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East Tennessee · County seat Sneedville

Fishing in Hancock County, Tennessee

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

Find fishing spots4 public access pointsFind gear & baitBait shops, tackle, rentals, licences

What to bring

What to bring fishing in Hancock 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 checklistMusky checklistCatfish checklistFish Finders comparedTrolling Motors comparedLithium Marine Batteries comparedShallow Water Anchors compared

Hancock County at a glance

Hancock County boat ramps and fishing access

Hancock County has 4 public fishing access points: 3 boat ramps, on 2 lakes, rivers and creeks.

3boat ramps
2lakes, rivers and creeks

The big water in Hancock

Main fishing waters in Hancock County

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

river · free-flowing through the county, roughly Clinch River Mile 175 to 190 · TWRA, The…

Clinch River

This is NOT the Norris Dam trout tailwater, which is 60 miles downstream in Anderson County. Here the Clinch is a warm, shallow, gravel-and-ledge smallmouth river you float in a canoe or jonboat.

smallmouth bassrock bassredbreast sunfishchannel catfish
river · forms part of the county’s northwestern reach before entering Norris Lake · TVA owns…

Powell River

One public ramp at the Hwy 63 / Alanthus Hill Rd intersection; everything else is private bank.

smallmouthrock basscatfishredhorse

What it looks like

Hancock County water

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

Clinch River, TennesseeClinch RiverOpen the Clinch River page →Brian Stansberry / CC BY 3.0Norris Lake, TennesseeNorris LakeOpen the Norris Lake page →Brian Stansberry / CC BY 3.0Cherokee Lake, TennesseeCherokee LakeOpen the Cherokee Lake page →TVA Web Team / CC BY 2.0Watauga Lake, TennesseeWatauga LakeOpen the Watauga Lake page →Mark Larson from Atlanta, GA / CC BY-SA 2.0French Broad River, TennesseeFrench Broad RiverOpen the French Broad River page →Pollinator at en.wikipedia / CC BY-SA 3.0Hiwassee River, TennesseeHiwassee RiverOpen the Hiwassee River page →ChristopherM at English Wikipedia / CC BY 2.5

The ones nobody writes about

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

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

creek · Clinch tributary

Little War Creek

Holds a Tennessee state record (white sucker, 2007) and is the only water in the county with a record to its name.

white suckersmallmouthrock bass
creek · Clinch tributary near Sneedville

Big Sycamore Creek

Small wadeable creek, access almost entirely across private land.

smallmouthrock basssunfish
creek · northern Hancock, drains toward Virginia

Blackwater Creek

Named on maps, no public access point confirmed.

No boat, or your own boat

Bank fishing and launching in Hancock County

Fishing from the bank in Hancock County

The TWRA fishing site at the Hwy 33/70 intersection in Kyles Ford; the Sneedville ramp area on Hwy 31; Kyles Ford WMA (1,000 acres spanning eastern Hancock and northern Hawkins, TWRA, with a kayak and canoe launch, hiking trails and Kyle’s Ford waterfall); the Mulberry Creek access on the Powell. Outside those, Clinch River frontage in this county is private.

Getting a boat on the water in Hancock County

Jonboats, canoes and kayaks only in practice, the Clinch here is shallow with long gravel shoals. Kyles Ford to Sneedville is the standard float. No marina, no fuel on the water, no ski water. River Place at Kyles Ford runs canoe, kayak, raft and tube trips.

Two different trips

Visiting Hancock County versus fishing it like a local

Where visitors get pointed in Hancock County

River Place on the Clinch, 2788 Highway 70, Kyles Ford, cabins, campsites and a restaurant, being converted by TDEC into Clinch River Valley State Park; Kyles Ford WMA and Kyle’s Ford waterfall; the Clinch is one of the most biologically diverse rivers in North America for freshwater mussels.

Where Hancock County locals actually go

The Mulberry Creek access on the Powell River, almost nobody outside the county uses it; Little War Creek; the gravel bars between Kyles Ford and Sneedville, reachable only by boat.

