East Tennessee · County seat Mountain City

Fishing in Johnson County, Tennessee

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

Find fishing spots3 public access points Find gear & baitBait shops, tackle, rentals, licences

Every public access point

Fishing access in Johnson County

3 public access points in Johnson County: 1 boat launch and 2 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.

What to bring

What to bring fishing in Johnson 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

Johnson County at a glance

Johnson County boat ramps and fishing access

Johnson County has 3 public fishing access points: 1 boat ramp, on 3 lakes, rivers and creeks.

1boat ramp

3lakes, rivers and creeks

The big water in Johnson

Main fishing waters in Johnson County

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

reservoir · 6,430 acres, roughly 106 miles of shoreline; Johnson County holds the eastern half…

Watauga Lake

One of the clearest and coldest big lakes in the state, ringed by national forest with the Appalachian Trail running along the northwestern edge. Smallmouth fish best in the lower reservoir; largemouth concentrate in Roan, Doe and Cobb creeks, which is to say, in the Johnson County arms.

smallmouth basslargemouthwalleyerainbow

What it looks like

Johnson County water

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

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

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

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

Hiwassee 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 Johnson County

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

creek · enters the Roan Creek arm of Watauga Lake

Doe Creek

The county’s own tourism material calls out Doe Creek for its fishing holes, and TWRA maintains a fishing access on it.

troutsmallmouthrock bass

creek · Backbone Rock Recreation Area, near Damascus VA

Beaverdam Creek

A Cherokee National Forest recreation area with restrooms, a tunnel through a rock fin, and a genuinely pretty small trout stream.

stocked and wild troutrock bass

creek/lake arm · major Watauga Lake tributary

Roan Creek

Has its own ramp; the upper creek above the lake is small stream water.

largemouthsmallmouthtrout in the upper creek

creek · Cherokee National Forest

Laurel Creek

Trail-accessed, one of the county’s mountain trout streams.

wild and stocked trout

creek · Cherokee National Forest, Gentry Creek Falls trail

Gentry Creek

Hike-in water above the falls trailhead.

wild trout

creek/lake arm · Watauga Lake

Cobb Creek

Named by TWRA as one of the better largemouth arms, has a ramp.

largemouthcrappiesmallmouth

creeks · Cherokee National Forest / Shady Valley

Furnace Creek and the Shady Valley streams

Small, cold mountain water in the Shady Valley bowl.

troutsunfish

pond · Mountain City

Ralph Stout Park pond

A town park pond with a walking loop, the only in-town water in the county.

sunfishlikely stocked catfish

No boat, or your own boat

Bank fishing and launching in Johnson County

Fishing from the bank in Johnson County

Backbone Rock Recreation Area on Beaverdam Creek (USFS, restrooms); the Doe Creek Access off Hwy 67/167; Watauga Lake shoreline within the Cherokee National Forest, unusually open for a TVA lake because so little of the shore is privately developed; Ralph Stout Park pond in Mountain City; the Butler Ruritan Community Park at 114 Piercetown Road, Butler. The accessible fishing pier at Rat Branch that appears in most Watauga Lake write-ups is in Carter County, not Johnson.

Getting a boat on the water in Johnson County

Sink Mountain is the county’s confirmed public ramp (US Forest Service, fee, restrooms), with Cobb Creek and Roan Creek serving the eastern arms. There is no confirmed marina, fuel dock or boat rental operating inside Johnson County, the Watauga Lake marinas that show up in searches (Fish Springs Marina, Watauga Lakeshore Resort & Marina) are both in Hampton, Carter County.

Watauga draws down as much as 44 feet seasonally. Fish attractors on the lake include brush piles, stake beds and planted cypress trees. Paddling is excellent because of the forested, undeveloped shoreline.

Two different trips

Visiting Johnson County versus fishing it like a local

Where visitors get pointed in Johnson County

Watauga Lake, routinely described as one of the cleanest lakes in America, with public beaches, picnic areas and campgrounds; the Appalachian Trail along the northwestern shore; Backbone Rock Recreation Area; Doe Mountain Recreation Area (8,600 acres, 50+ trails); Shady Valley and the Shady Valley Country Store; The Snake on Route 421; Gentry Creek Falls.

