access database lists 1 boat launch in Bledsoe County. Most of them are on Sequatchie River. Every one is listed further up this page with its owner and lane count.

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

The main species across Bledsoe County water are smallmouth bass, sunfish, rock bass, channel catfish and rainbow 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 Bledsoe 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 Bledsoe County, because there is trout water here.

What are the creel limits in Bledsoe County?

No water-specific creel or length exceptions found for Bledsoe County in TWRA’s exceptions list, statewide regulations apply on the Sequatchie. Upper Cane Creek is a spring-stocked rainbow water under the statewide seven-trout creel with no delayed-harvest season and no daily permit Fall Creek Falls Lake’s special regulations (largemouth 10/day with a 16″ maximum, one over; crappie no creel or length limit; catfish 5/day, 16″ min) apply to the lake, which is in Van Buren County, not Bledsoe Always check the current TWRA guide before you keep anything, because water-specific exceptions change.

Where can I buy bait and tackle in Bledsoe County?

Nothing verified in Bledsoe County. No bait shop, tackle shop, marina store or rental operation confirmed in Pikeville. TWRA records bait and fuel only “in proximity” to the M.A. Patterson ramp, which means convenience stores. Fall Creek Falls State Park rents canoes, kayaks, pedal boats and jon boats, but that operation is on the lake in Van Buren County. Nearest big-box: Walmart in Dunlap (Sequatchie County, roughly 30 minutes south) or Crossville (Cumberland County, roughly 40 minutes north). Nearest Academy or Bass Pro is Chattanooga, over an hour.. There is a fuller list on the Bledsoe County gear page, including anywhere renting boats or kayaks and the nearest big-box store.

Where do locals fish in Bledsoe County?

If the county comes up short

The nearest real fishing to Bledsoe County

Bledsoe is genuinely thin, and the reason is specific, the county’s best-known water, Fall Creek Falls Lake (302–345 acres, no gas motors, boat rentals, bank fishing at the dam and around the inn), lies in Van Buren County even though the park straddles the line. From Pikeville the lake is about 25–30 minutes northwest via Hwy 30 and Hwy 284.

Beyond that: Chickamauga Lake at Dayton (Rhea County) is about 35 minutes east via Hwy 30; Watts Bar Lake at Spring City is about 40 minutes northeast; Center Hill Lake is roughly 1 hr 15 min north. For a boat angler, Chickamauga at Dayton is the realistic answer.

Bledsoe County water holds smallmouth bass, sunfish, rock bass, channel catfish.

The water itself

Lakes and rivers in Bledsoe County

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

RiverSequatchie River1 access point in Bledsoe County, 2 in totalSee the spots →

About this list

Where the Bledsoe County access list comes from

The 1 access point above comes 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.

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

By town instead

Towns near Bledsoe 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 DaytonChickamauga Lake, Hiwassee RiverSee the spots →24 access points within 30 milesFishing near Soddy-DaisyChickamauga Lake, North Chickamauga CreekSee the spots →24 access points within 30 milesFishing near CrossvilleWatts Bar Lake, Clear CreekSee the spots →24 access points within 30 milesFishing near SpartaCenter Hill Lake, Calf Killer RiverSee the spots →

Keep looking

Counties next to Bledsoe

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

Next county overRhea CountyWatts Bar Lake, Chickamauga LakeSee the spots →Next county overSequatchie CountySequatchie RiverSee the spots →Next county overMeigs CountyChickamauga Lake, Watts Bar LakeSee the spots →Next county overCumberland CountyBryd Lake, Meadow Park LakeSee the spots →Next county overVan Buren CountyGreat Falls LakeSee the spots →

Keep going

More Bledsoe 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 Bledsoe County right now: Bledsoe County conditions.