Rules and record fish

Limits and records for Hancock County water

Creel and length limits in Hancock County

Statewide creel and length limits apply throughout the county, black bass 5/day combined with no minimum on these free-flowing stretches, rock bass 20/day, catfish unlimited under 34 in with one over. No trout regulations apply here. The Clinch and Powell carry federally listed freshwater mussels, so mussel and snail collection is off the table.

State record fish from Hancock County water

White sucker, 1 lb 10 oz, Little War Creek (Hancock Co.), Jim Habera, 26 April 2007. This is the one state record TWRA attributes explicitly to Hancock County.

3 public boat launches in Hancock County, counted from TWRA’s own access database.

Questions people actually ask

Hancock County fishing questions

Where can I fish from the bank in Hancock County?

The TWRA fishing site at the Hwy 33/70 intersection in Kyles Ford.

How many public boat ramps are in Hancock County?

TWRA’s access database lists 3 boat launches in Hancock County. Most of them are on Clinch River. Every one is listed further up this page with its owner and lane count.

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

The main species across Hancock County water are smallmouth bass, sunfish, rock bass, muskellunge, channel catfish and redhorse. 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 Hancock 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 Hancock County, but it is worth knowing before you drive to a tailwater elsewhere in the state.

What are the creel limits in Hancock County?

Statewide creel and length limits apply throughout the county, black bass 5/day combined with no minimum on these free-flowing stretches, rock bass 20/day, catfish unlimited under 34 in with one over. No trout regulations apply here The Clinch and Powell carry federally listed freshwater mussels, so mussel and snail collection is off the table Always check the current TWRA guide before you keep anything, because water-specific exceptions change.

Where can I buy bait and tackle in Hancock County?

No dedicated bait or tackle shop was found inside Hancock County. None found in Hancock County. No bait shop, tackle shop, marina store or boat rental was verified anywhere in the county. Nearest Walmart is Rogersville (Hawkins County, roughly 35-40 minutes south) or Morristown. River Place at Kyles Ford rents watercraft but is not a tackle retailer.

Where do locals fish in Hancock County?

The Mulberry Creek access on the Powell River, almost nobody outside the county uses it. Little War Creek. the gravel bars between Kyles Ford and Sneedville, reachable only by boat.

If the county comes up short

The nearest real fishing to Hancock County

Hancock genuinely has little fishable public water, three ramps and one WMA launch in total. Nearest reservoir is Cherokee Lake, roughly 35-45 minutes south via Hwy 31 to Rogersville or Hwy 33 to the Grainger County ramps.

Norris Lake is roughly 50-60 minutes west through Tazewell. The Clinch River trout tailwater below Norris Dam is about 1 hour 45 minutes away in Anderson County.

Hancock County water holds smallmouth bass, sunfish, rock bass, muskellunge.

The water itself

Lakes and rivers in Hancock County

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

RiverClinch River3 access points in Hancock County, 14 in totalSee the spots →RiverPowell River1 access point in Hancock County, 3 in totalSee the spots →

Conditions

Hancock County river levels and trout stocking

River levelsClinch River level todayUSGS flow, gauge height and the seven-day trend.Open →TroutTrout stocking in Hancock CountyTWRA stocks Mantooth Pond, Richardson ‘Byrd’ 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 Hancock County access list comes from

The 4 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 Hancock 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 MorristownCherokee LakeSee the spots →24 access points within 30 milesFishing near GreenevilleNolichucky River, Holston RiverSee the spots →24 access points within 30 milesFishing near KingsportBoone Lake, South Fork Holston RiverSee the spots →24 access points within 30 milesFishing near Jefferson CityCherokee Lake, Douglas LakeSee the spots →

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

Keep looking

Counties next to Hancock

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

Next county overHawkins CountyHolston River, Cherokee LakeSee the spots →Next county overHamblen CountyCherokee LakeSee the spots →Next county overGrainger CountyCherokee Lake, Norris LakeSee the spots →Next county overClaiborne CountyNorris Lake, Powell RiverSee the spots →Next county overGreene CountyNolichucky RiverSee the spots →

Keep going

More Hancock 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 Hancock County right now: Hancock County conditions.