Where Johnson County locals actually go

Beaverdam Creek at Backbone Rock, a small trout stream with a Forest Service recreation area that most Watauga Lake visitors drive straight past; the Doe Creek fishing holes the county itself names; Gentry Creek above the falls trail; Laurel Creek in the Cherokee National Forest; the upper Roan Creek arm above the lake; the Shady Valley streams.

Rules and record fish

Limits and records for Johnson County water

Creel and length limits in Johnson County

Watauga Lake, largemouth bass 12 in minimum, which is unusually low for Tennessee; smallmouth 15 in minimum; walleye 5 per day at an 18 in minimum (not the statewide 16 in); trout 7 per day with a maximum of 2 lake trout. The Cherokee National Forest wild trout streams in this county fall under the wild trout rules: 5 per day, no length limit, artificial lures with single hooks only. Drawdown up to 44 ft.

State record fish from Johnson County water

Lake trout, 22 lb 2 oz, Watauga Reservoir, Jack Forbes, 3 July 2008. Ohrid trout, 14 lb 5 oz, Watauga Reservoir, Richard Lynn Carter, 28 March 1986, an almost uniquely Tennessee record. Both are Watauga Lake records; the lake spans Carter and Johnson counties.

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

Questions people actually ask

Johnson County fishing questions

Where can I fish from the bank in Johnson County?

Backbone Rock Recreation Area on Beaverdam Creek (USFS, restrooms).

How many public boat ramps are in Johnson County?

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

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

The main species across Johnson County water are largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, crappie, bluegill, rock bass, walleye, catfish and lake 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 Johnson 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 Johnson County, because there is trout water here.

What are the creel limits in Johnson County?

Where can I buy bait and tackle in Johnson County?

TNT Outdoors, 2010 TN-67, Mountain City, TN 37683, (423) 727-4181, a hometown sporting goods store that claims the largest fishing selection in East Tennessee. There is a fuller list on the Johnson County gear page, including anywhere renting boats or kayaks and the nearest big-box store.

Where do locals fish in Johnson County?

Beaverdam Creek at Backbone Rock, a small trout stream with a Forest Service recreation area that most Watauga Lake visitors drive straight past. the Doe Creek fishing holes the county itself names. Gentry Creek above the falls trail.

If the county comes up short

The nearest real fishing to Johnson County

Johnson is not thin on water, but it is thin on services. For a marina, fuel or a rental boat, Hampton in Carter County (Fish Springs Marina, Watauga Lakeshore Resort & Marina) is roughly 30-40 minutes west around the lake.

The Watauga River tailwater below Wilbur Dam, 18 miles of quality trout water with a 14 in minimum, 2-trout creel, artificial-lures-only Quality Trout Area, is in Carter County about 45 minutes away. South Holston is about an hour north.

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

The water itself

Lakes and rivers in Johnson County

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

LakeWatauga Lake1 access point in Johnson County, 7 in totalSee the spots →

Conditions

Johnson County lake levels and trout stocking

Lake conditionsWatauga Lake level todayTVA’s current reading and the Watauga Dam generation schedule.Open →TroutTrout stocking in Johnson CountyTWRA stocks Beaverdam Creek, Doe Creek, Forge Creek and 4 more. 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 Johnson County access list comes from

The 3 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 Johnson 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 ElizabethtonWatauga River, Watauga LakeSee the spots →24 access points within 30 milesFishing near BristolBoone Lake, South Fork Holston RiverSee the spots →24 access points within 30 milesFishing near Johnson CityBoone Lake, Watauga RiverSee the spots →24 access points within 30 milesFishing near KingsportBoone Lake, South Fork 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 Johnson

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

Next county overCarter CountyWatauga River, Doe RiverSee the spots →Next county overSullivan CountySouth Fork Holston River, Boone LakeSee the spots →Next county overWashington CountyBoone Lake, Nolichucky RiverSee the spots →Next county overUnicoi CountyNolichucky River, Rocky Fork CreekSee the spots →Next county overHawkins CountyHolston River, Cherokee LakeSee the spots →

Keep going

More Johnson 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 Johnson County right now: Johnson County conditions.